Apple is aware of the issue and has stated that a fix is in the works and will be released soon. This issue only affects the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TV and has surfaced after the recent software update.

The 2nd and 3rd gen Apple TV don’t run on tvOS software, which is why Apple is taking longer to provide a fix. Apple recently phased out the 3rd gen Apple TV as well, and stated that they’re going to focus on tvOS and newer models.

Apple TV Issue: No Channels or Apps on 2nd and 3rd gen Apple TV

Several reports on Reddit and other forums point out to the Apple TV issue. Users were thrown out of apps such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc and taken to a Home page with only three apps.

Some have even reported that their Apple TV screen just blinked and all the apps disappeared. Only the Computers, Music and Settings app were available.

Trying to restart the device, unplug and plug it back again, and even restoring the software hasn’t fixed the problem.

Apparently, there was an Apple TV update for the 2nd and 3rd gen models that was released on the first of November. This is what caused the problem for several users, although most of them haven’t had any issues with their Apple TV.

Fix for No Apps or Channels

Some users have been successful in getting rid of the problem by changing DNS settings. Others were temporarily able to fix it by changing the region. But mostly, users trying to restart, reset, reset the router, restore software, and unplug and plug the Apple TV again, haven’t been able to fix it.

According to a Reddit thread, an Apple representative asked users to keep restarting their device every hour or so to check for an update. This new update should fix the problem.

There’s no ETA on the update, but keep checking to see if there was any update or if there’s a new one. You can open the Settings app and check if any new updates are available.

Have you been facing this Apple TV issue on your 2nd or 3rd gen model? If so, keep checking for new software updates. 

The post Apple TV Issue: 2nd and 3rd Gen Apple TV Not Showing Apps appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Last month, Google announced their plans to end support for its YouTube Data API v2 used by older devices, which meant that the YouTube channel would no longer work on older Apple TVs, as only the Apple TV 3 supports the new YouTube Data API v3. Without any warning, Apple has today removed YouTube from the 1st and 2nd gen. Apple TVs.

Both YouTube’s main menu icon and references to the app in Settings dissapeared from the Apple TV 2.

“If you’re using Apple TV 2nd generation or older, unfortunately there’s no current way to watch YouTube on these devices,” noted Google. However, you know well that you can use AirPlay to stream the YouTube content from your iOS device (running iOS 6 or later) or Mac to the 2nd gen. Apple TV.

If you noticed that the YouTube channel has stopped working on your Apple TV 3, you may want to update the software (Settings -> General -> Update Software) to get the latest version of the YouTube app.

Also read: Apple TV 4 with Siri and App Store reportedly coming this June

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

The post Apple removes YouTube channel from older Apple TVs appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

We doubt there are many Apple TV 2 owners that haven’t got FireCore‘s Apple TV 2 supercharger aTV Flash (black) yet, but if you happen to be one of them, here’s your chance: Cult of Mac Deals is offering aTV Flash (black) for just $19.99 (33% off). It’s limited time offer, so go and grab your copy now.

If you’re new to aTV Flash (black) you can read our full review here.

Note that aTV Flash (black) is only compatible with jailbroken 2nd-gen. Apple TV. Once the Apple TV 3 jailbreak is available, your aTV Flash (black) license will cover both Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

The post Get Apple TV 2 supercharger aTV Flash (black) for just $19.99 [deals] appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

FireCore has released aTV Flash (black) 2.3 for Apple TV 2, which includes a bunch of new features, stability improvements and support for the recently released Apple TV 5.3 firmware. According to FireCore, the new version of aTV Flash (black) is also the first step to bring a number of the new features of Infuse to the Apple TV.

What’s new in 2.3?

• Added Apple TV 5.3 compatibility
• Added Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovak localizations
• Media Player is now ‘Infuse for Apple TV’
• Improved Dolby (AC3) audio
• Improved metadata fetching
• Improved detection of subtitle encoding
• Improved reliability of settings backups
• A few other minor fixes and performance improvements

If you’re already running a version of aTV Flash (black) the new 2.3 version can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu. Links for the new version can also be found in your FireCore account under the Downloads tab.

If you’re not yet using aTV Flash (black) you can get started here.

Read the review of Infuse for iPhone/iPad.

The post aTV Flash (black) 2.3 for Apple TV 2 now available appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Back in January XBMC released the long awaited Frodo 12.0 for all of your Apple products. Now you can install XBMC on your iPads, iPhones, iPods, and your, glorious, little Apple TV 2. The installation is almost the exact same as installing previous builds of XBMC with 4 subtle differences. Here we have put together a guide that incorporates these changes. So, sit back, relax and grab a cup of coffee.

Note: XBMC is not yet compatible with the 5.1+ Apple TV software. XBMC Developer Memphiz said on XBMC forum that the team is “trying their best” to make XBMC running on Apple TV 5.2. XBMC now available on iOS 6.1 for Apple TV

Upgrading An Existing Installatin Of XBMC EDEN 11.0

So you may be asking the question, “what do I do if I already have XBMC Eden installed on my Apple TV?” If this is the case, we have a few tips for you specifically. After extensive testing throughout the BETA phase, the team at XBMCHUB.COM has discovered that you will find the best results by simply doing a fresh install of XBMC Frodo. Yes, it is possible to back up your settings and reinstall your preferences but this often leads to many of the same issues.

It is not the happy news you may have wanted, but it ends up that XBMC Frodo plays nicest with your Apple TV when you uninstall XBMC, and all of your presets, from your device. Though I am unsure where the problem is located when upgrading directly… The problem is there all the same.

Installing A Fresh Version Of XBMC FRODO 12.0

Requirements

• Jailbroken ATV2 running firmware 5.0.2 or older
• Mac computer (use Terminal App)  or Windows PC (use PuTTY App)

Step 1: Launch the “Terminal” or “PuTTY” application.

Step 2: Ensure that your computer and your Apple TV are on the same network.

Step 3: Connect to your Apple TV via SSH using the following commands.

• ssh root@[Your Apple TV’s I.P. Address]

Example: ssh root@192.168.2.18
This can be found under General/Network on your ATV’s main menu

Note: Should you receive an “Authentication Error,” copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window and press Enter, then continue.

• rm ~/.ssh/known_hosts

Step 4: Agree to any Security Prompts by typing “yes” (without quotations), then press Enter.

Step 5: When prompted for a Password, type the word “alpine” (without quotations) then press Enter.

Step 6: Copy and Paste the Following Commands into your Terminal App, pressing the Enter key after each. It’s important that you wait for each one to finish before moving onto the next. Don’t worry… you will know when each line is finished.

1)      apt-get install wget
2)      wget -O- https://apt.awkwardtv.org/awkwardtv.pub | apt-key add –
3)      echo “deb https://apt.awkwardtv.org/ stable main” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list
4)      echo “deb https://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/atv2 ./” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xbmc.list
5)      apt-get update
6)      mkdir -p /Applications/AppleTV.app/Appliances
7)      apt-get install org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2
8)      mkdir -p /Applications/XBMC.frappliance
9)      reboot

Step 7: Once the Apple TV menu reloads, Launch XBMC into XBMC Frodo.

Step 8: To ensure the new build fits your screen, let’s enter the “Settings” sub menu under the “SYSTEM” heading.

Step 9: Select the “Appearance” tab from the left menu bar.

Step 10: Under the “Skin” menu, you’ll now want to choose “-4%” for the “Zoom” field so that your XBMC configuration will properly fit your television display. Depending on the television, you might have to play around with this, but it should work flawlessly at the “-4%” setting. Press “MENU” on your Remote Control to return back one level once this is done.

Step 11. Also worth noting: in XBMC 12.0 you will need to set up your sound. For this simply navigate to Settings/System/Audio Output go to the second option from the bottom and sleet the audio option that is right for you. Afterwards, go to the very first option and select between HDMI and Analog. If you are unsure… you are on HDMI.

Congratulations! Your Apple TV now has XBMC Frodo installed on it, and fitting on your screen. Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?

The post How to install XBMC Frodo on your Apple TV 2 appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

aTV Flash (black) seems to be almost ready for 5.2 but there is still a lot of work ahead for the developers of other Apple TV software/plugins:

Please keep in mind that while the FireCore plugins will work on Apple TV 5.1, a few minor adjustments (which are currently in progress) are needed to ensure things continue to run smoothly on Apple TV 5.2. Things like Plex and XBMC do not yet work on Apple TV 5.1 and later, and will likely require A LOT of work by their respective developers in order to be compatible.

@thomashw, the developer of Plex client for Apple TV, has already confirmed on Plex forum that he will work on getting Plex working on the latest Apple TV software.

You can jailbreak your Apple TV 2 running software version 5.2 using recently updated Sn0wbreeze 2.9.8 but jailbreaking is a bit pointless at this moment as most of the plugins are still not combatible with the latest Apple TV firmware.

We will let you know once any of ATV tweaks/plugins is updated for iOS 6 and available.

The post FireCore working on updating Seas0nPass to support Apple TV 2 5.2 (iOS 6.1) jailbreak appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Most of the software like XBMC, aTV Flash (black), Plex, etc. is not yet compatible with Apple TV 5.1 – 5.2 and the device constantly crashes when attempting to install additional software from nitoTV, so we definitely don’t recommend updating to iOS 6.x.

Other known bug/issues:

• First boot on an AppleTV 2 for 5.1/5.2 firmwares has funky glitches. Should be fixed by updates pushed via repos.

If for some reason you still wan’t to update to iOS 6 and then jailbreak using Sn0wbreeze, you can download it from here (Windows only).

We will let you know once any of ATV tweaks/plugins is updated for iOS 6 and available.

Sn0wbreeze doesn’t support Apple TV 3.

The post Sn0wbreeze 2.9.8 released with support for untethered iOS 6.x jailbreak on Apple TV 2 (confirmed) appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

UPDATE: Although it has been confirmed by @MuscleNerd that evasi0n would support Apple TV 2, it seems that it doesn’t. Based on earlier news from evad3rs team, we believed their jailbreak was compatible with Apple TV 2 when publishing the below post just a few minutes after evasi0n went live. We are very sorry for causing confusion. We now have to wait for Seas0nPass to be updated with iOS 6.x support for Apple TV 2. We believe it won’t take long.

UPDATE 2: How to jailbreak Apple TV 2 5.2 (iOS 6.1) using Seas0nPass (untethered; Mac & Windows)

Evad3rs, a group of four top iOS hackers (@pod2g, @musclenerd, @pimskeks and @planetbeing) has just released a long-awaited evasi0n jailbreak for all iDevices running iOS 6.0 through 6.1, that include Apple TV 2 running software version 5.1, 5.1.1 or the latest 5.2. This is an untethered jailbreak, meaning you will be able to reboot your Apple TV without attaching it to a computer. Evasi0n jailbreak doesn’t support Apple TV 3 (however, there is some hope that it will in the future).

Here are the direct download links:

• evasi0n jailbreak for Mac OS X
• evasi0n jailbreak for Windows
• evasi0n jailbreak for Linux

Official mirrors.

Requirements:

• 5 minutes of your time
• A computer running Windows (XP minimum), Mac OS X (10.5 minimum) or Linux (x86 / x86_64)
• An Apple TV 2 running iOS 6.0 through 6.1 (Apple TV firmware 5.1 through 5.2)
• A micro USB cable to connect ATV to the computer

Apple TV 2 running iOS 5.x (atv software version 5.0.2 and earlier) can be jailbroken using Seas0npass.

The post Evasi0n iOS 6.x untethered jailbreak for Apple TV 2 released (updated) appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

• HD audio support, including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD, via the new XBMC AudioEngine (OSX/iOS not yet available)
• Live TV and PVR support
• h.264 10bit (aka Hi10P) video software decoding for anime
• 64bit support in OSX to match the 64bit support in Linux
• Improved image support, allowing the database to accomodate numerous additional image types and more interesting and complex skins
• Support for the Raspberry PI
• Initial support for the Android platform
• Improved AirPlay support across all platforms, including AirPlay audio in XBMC for Windows to match the other platforms
• Improved controller support in Windows and Linux
• Advanced Filtering in the library
• Video library tags to complement movie sets
• Advanced UPnP sharing
• Default video languages now match the language being used by XBMC
• Translations now powered by Transifex

For you Apple TV fans, one of the biggest adjustments is the extended support for H.D. audio. This latest builds helps enable you to make the most of the audio capabilities that the Apple TV has to offer. Aside from these listed improvements, you will see many changes under the hood. Some of these are great to see, others are a bit frustrating. One of the more exciting features, to me, is the inclusion of something known as skin.widgets. This tool makes skinning a much better experience. If you want to get a real idea of what this means for skins in Frodo, look no further than SiO2 by a developer named fastcolors. This skin is designed with you in mind.

Read also:How to change skins in XBMC on Apple TV

In contrast, one of the frustrating items is the fact that we lose the use of last.FM playback in this latest build. They explained this on their blog, at xbmc.org, as something that was unavoidable do to the changes in the coding, but it is missed none the less. It is also worth noting that there are quite a few add-ons/skins that are not currently supported in Frodo. Usually, this is not a problem as developers can easily make changes to get their add-ons/skins working in the latest XBMC build. Sadly, there are quite a few devs, of some well known add-ons/skins, that are no longer actively keeping their items up to date. This means that we may lose some of our favorite add-ons/skins in the upgrade. Time will tell.

All in all. It is worth the update. As a rule, we should always upgrade as it only improves the overall experience. If an add-on, or skin, is missed enough, someone will get it working again!

The post XBMC Frodo (12.0) is officially released appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Apple has just released Apple TV software update 5.2 for the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TV, adding Bluetooth keyboard support, iTunes in the Cloud and AirPlay audio for videos. The update also includes some performance and stability improvements with the iTunes Store, AirPlay, Netflix, iTunes Match, and wired Ethernet connections.

Apple TV 2 users waiting for iOS 6.1 jailbreak should not upgrade until evad3rs team says the update is safe. We will keep you updated.

Here is what’s new in 5.2:

• iTunes in the Cloud: Browse and play your purchased iTunes music directly from iCloud.
• Bluetooth keyboard: Use your Apple Wireless Keyboard to control your Apple TV. See this article for more information.
• AirPlay audio for videos: Send stereo audio from movies, TV shows, and other videos on Apple TV to AirPlay-enabled speakers and devices (including AirPort Express and other Apple TVs).
• Stability and performance: Includes performance and stability improvements with the iTunes Store, AirPlay, Netflix, iTunes Match, and wired Ethernet connections.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ to be first to know when the untethered jailbreak for Apple TV 2 5.2 comes out.

The post Apple TV software update 5.2 brings Bluetooth keyboard support, iTunes in the Cloud and AirPlay audio for videos appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.