AppleTV

John has a 55" Samsung TV that's about eight years old. He also moved away from surround sound to a soundbar. But even though his TV is a smart TV, it won't accept the internet signal to stream. He talked to Samsung and after resetting several times, they decided his chip was defective. Leo says that doesn't mean he'll have to get a new TV. Those smart tv apps are terrible because they are never updated. He recommends getting a ROKU device and plugging that into the HDMI port. Let the Roku handle the stream. But don't get the stick, they tend to overheat.

Mike wants to know how to stream workout videos from his iPhone to his TV. Leo says that using Airplay is great, but he will need an Apple TV to do it. He can connect a phone to the TV directly by using a lightning adapter. But Apple Airplay with Apple TV is the ideal method. Android can also do it if the TV is compatible with it. Samsung, though, tends to only work well with Samsung TVs. 

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Jack got an antivirus notification that an Apple TV that was trying to access his network. He said no, but it keeps requesting it. Leo says that if Jack has an Apple TV, it's probably trying to connect. It uses a utility called BONJOUR to connect. It's perfectly safe to talk to your mac. And since Jack has a router, his router is a perfect firewall to prevent outside connections. That's how he'll know it's the  Apple TV that's trying to connect. So let it. And get rid of the AVS.

Jack is having a "fluttering" issue with his AppleTV, where it goes to black. Spectrum says it's a box problem, and it should be rebooted. Apple says it shouldn't. Leo says that Apple is wrong; he has to reboot his AppleTV all the time. It's easy by pressing the menu and home button at the same time for five seconds. Stuttering can also indicate a bandwidth issue. Samsung also says his TV is out of date as well. But Leo says that it's probably not the TV. He suspects that his carrier Spectrum and a bad app. Uninstall the app and reinstall it. Also, try using a wired ethernet connection.

Marty got a message from Netflix that his Blu-ray player won't support Netflix anymore. Leo says that can happen when an upgrade can break connectivity. And it sounds like Netflix isn't going to support that anymore. The good news is, smart TVs have Netflix, as do players like the Roku and AppleTV. He can even get a $35 Chromecast and do it. Go with Roku!

Terry wants to buy a device to cast to his home office TV. Would the Chromecast work or should he buy the FireTV Stick? Leo says that the Chromecast is a great device, but it doesn't stand on its own. He'll have to navigate to what he wants to watch on a phone and then cast to the Chromecast device. Stand-alone devices like Roku and AppleTV can act as their own independent devices. As for FireTV, Leo says it really serves as a portal to sell stuff from Amazon, so he's not much of a fan. Leo says ROKU Ultra is a better choice all the way around and will also stream in 4K.

David wants to know how he can project his mobile device to a portrait sized monitor. He wants the monitor to have the same aspect ratio as the phone.  Leo says that they tried to do that at TWiT, and you can, but it's quite expensive. One solution is to buy the Apple XDR monitor for $5K and the $1,000 stand. But there are other options out there. David has a monitor that will flip to portrait. Leo says that most operating systems can tell when the aspect ratio changes and adjusts. Apple has an emulator mode, where you can run an app on a Mac and it will look like it's on a phone. 

Bruce upgraded to an LG C7 TV, and it's been the best TV he's ever owned. He has an older generation Apple TV, not the new 4K version that's out now. He's wondering if it would be better for him to get a Mac Mini instead. He wants to know what the difference would be between Apple's tvOS and macOS. Leo says the new Apple TVs support UHD and high dynamic range (HDR). One of nice things about using an Apple TV is that it's automatic, Bruce would just have to plug in the HDMI cable and everything would work. The other thing it does is Dolby Atmos sound.

Brian has two Apple TVs that stream music from his computer and iTunes, but lately it just stops after a few minutes. Apple says that it's a corrupted library, but Leo disagrees since it doesn't happen when he streams music on his computer directly. Leo has a hunch it's the router. Using AirPlay, he could be dealing with buffering issues. He also should make sure nothing else is connected to his AirPlay device. It could also be an issue with home sharing and his router configuration. It could be a blocked port issue.

Matt's 4K Apple TV runs for an hour and then shuts down. Leo says that it's possible that the TV is overheating and it shuts down as a protective measure. So Matt should make sure there's plenty of airflow. He can also use canned air to blow out any dust accumulation. There could also be a memory leak that's causing it to crash. Leo really recommends making a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple store to tell them it's overheating after an hour. Since it's still under warranty, they could just give him another one.