Apple TV video fails to play with "Play On Another Device"

[Zander3768 42]

I discovered a bug when using the "Play On" feature with the Apple TV devices. @SamES

If something is playing on the Apple TV that I started from the Apple TV device itself, then using my PC web browser with the "Play On" feature and try to resume a different video with the "Resume" button, the video on the Apple TV stops but it shows the description of the video that stopped playing on the screen and starts playing the audio from the video I was trying to switch to by using the "Play On" feature.

 

Here are the steps I took to reproduce the problem, which happens every time I follow these steps:

1- on the Apple TV device itself, navigate to and play a video

2- skip half way into the video so a resume point is created

3- stop that video, then play something else and leave it playing on the TV

4- open Emby on a browser and enable the "Play On" feature to target the Apple TV device

5- (with the random video still playing on the Apple TV device from step 3) find the first video with the resume point and click "resume" from the browser using the "Play On" feature

6- the Apple TV should attempt to play but does not complete the process. Leaving the description page of the previous video on the screen and most times audio from the attempted video plays (but not every single time i do these steps).

 

**This bug did not exist prior to the last Apple TV update, if that helps any.

My log (attached) is in the order of the steps above but I do not see any errors on the server side, and I could not reproduce this with other devices like I can with the Apple TV devices.

embyserver-troubleshooting-1.txt

[Zander3768 42]

Update: I verified this issue continues in the same way with server update 4.8.9.0.

[Zander3768 42]

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Edited September 26, 2024 by Zander3768
deleted post

[pünktchen 1345]

@Luke

[Luke 39653]

Hi, what version of tvOS are you on?

[Zander3768 42]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Hi, what version of tvOS are you on?

tvOS 1.0

Emby version 1.8.9--Released Aug 15, 2024

[Luke 39653]

tvOS 1.0 ?

[Zander3768 42]

27 minutes ago, Luke said:

tvOS 1.0 ?

Sorry, Typo.

I hope nobody is using tvOS 1.0 right now haha. I need to quit doing 6 things at once sometimes.

tvOS 18.0

[Luke 39653]

Do you know if it was originally tvOS 18 when you opened this topic?

[Zander3768 42]

4 minutes ago, Luke said:

Do you know if it was originally tvOS 18 when you opened this topic?

When i originally opened the topic it was the previous tvOS build. I upgraded the tv's to see if it would change anything and it did not. In fact our last tvOS box that was still on the previous version just updated last night when I was checking.

[SamES 995]

What app version are you currently on?

@Luke, I suspect that the recent fix for tvOS18 issues will probably resolve this as well.

[Zander3768 42]

7 hours ago, SamES said:

What app version are you currently on?

@Luke, I suspect that the recent fix for tvOS18 issues will probably resolve this as well.

 @SamES

1.8.9

I have access to apple's public beta but i cannot see a way to download any other versions of emby app so i'm only able to use the stable release version. I'm not a normal apple user, I only use it for the tv's, so maybe i'm just missing something with that.

[SamES 995]

2 minutes ago, Zander3768 said:

 @SamES

1.8.9

I have access to apple's public beta but i cannot see a way to download any other versions of emby app so i'm only able to use the stable release version. I'm not a normal apple user, I only use it for the tv's, so maybe i'm just missing something with that.

That’s all good. I wasn’t sure if a new version was available yet. It should be soon so please let me know if it’s any better when that version becomes available. 

[Zander3768 42]

On 10/5/2024 at 5:16 PM, SamES said:

That’s all good. I wasn’t sure if a new version was available yet. It should be soon so please let me know if it’s any better when that version becomes available. 

@SamES

I just go the 1.9.0 (4) update on my tvOS 18.1 and this same issue persists. I also noticed an icon formatting bug that has appeared in this new version as well but I will make a different thread for that one.

[SamES 995]

I can't reproduce this.  Do you think it is using the Native or MPV player in your tests?

I'm on the Beta server, so unless something has changed from the release version.  As far as I know there's not anything that should be impacting this.  Are you on 4.8.10.0 now?

[SamES 995]

Are you using Firefox?  @Lukeare you aware of any browser related issues with PlayTo feature?

[Luke 39653]

15 hours ago, SamES said:

Are you using Firefox?  @Lukeare you aware of any browser related issues with PlayTo feature?

I am not, no.

[Zander3768 42]

I will go over my steps to reproduce and follow-up with this issue later today or tomorrow. 

[Zander3768 42]

So I was able to get to this sooner than I expected.

I was testing this using FireFox and Brave (chromium).

1. In the Emby Apple TV app, from your normal libraries, start a video
2. Seek half way thru the video so that a resume point will be created. Stop playback.
3. Start playback of some other video in the Emby Apple TV app and let it play.
4. In some other Emby app, browse to the video with the resume point.
5. Enable "Play On" by selecting Apple TV
6. Start playback by selecting "Resume".

It stops playing the currently playing video on the apple TV but does not resume the video that was selected to play.

@SamES

[SamES 995]

Yes, these are the same steps that I followed, but different browser. What server version are you on now? Do you know whether MPV or native player is being used for these tests? If you set the player to each of these options, can you still reproduce this?

I’m assuming this occurs 100% of your tests and is not limited to specific videos. 

[Zander3768 42]

1 hour ago, SamES said:

Yes, these are the same steps that I followed, but different browser. What server version are you on now? Do you know whether MPV or native player is being used for these tests? If you set the player to each of these options, can you still reproduce this?

I’m assuming this occurs 100% of your tests and is not limited to specific videos. 

@SamES

Server version 4.8.10.0

• Emby for Apple TV 1.9.0 (4)
• Stream MP4 (2mbps) Direct Play
• Video 720p H264 Direct Play
• Audio English AAC stereo (Default) Direct Play
   
• Preferred Video Player Auto  ( * I did try manually changing it between MPV and Native and I get the same results regardless)

Yes this happens 100% of the time.

play-on-log-1.txt

[Zander3768 42]

@SamES

This issue still exists in 1.9.1.  When something is already playing on my TV and I attempt to play something else by clicking "resume" while using the "Play On" feature, it stops playing what was playing but does not start to play what I wanted to play.

Again, This did work just fine prior to the 1.8.9 update.

[Zander3768 42]

@SamES

I have been hesitant to mention this since I don't want to confuse anyone, but this method of switching is apparently needed for the VirtualTV plugin by @pünktchen. *The issue has nothing to do with the plugin*, but it is how that plugin works and since I use it the most with emby, I haven't been really using my apple tv, mostly I just use my mini-pc with emby theater which works fine.

[SamES 995]

1 hour ago, Zander3768 said:

this method of switching is apparently needed for the VirtualTV plugin

Out of curiosity, have you tried disabling this plugin (reboot the server) and check if you still have the issue.? I know you say it's not related to the plugin, but how can you be sure?

[Zander3768 42]

Yes, this issue happens with or without the plugin.  This issue does not occur on my android tv or the linux emby theater, only the apple tv devices (all 3 of them) using the Play-on feature to change a movie while something else is already playing.