Are you stuck trying to figure out why your Apple TV keeps going to the Home Screen?
I’m honestly not surprised! Every day thousands of people find themselves in the same situation and are left nothing short of confused.
I know how annoying it can be not to be able to enjoy a streaming device you paid such a hefty sum for. Especially after a long day at work, when all you want to do is relax.
But don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place for answers, Below, you’ll find a list of several reasons why you’re having this problem and some solutions for them.
The 6 most likely explanations for this issue are:
Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.
There’s a good chance that all you need to do to stop your Apple TV from going to the Home Screen is to restart it.
Why does this work? Simple!
Whenever we use our favorite apps, there are thousands of background processes running at the same time. More often than not, they work as you’d expect, and that’s the end of it. But sometimes, a bug or a corrupted file can make them crash and cause your device to act weird.
Some of the most common signs of this are issues, such as Error 3905, stuttering navigation, and blurry video.
By restarting your Apple TV, you’re giving it a chance to get rid of any troublemakers and start most of its processes from scratch.
And the best part is that this works for about 90% of all technical difficulties out there. Don’t be afraid to try it out!
Solution: There are many ways you can go about this. Any of the options below should help you restart your device successfully:
I know how keeping your favorite streaming devices up-to-date doesn’t sound important, but it is!
With every release, software developers try their best to install as many new features and fix as many bugs as they can. Moreover, newer app and network versions are designed with the latest streaming device software in mind.
Using an older version of your device’s software with fully updated apps and networks could explain why your Apple TV keeps going to the Home Screen.
Now, more often than not, this should not be something you have to worry about, as there’s automatic updating. But sometimes, a weak network or a bug can get in the way.
In such a case, you’ll have to manually download and install the latest Apple TV software version.
Solution: This may sound challenging, but it’s actually very easy:
Moving on, let’s make sure your favorite platforms’ servers are not failing.
As you may know, these are responsible for storing important information and giving millions of online content lovers a high-quality service.
Given how vital they are, streaming companies have put a lot of work into making them as resistant as possible. And while they’ve made some great progress, it still isn’t safe to say that they’ve managed to make them failproof.
In fact, things that seem unimportant, like a coding bug, a bad hard drive, or even minor hacking can affect how your favorite platforms work.
When this happens, you’ll likely encounter issues, such as login difficulties, blurry or fuzzy video, and much more.
While this is not an Apple TV internal issue, it’s definitely worth covering, as you won’t be able to take full advantage of your device otherwise.
Solution: To confirm our suspicions, we must check the real-time status of your favorite platforms’ servers. Below, I’ll show you how to do it for the Apple TV app in two different ways. You can either use Downtetector, which will work for other apps, or you can check Apple’s proprietary server status website.
Let’s start with the former:
Assuming that you want to try checking the servers through Apple’s proprietary website, here’s how to do it:
Sadly, if any of your platforms’ servers are, in fact, down, your hands are tied.
But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Most streaming companies have very capable IT departments, so I’d be surprised if this issue lasts longer than 24 hours.
Granted, internet service drops have gone down a lot in the last few years, but they still happen now and then.
This is not too common, but sometimes this issue might also be happening due to a bad connection. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “If my internet was failing, I’d notice!”. And while I’d normally agree with you, things can be a little more complicated than they seem.
Sure, when you have a full network failure, you’ll be completely cut off from browsing or chatting. But if your signal is only temporarily weak, you might still be able to do all those things, while also having your Apple TV constantly going to the Home Screen.
How come? Due to every activity’s requirements.
You see, texting your family about your day is not nearly as tough on your network as streaming your favorite content online. Especially at higher resolutions.
Most streaming platforms need at least 5 Mbps to stream content in Full HD resolution (1920 × 1080p), and a whopping 25 Mbps for 4K (3840 × 2160p).
If your network does not meet these requirements, it makes sense that you’re constantly being sent back to the Home Screen.
Solution: The best way to estimate your needs is by multiplying the number of people you live with by the Mbps your favorite streaming resolution requires. For example, let’s say that you live with 3 other people, and you all love 4K content.
In that case, you’ll need a plan that offers at least 100 Mbps (4 people x 25 Mbps).
Assuming that your plan is already fast enough, try calling your provider and asking if they’re having issues. If they tell you everything’s fine on their end, try resetting your modem.
Never done it before? That’s ok! It’s really easy:
If this didn’t work, don’t sweat it. We still have a lot of ground to cover. Read on to discover more fixes for this problem!
Next, I want us to take a look at your cache. If you’ve no idea what this is, don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone. Most people have heard about this once or twice, but don’t have the faintest clue as to what it actually does.
Let me quickly walk you through it.
An app’s cache is where a lot of important information is stored. In it, you’ll find audio, video, user preferences, and login credentials. By keeping this data handy, your favorite streaming platforms can load quicker when launched and make your viewing experience better.
More often than not, your cache is very helpful. But sometimes, a file inside it can become corrupted and cause all sorts of trouble on your favorite services.
This could easily explain why your Apple TV keeps going to the Home Screen.
Solution: Deleting your favorite apps’ cache is very easy, here’s what you have to do:
Frequently clearing your cache can help improve your streaming experience significantly.
Finally, let’s try resetting your Apple TV back to its factory defaults.
When all else fails, starting from scratch is not the worst of ideas. As its name suggests, a Factory Reset will wipe your device’s memory clean, deleting all downloaded apps, user preferences, networks, and settings.
I know this is far from ideal, but sometimes it’s the only way to get things back up and running.
I bet this won’t be the last time you’ll ever have to do this, so here’s a useful tip for future you. Keep a list of all your downloaded apps and their respective login credentials written down somewhere safe. This will save you the trouble of having to remember what to re-download when you’re done.
Solution: If you’re sure there’s nothing else you can try, here’s what you have to do to factory reset your Apple TV. It’s a very straightforward process:
Having your Apple TV keep going to the Home Screen can be very annoying. After a long day at work, all you want to do is relax, eat a nice meal and enjoy your favorite content. Who knew you’d have to start troubleshooting and playing technician?
What a disaster!
Luckily, as I hope you’ve learned in this piece, fixing most of the causes behind this is very easy. More often than not, keeping your Apple TV updated, and making sure that there are no corrupted files in your apps’ cache, should do the trick.
Thank you so much for sticking with me all the way to the end. If you found this article helpful, you’ll be happy to know that we upload new content every week. Check out our other incredible resources below to become a Tech Detective yourself!
I wish you nothing but the best.
Detective ‘Gerry’ Molina is one of the most prolific detectives on our TechDetective team. He’s known for his ability to crack down on multitudes of tech crimes on behalf of you – the citizens of the internet. Molina is often the first point of contact for many cases, working to help free victims from the tyranny of tech issues.
