Plex Trailer playback broke on ALL AppleTV 4k - PLEASE HELP (Update: Confirmed broken in tvOS14.6)

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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I have a VERY strange problem that started a few weeks ago.

Movie trailers will not launch on ANY apple TV client on my network (but the movies themselves play just fine)

I have a plex premium account if it matters for debug, I also tested it signed out of my account and the behavior was the same (to rule out an account setting issue).

I have 4 different clients:
Client #1 - Apple TV 4k running tvOS14.6 / plex 7.17 (1424) - Wired to LAN
Client #2 - Apple TV 4k running tvOS14.6 / plex 7.17 (1424) - Wired to LAN
Client #3 - iPhone 12 Pro max running plex 7.17 - WiFi
Client #4 - Windows PC with firefox web browser connected to plex.tv - Wired to LAN

I have 3 different sources for playing media
Source #1 - Local Plex server 1.23.1.4571 (Synology)
Source #2 - Remote (over internet) Plex Server 1.23.1.4571 (Synology)
Source #3 - Movies & TV (on plex) - To rule out any server side issues

ALL devices/clients can play movies and TV shows with no problems at all from ANY source

The problem is when I go to play a trailer ONLY on ANY AppleTV client the progress/loading icon spins indefinitely while trying to load a trailer while never actually starting playback

I did the following tests:

Test #1 - Attempt to playback trailer from movie on local plex server (on same LAN as appleTV client) - Trailer will not load, progress circle spins indefinitely

Test #2 - Attempt to playback trailer from movie on remote plex server (over internet via appleTV client) - Trailer will not load, progress circle spins indefinitely

Test #3 - Attempt to playback a trailer from “Movies & Shows on Plex” (ie CRACKLE) - Gives error “Something went wrong with your media. Please try again”, yet the movie itself plays fine

Test #4 - Repeat all the above tests on another appleTV unit in same location - Same result. Also deleted and reinstalled the plex App on the appleTV client - same result

Test #5 - Use iphone Plex app on same network - Trailers play fine from all sources (note: iOS is not updated to 14.6 yet, I’ve heard some reports that will break it)

Test #6 - Use web browser on windows PC on same network as the apple TV units - Trailers play fine from all sources.

Test #7 IMPORTANT! - the latest test I did was I found an old AppleTV (pre4k but with touch remote Model A1625) running tvOS 13.3.1 and Plex App v2.13 (14243) and it works PERFECTLY playing trailers on the same network. I had this sitting on a shelf after I updated to AppleTV 4k units, so I figured it was worth testing (and it was!), so now we know the problem is client side on BOTH apple TV 4k units. I also updated plex to latest version 7.17 (1424) and it it still works. So its something on the AppleTV side (either tvOS 14.6 or the 4k unit).

I am completely stumped by this. What i can tell you is that both Apple TV units stopped playing trailers at the same time a few weeks ago (something got an update?) AppleTV 4k units are Model A1842’s running tvOS 14.6 (18L5565a) connected to 1080p displays. I am very suspicious of the tvOS since 18L5565A is a beta 3 version of 14.6.

Looking at the logs the only thing I saw was some type of TLS/SSL error when trying to playback trailer data from a movie hosted on my plex server, and it looked a certificate error when trying to play of “movies & shows on plex”.

I attached a copy of the logs so hopefully someone can help figure this out.

I didn’t think it would be a client side issue when I have 2 different clients that broke at the same time experiencing the same issue.

It is possible that it might have broke after an AppleTV automatic tvOS update, but I really can’t be sure. That would explain two clients experiencing the same issue.

Its hard to believe its a server side issue when I have 2 different plex servers and the problem is also reproducible with “movies & shows on plex” (ie CRACKLE).

Its hard to believe its a network/LAN issue if the windows PC and iPhone play back trailers fine.

I feel like I’ve done an exhaustive amount of debugging, and still can’t figure it out. Please help me! Thank you

LATEST UPDATE 5/25/21 - I did some more debugging. This seems to be related specifically to AppleTV 4k hardware and tvOS 14.6 and up (14.7 beta also has this issue). I was able to confirm this by having a friend of mine do some debugging and updated his AppleTV unit to the RELEASE (not beta) version of 14.6 today, and his immediately broke with exactly the same problem. I tested on an older AppleTV HD (touch remote pre 4k), and it works fine when updated to 14.6. But on all updated Apple TV 4k units, they have this issue.

Server Version#: 1.23.1.4571 (Synology) - Tested on two different servers & ‘movies & shows on plex’
Player Version#: 7.17 (1424)

Play Trailer from remote plex server.txt (159.4 KB)
Play trailer from movies and shows (on plex).txt (52.7 KB)

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Apple TV trailers and extras do not play
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I have the same issue.

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Yep. Same issue.

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Part of this is working for me. tvOS 14.7.latest, the Plex TestFlight beta, and latest PMS beta.

Auto-downloaded trailers & extras, for media on my PMS, are working.

Trailers for “Movies & Shows On Plex” (Crackle or other) are NOT working. The loading spinner displays, and then (usually) **Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again."

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Its good to know that TestFlight beta App is improved on tvOS 14.7. I can confirm the release version of Plex app is still broken on tvOS 14.7 beta on AppleTV 4k.

Can you confirm you are running on AppleTV4k?

From what I have seen the AppleTV HD (first gen touch remote) is not affected by this bug even if on tvOS 14.6. Also newest generation (ie 12 Pro Max) iPhones on iOS 14.6 I heard were affected (but have not confirmed myself).

Hopefully the more people that respond to this thread will cause it to gain enough visibility to push the priority in fixing this issue quickly.

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I see the same behavior on both an Apple TV “4th Gen” / “HD” (2015) and an Apple TV 4K (1st gen, 2017).

(Bless Apple and their product naming.)

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Good too see others are reporting it. Thought I was alone here and it’s been driving me crazy. Hope there is a fix soon.

Running original atv4k with swipe remote.

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8

Same issue here

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AppleTV product naming can be super confusing. Usually the best way is to use the model number (I.e. my unit that doesn’t work is an A1842(64gb 4K appleTV) running tvOS 14.7 build (18M5523d). They made so many different hardware versions of Apple TV that are all very similar with subtle ways to tell them apart if not looking at the model number (like the presence or absence of a white raised ring around the menu button on the swipe remote)

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The more people that post here, the greater the visibility of the issue to the developers and faster it will be fixed. I’m going to try to get enrolled in the TestFlight beta because it will probably be fixed there first before it goes through Apple’s release process.

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I’m on beta. Brocken there too
 @Stevenson-Price do you have this report?

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It seems to have broke somewhere near Beta3. From what I can tell, apple tightened security and its related to SSL/certificate signing. Thanks for including him, I wasn’t sure which developers maintain the apple TV side.

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Having same issue here. Get the spinning wheel and trailers never load

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Having the same issue I can confirm Apple TV 4K will not play trailers on 14.6. I can also confirm I cannot play trailers on the 1080p original HD Apple TV. Hugmonster can you confirm that your Apple TV HD non-4K does indeed play trailers? Having the same issue on my iPhone on 14.6 as well.
I wish Plex would at least acknowledge they are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.
Thank you!

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15

Same issue here. Don’t have a 4K ATV (have A1625) but am running tvOS 14.6. I too wish Plex would at least signify they are working on it. Trailers are the primary reason I have a Plex Pass.

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16

Same issue here

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17

Hi guys, either the latest server or atv app update - but now working fine!

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@Fatalmuzza Thanks for the update. I can confirm this is fixed in the latest AppleTV Plex client update 7.18.1 (1572) on AppleTV 4k (A1842) running tvOS 14.6 (18L569) released version

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19

correct
fixed
thank you!!

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