Quite often when using the 4k Apple TV, my in game messaging doesnt work. It happens maybe half the time. The bug has manifested itself in a couple of ways:
No chat at all. I cant type anything and I cant see anything that anyone else writes
I write and it looks like my message has sent, but no one else sees my messages. I cant see anyone elses messages.
Chat is working normally, mostly, but then some of my messages dont get sent out.
In the case of 1 and 2, during events I appear as the only rider there. e.g. sprint or KOM leaderboards during a race, I only see myself on there.
This is getting very frustrating. The worst thing is that I regularly lead a group ride and always worry about whether or not my chat will be working. I have also nearly missed events as I try to restart everything multiple times to get it working.
I know some other people have had similar issues too. Is this a known bug?
I have seen others with the same issue. However, I’m not so sure it’s an Apple TV issue per se. I’ve been on the Apple TV 4K for about a year now. Personally, I have never seen this particular issue.
A couple of things that may or may not help.
Manually double check your Apple TV OS is updated. Go into system settings
Manually double check your Zwift app is updated. Go into the store > purchased > Zwift
Make sure you force quit Zwift after each session. If you finish and save a ride, force quit even if you’re going to start riding again. For example, if you do a warm up ride before an event. Save/Exit. Force Quit. Restart Zwift and then join the event.
If you’re not seeing other riders, that sounds more like a network connectivity issue. If you’re Apple TV is connected via WiFi to your house internet, perhaps try an ethernet cable. If that’s not an option, then try 5GHz WiFi. And if that’s not possible, try changing your WiFi channel on the WiFi base station.
I used an AppleTV for about a month and saw this same issue twice. Both times were on group rides taking place on courses that were not the scheduled default courses. Like Nick, I was the only one on the leader board and even the companion app would not show me any messages. Not even messages from the ride leader…
Since switching back to my PC for the last four weeks, I’ve never seen the issue occur. The AppleTV was hard wired with Ethernet and my PC uses wireless. I don’t believe it to be a network issue as the other riders do not disappear or reappear - the messaging just doesn’t work.
Nick, did this happen on courses that were not the scheduled courses for the day? Do you remember?
Last week, there was a group ride on Richmond and a husband and wife were using their new AppleTv’s on the ride. One person (the husand) was seeing the group messages and the other was not. They were on the same network and both using the AppleTV. They were talking about the problem during the ride and the husband was sending testing messages to see if his wife could see them.
My zwift app was updated to the latest version at the time as well because this problem happened on my first zwift ride on the AppleTV but I have had other problems when not using the latest version from the app store.
All the apps are up to date. I have never had the issue when running zwift on the PC. AppleTV connected via ethernet too.
As Tim said too, when this happens I don’t see the chats in the companion app either, but you do see all the other riders.
It is a good point about the world switch. I hadnt actually paid too much attention to that, but thinking back now, it may be to do with that. I will keep an extra eye out there. Problem is that I need to lead a group ride on Sunday as well, which is a world swap ride… Fingers crossed!
Ha funny because it was my wife and I zwifting simultaneously. Each has their own Apple TV and each is connected via ethernet so no wireless issues to compound things … different phones operating each respective companion app … and when I texted I could see it on her TV screen but not mine?? We turn on the TVs with the ATV remote and there might be an issue there because the remote might be taking up a LBE connection thereby preventing the companion app from working? Dunno because my wife hasn’t had any issues, just me.
Your phone doesn’t connect to the Apple TV via Bluetooth. The phone uses WiFi to connect the Companion app to Zwift. Hence, you phone needs to be on the same WiFi network as your Apple TV.
Odd that it doesn’t show on your screen. It’s definitely connected and working if the message appears on your wife’s screen.
Ok, so I had the issue again just now for the KISS Europe race.
I logged in and did a warmup work out. Messaging was working fine. I finished the workout, saved and exited then started zwift again. This time, the messaging was working. I closed zwift, closed the companion app and started everything up again. Again, no messaging working. By this time it was getting close to the start of the race so I didnt want to risk restarting everything again.
I would also add again, when this comes up, it isnt just the messaging. I dont see any ride ons I get during the event, and all leaderboards show only myself (i mean at least I get all the jerseys…). The event was also in Watopia, so no world switching this time.
I dont appear to be the only one experiencing this bug either
Nick that is exactly what happens to me… no messages, no ride ons, only one showing up on the leader boards… and yes all of the jerseys are nice to have lol…
Yes Alan I understand… I was just wondering if there’s something going on with the Apple tv and some interference because as you noted, my messages show up on my wife’s TV but not mine… my jerseys remain the default on her tv but on my screen I’m grabbing all of the jerseys because I am the only one showing up on the leader boards as described by Nick below…
Curious thing as we are both on independent ATV connected via ethernet but my app works on her TV but not mine. I’ve rebooted both ATV before but think that is where I will start again…
There are at least three of us! If world switching is not a factor, which is appears not to be, does it always happen in events like group rides or races? I don’t recall ever having the problem with open world rides but I don’t do many of those.
I know you asked Les this but for an additional data point, I’m the only zwifter in my house so I only ever run one device at a time. I’ve only seen the problem using my AppleTV. If I use my PC, I never have an issue messaging.
Been a while since I ran zwift on a PC. The “force quit” on an Apple TV is new to me. We typically finish our rides and use the companion app to save the ride. Neither of us close the companion app on the phone because it has never occurred to us that it might mess things up. We do use the Apple TV remote to then get out of the zwift app and then go into settings and hit sleep now to stop the Apple TV. If others have suggestions on how to do this better it sure would be appreciated. I do think the both of us close out our companion app after sleeping the ATV…
I recommend force quitting both the Apple TV Zwift app as well as the Companion app on your phone after each session.
Apple TV
To force quit Zwift, double-click the Home button (the one that looks like a TV screen). Swipe up on the touch pad. If you double-click the Home button again, you will see that Zwift is no longer open.
To put the Apple TV to sleep press and hold the Home button (the one that looks like a TV screen) until the Sleep screen appears. Tap Sleep.
Companion app
Double-click the Home button. Find the Zwift app. Touch it and swipe up on the screen.
If you have a newer iPhone w/out the Home button, I’m sure it’s similar to the above but am unsure of the details.
If you have an Android phone, I am completely clueless. I have never used an Android phone.
Well that is super helpful Lin Alan !! I’ve not even heard of a force quit until reading this thread !! My thanks for the instructions and I will use the force quit for the ATV as well as making sure I force quit the companion app at the end of the ride before doing the same to the ATV…
One more thing… If you’re doing back to back rides (e.g., warmup ride followed by a race), I also recommend force quitting everything after the first ride and restarting for the second ride.
On a couple of occasions I did not do this, I lost trainer resistance. Could be coincidence, but on the other hand I have never had it happen when force quitting everything. Either way, an extra minute is worth the peace of mind as far as I am concerned.
Well force quit both ATVs as well as companion app. I was able to see my messages as well as private message people but FUNNY THING is that now my wife can’t see my messages. She started riding before me so her companion app might not have been force quit from the day before… betting it wasn’t but I know I force quit her ATV… Both ATV are on the same 5G network but might adjust so that her setup runs on the the 2.4 channel of our wifi??