This is getting pretty pathetic. The Zwift Apple TV experience just does not work. It has consistently under-delivered, hiding behind the irrelevant fact that you can only connect 3 devices to ATV.
The Bluetooth, especially HRM application does not work at a level to charge people money. I’ve logged other tickets about it, and nothing has been done for years. I see different poor behaviors withwith 2 Tickr’s and 2 Whoop Strap over years and 10K’s miles or use.
One Tickr connects infrequently with double HR about half the time, I have logged this bug before.
Another Tickr connects very infrequently
My Whoops always connect many times with no signal. Rebooting ATV fixes it
My Whoops connect with signal but the signal drops off every other 5 seconds for the length of the connection. This can be fixed by stopping and starting bluetooth on my phone. I AM NOT connected via the Companion (not explicitly anyway).
(I really like the bulleted list feature in this editor, it works as well as the rest of the Zwift ecosystem)
I tried to bring a friend in with a trial subscription and ride yesterday and we literally wasted an hour on the phone on this same set of problems with his setup. He refused to reboot all his environment over and over . He went back to Rouvy, I gave up another wasted workout time slot.
I’ve spent years developing BT apps on embedded and Android devices. It’s not too far from the device, or batteries, or pilot error, it is just unacceptable level of quality. Unplugging and replugging in ATV works EVERY time (for whoop) EVERY DAY.
Crashing after the Alpe in the TdZ was great too! Late join (seconds late because of above) TdZ riding alone? Fun!
I think what you mean is that it doesn’t seem to work ‘for you’. I’ve been using ATV for 3 years with exactly zero issues with the game or connectivity. Yes, I force quit the game (and the Companion) after every use, but that seems a small price to pay to avoid some issues. (This is not a reboot, just a force quit of the Zwift app, which I actually do for every app I use on ATV, just in case.)
Well meaning fans aside, it is an inexcusable experience.
… and it’s not just “for me”. I tried to bring a new subscriber to Zwift yesterday with 100 miles between me and his Apple TV. It didn’t work for the same reason mine didn’t, poor BT connection management with industry leading HRM’s. You can’t blame ME for saying “Click on Pair, do you see your device?” and getting “yes, but it says Connected - No Signal”. Then round and round he goes, eventually giving up on it.
It’s not my problem, Zwift loses another $15/month from him, not me. I’ll remain a member, demanding half-decent quality for my money, and I don’t even pause during the summer when I never use it.
I’ve had a few small issues with ATV & my Tickr HRM.
Occasionally I get a static reading of 105 bpm (or some other random value), but wetting the strap & my chest usually solves the problem.
Other than that, I’ve gone from ~level 20 to level 44 without any major problems with ATV.
Before that, I was on a Windows 7 laptop, and had endless problems.