I use a WAHOO KICKR, APPLE TV, and ANDROID Samsung.
I no longer care about being thought of as an idiot. I just want to ride on Zwift. The Formulaic vicious circle maze on the Zwift Help pages is driving me insane.
I have been through the “pairing” trouble shooting. I have closed Training peaks, Strava, Map My Ride, and Pacer. Typing at a Desk top now. I use my phone when on Zwift. It sometimes opens “GAME”, but my avatar sits on the road side. Once late at night I cranked my pedals by hand and my avatar actually rode. GREAT! Got up next morning to ride, and NO PAIRING!
It finds and identities my Wahoo kicker, but will not pair. I have no idea how to see if Java and Zwift have cookies enabled in Windows 10. I am wasting a lot of money on Zwift, Please help. I hope this is like the antique tractor forum, where we all give advice FREE…
are you able to pair the kickr directly to the Apple TV, or are you trying to use the companion app on your phone to bridge the signal?
There have been a few updates over the last week on both the game and the companion app, make sure both are updated fully. Also double check your Apple TV OS has the latest update.
Trying to pair with Apple TV. That little button that offers the option to pair using Companion appears in the left top. I tried it twice, but never got any results.
I will try your update suggestions. They seem waaaayy too easy. This problem is a lot older than those updates. But I’ll try. THANK YOU!
First off: Which version of the Wahoo Kickr do you own?
I’d start by unpairing your trainer from every device - because it sounds like two devices might be competing for control.
You should make sure the firmware on the Kickr is up-to-date but don’t pair it using the same method you would Bluetooth headphones (OS level) - do it from within the Wahoo app only, then use it to check for new firmware. (update as needed)
You should disconnect from the Wahoo app, then attempt to pair on AppleTV as a “Controllable” trainer. (it should automatically pick up on the cadence and speed but you may need to click on those)
WOW. I updated both Companion and Apple TV. I had my Apple TV set to " AUTO UPDATE" but it had never updated. Why am I NOT surprised? I did it manually. and I was able to “Pair with Companion” but NOT with Apple TV. How strange! But I expect nothing but absurdity now. I entered and event that starts in 40 minutes, but I don’t dare shut exit the program…Whose fault is it that Apple TV never updated? The same (BLEEP) who designed that pathetic remote? THANKS YOU, Mike-Rowe.
Since you’re just using just the Wahoo KICKR for Zwift, there should be no need to bridge the connection through the Zwift Companion (ZC) app on your Android. I suggest that you use the “Built-in Bluetooth” connection on your Apple TV from the Zwift pairing screen, just as you did on January 23, 2022 – I know this because I’m Zwift support and I can take a closer look at how you’re pairing your devices to Zwift.
The way I see it, the ZC BLE bridge (e.g. Pair with Zwift Companion) should only be used if absolutely necessary because it relies on your WiFi connection being basically 100% stable both on the router side and on your Android phone. If there’s a WiFi dropout, router firewall settings configured to block Zwift, or even just general bugs or loops in the operations of your network devices, this can negatively impact the ZC BLE bridge, resulting in a dropped connection of your paired devices or perhaps even a failure to pair them at all.
The ZC BLE bridge is meant to be a simple alternative to direct BLE pairing and in a perfect world that would be the case. In many cases, however, using the ZC BLE bridge can add a (often unnecessary) layer of complication to the Zwift device pairing process.
In short, if you don’t need to use the ZC BLE Bridge to pair your KICKR to Zwift, then don’t. In your specific case and based on the trouble you’ve had pairing your devices to Zwift, I likely wouldn’t recommend using it.
I’m not really sure what the requirements are for the ATV to auto-update (like, do you have to just leave it running and it will eventually update? or will it actually turn itself on in the middle of the night to update?), but I generally do mine manually. Same with apps. They will update, eventually; but you can get the updates faster by just doing it manually.
Any ideas as to why you were not able to pair directly to the ATV? Are you sure you selected the correct option on the pairing screen for a direct connection?
THANKS, Otto. My Kickr is the 89AO 126. I was actually riding and my avatar was too. Then it quit. I lost pairing during a ride. On my phone it told me that I lost the connection, and I need to pair directly to Appple TV… This did not work…OF COURSE. So now I am back to the beginning. I just plugged in My wiFi bootser, but I doubt that will make any difference, since this appears to be a Blue Tooth problem. Even starts in one minute. I’m goin back out to my workout room…
might make things worse, adding more frequency to the environment to interfere with bluetooth. Do you have any other devices that you can eliminate from the area around the apple tv and trainer? Fans, fluorescent lighting, bluetooth speakers, etc… get rid of everything and see if that helps clean up the signal.
" There are no connections. Use the PAIRED DEVICES screen in the game to connect to your Gear." That is the message I get on my phone. So… Why was it working well, and suddenly it wasn’t? Obviously it is Blue tooth problem. I don’t understand any of it.
You say this is the message you are getting on your phone. I am of the mind that you should not be using your phone for any of the pairing. Have you checked the Bluetooth settings in your phone (the actual phone Bluetooth, not in Zwift) to see if the devices are listed there? If so, ‘forget’ them so that they are removed from the list. Also, on your ATV, be sure you force-quit the Zwift after exiting, and not just exit it and start again (this seems to solve a number of niggling issues, for some reason). On the pairing screen in the ATV app be sure to select the Bluetooth connection option, and not the ‘Pair with Zwift Companion’ option. From there, I would think (hope?) that your trainer will show up when you try to pair it as the Power Source.
How many devices are paired to your ATV? You only get 3 devices. The remote is one.
Also, if you use the wahoo app, go to the sensors page and “forget” the kickr. It sounds like your phone may be pairing with the kickr and then the ATV can’t.
I always launch Zwift on my ATV from the App Store. It’s only a couple of clicks to get there, and that way I always get to see if there’s an update or not.
THANKS for Replying, Steven. I get no luck at all, ever, using the “built in Bluetooth”. My Kickr and Apple TV are about 6 feet apart. My kickr BTW ,is the model 89A0 151, not 126 as I mistakenly posted earlier.
I just now went into my phone Bluetooth and Unpaired the only other thing that was there. STILL NO RESULTS on pairing. Ive turned off all fluorescent lights, fan. OK, I’m going to be Granny now: Is there any way my desktop computer could be interfering? I have the big Zwift program on my desk top computer, but not Companion. I have only Companion on my phone. I have uninstalled Wahoo Fitness from the phone in a desperate move.
Okay, I would think there should be a way to get the Built-in Bluetooth to find your KICKR on Apple TV. In the vast majority of cases, Zwift will just instantly find a KICKR and pair it using the built-in BLE. Since that’s not happening for you, I have to wonder what else might be stealing the KICKR BLE connection from Zwift (assuming that’s what’s happening).
Do you ever shut off your KICKR (e.g. pull the power cord) for several minutes, and then turn it back one? I’ve seen many times where doing so clears out whatever issue is preventing the device from pairing to Zwift.
Also when you’re at the Zwift pairing screen, what are the KICKR LED lights showing? Wahoo’s article explains what the LED lights mean, but to summarize:
Red LED:
Always on (indicates power)
Flashes quickly when ANT command/data is received
Blue LED:
Blinks once per second when disconnected and advertising Bluetooth
Solid when connected via Bluetooth, blinks quickly during information transfers
Flashes quickly when connecting to a device via Bluetooth
So if the KICKR “blinks once per second when disconnected and advertising Bluetooth”, this is ideally what you want to see before opening Zwift on the Apple TV and trying to pair the KICKR.
Okay. Make sure your phone isn’t paired to the kickr. Then I’d power down kickr (unplug) and do the same with ATV. Fire up the Zwift ATV app and wake up the kickr by pedaling a few revs. Do you see it as a controllable device?
