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You can restart your Apple TV by going to Settings > System > Restart. This may prove difficult if the flickering is severe. In that case, simply hold down the Menu and Home (TV glyph) buttons on the Siri Remote until you see the front light on your Apple TV flash rapidly. Release both buttons when the light starts flashing. Your Apple TV will restart.
When your Apple TV restarts and the Home screen appears, remember to wait. Two minutes seem about right. It all depends on the speed of your Internet connection and Apple’s data center. You want to wait beyond the time it takes for the iTunes Store content to appear in the top marquee. I waited for two minutes after the Home screen appeared, and it worked. The first time I restarted, I used it immediately, and it started flickering again. From what I can remember, this same thing happened when I experienced the problem several months ago.
If rebooting does not solve the problem, it’s possible that your HDMI cable is the culprit. Swap it out with a better cable. Although I own a Monster cable, you’ll probably do fine with any quality cable. Just don’t use the cheapest one you can find. My research revealed that the HDMI cable swap fixed the problem for some people. For others, it didn’t work. My hunch is that they restarted their Apple TV and started using it immediately. They may have done this a few times. The flickering issue will persist across restarts unless you wait. I only recommend looking into the HDMI cable if restarting and waiting doesn’t work.
Other users have reported that doing a full system reset (to factory settings) fixed the problem. I recommend this as a last resort, because you will need to reinstall and reconfigure your apps. You will need to login to Netflix or other video services all over again. It’s a real hassle. Again, I think people did this because they restarted their Apple TV and started using it immediately.
You can restore your Apple TV to factory settings by going to Settings > System > Reset and choosing Reset and Update. Follow the on-screen instructions. When this process has completed, your Apple TV will need to be reconfigured. You’ll have to go through the same initial setup process again. Rest assured, you won’t lose any video game scores or in-app purchases. You still own all of your apps and iTunes purchases. You will simply have to reinstall your apps and re-authenticate with some apps. The App Store displays a list of apps that you own, but aren’t installed on your system. Launch the App Store and view the Purchased screen to view all of the apps you own. You can install them directly from the Purchased screen.
Who’s to Blame?
Participants in online discussions are well aware of the delusional enablement emanating from rabid Apple fanatics. Some people can never blame Apple for problems. They will claim that the app developer is at fault. That’s not the case here. This is due to poor quality assurance by Apple. (continue…)