Help… tvOS 26 broke my shared album slideshows… stuck on syncing photos with iCloud. It’s been weeks. I tried restarting, log out log in, making sure I’m on the right Apple ID on all devices, same WiFi network, you name it, I have tried it… sooooooo frustrating.
HomePod, 26
A RECENT DISCOVERY IN THIS THREAD BY THE ORIGINAL POSTER:
Quick review... I updated my Apple TV 4K (Ethernet edition) to tvOS 26 and my Apple TV 4K would not complete the syncing with iCloud Photos so I can use the Screensaver with one of my Photo Albums. I even performed the subsequent updates to Apple TV.
This morning, I moved the Apple TV 4K device to my office where I could plug it in directly to Ethernet. Immediately the device finished syncing and now everything works fine. However, another Apple TV 4K in the master bedroom (non ethernet) can't complete its' update syncing with iCloud Photos either.
Item of Note: I am an instructor at a media arts college and I have super fast internet service because I do a lot of Zoom sessions where I demo motion graphics and such. So the issue is not the speed of my internet when it comes to using Wi-Fi only.
So, I've pinpointed the issue to an ethernet/wi-fi issue for my home. Is it the type of Router I'm using? Could be... not sure. Is there a sneak setting somewhere that I heretofore have not discovered that needs tweaking... maybe.
I still think it's an Apple thing because why would these devices all update to iCloud Photos before but are now unable to since updating to tvOS 26.
Anyway... there's the latest in this thread and unfortunate issue.
A RECENT DISCOVERY IN THIS THREAD BY THE ORIGINAL POSTER:
Quick review... I updated my Apple TV 4K (Ethernet edition) to tvOS 26 and my Apple TV 4K would not complete the syncing with iCloud Photos so I can use the Screensaver with one of my Photo Albums. I even performed the subsequent updates to Apple TV.
This morning, I moved the Apple TV 4K device to my office where I could plug it in directly to Ethernet. Immediately the device finished syncing and now everything works fine. However, another Apple TV 4K in the master bedroom (non ethernet) can't complete its' update syncing with iCloud Photos either.
Item of Note: I am an instructor at a media arts college and I have super fast internet service because I do a lot of Zoom sessions where I demo motion graphics and such. So the issue is not the speed of my internet when it comes to using Wi-Fi only.
So, I've pinpointed the issue to an ethernet/wi-fi issue for my home. Is it the type of Router I'm using? Could be... not sure. Is there a sneak setting somewhere that I heretofore have not discovered that needs tweaking... maybe.
I still think it's an Apple thing because why would these devices all update to iCloud Photos before but are now unable to since updating to tvOS 26.
Anyway... there's the latest in this thread and unfortunate issue.
Please try signing out for iCloud services in Settings﹥Users and Accounts﹥…
then sign in again, configure again what was tied to iCloud services, and then try again.
BlackYardSky:
Oct 19, 2025 4:38 AM in response to Urquhart1244
Neither work… when I change it in the photos app and especially when I try to do so in the Screensaver setting. In earlier versions I could set the screensaver to my album and once set, go out of the settings and hit the back button to start the screensaver… now, no matter what, it plays Apple aerial photos or whatever Apple provides… it is stuck trying to sync my photos and says my album won’t be available until syncing is through.
So I had this working on older versions of tvOS by syncing iPhoto albums to iCloud, then setting specific albums as a screensaver. This was working perfectly fine before tvOS 26. It's perpetually stuck on "syncing," and it never budges. I've tried everything:
The photo albums appear fine in the Photos app on the AppleTV. This is specifically something wrong with the screensaver and iPhoto albums.
I've had issues with previous TVOS versions with the photo album screensaver not working, stuck in synch mode and displaying aerials instead. But some combination of switching the album and switching back, or selecting aerials and then back to albums would fix it after a restart. But now with tvOS 26.1 (23J582) I can't get the album screensaver to work. Sometimes it shows synching, sometimes it doesn't show any status when I view the settings. The photos app shows the albums and their contents fine. One interesting aspect - in previous versions I was able to see the contents of the albums when I scrolled the various albums in the album screensaver settings. Now, none of them show the contents when I scroll them. FWIW this is on an a1842 apple tv (4k 1st gen) with 32GB connected via Ethernet on a 1Gig fiber connection. I'd be happy to try and debug this further.
Is this about the slideshow function from within the Photos app,
or is this about the similar photo screen saver function?
Do neither work, or does one of them work?
Neither work… when I change it in the photos app and especially when I try to do so in the Screensaver setting. In earlier versions I could set the screensaver to my album and once set, go out of the settings and hit the back button to start the screensaver… now, no matter what, it plays Apple aerial photos or whatever Apple provides… it is stuck trying to sync my photos and says my album won’t be available until syncing is through.
Urquhart1244:
Oct 18, 2025 10:06 AM in response to BackYardSky
Is this about the slideshow function from within the Photos app,
or is this about the similar photo screen saver function?
Do neither work, or does one of them work?
The slideshow in the Photos app will work fine. It's the Screen Saver that doesn't. I've even tried to "set slideshow as screensaver (or album? whatever it says)" in the Photos app, and it still doesn't work. Goes back to "syncing" and never does anything.
BackYardSky wrote:
Help… tvOS 26 broke my shared album slideshows… stuck on syncing photos with iCloud. It’s been weeks. I tried restarting, log out log in, making sure I’m on the right Apple ID on all devices, same WiFi network, you name it, I have tried it… sooooooo frustrating.
I ran the 26.1 update and it has NOT fixed the issue.
It’s not an Ethernet/wifi issue. Mine is attached via Ethernet, and is stuck syncing. I think you just got lucky.
I concur, Matthew… the one in the master bedroom updated and sync-ed ok today via WiFi.
tvOS 26 won’t sync my photos successfully
