Filed under: Software Update, Security, Apple TV
Apple TV update 2.2

It's not all boring security stuff; Apple also added a Genius playlist function. To access the Genius function, just hold down the play/pause button while a song is playing, and a popup menu will allow you to "Start Genius," or add to an on-the-go playlist.
You can download this update by navigating to Settings > Update Software. Alternatively, Apple TV checks on a weekly basis for any new updates. If it finds an update, it will download, verify, and install the new update. You can read more about this update in this Apple support article.
Have you found another feature of the update? Let us know by sharing in the comments below, or sending us a tip!
Thanks Justin

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
eugene said 11:33PM on 10-02-2008
does this break the boxee/xmbc stuff that was just released?
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Ryan said 1:12AM on 10-03-2008
Well, I installed XBMC and Boxee yesterday. After the update they are both removed. I haven't reinstalled them to see if the usb patchstick will still work with the AppleTV 2.1 dmg being used instead of the new 2.2.
Kyle said 11:38PM on 10-02-2008
There is a Standby feature in the Settings menu.
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Spikester said 12:05AM on 10-03-2008
Adds an "HD" bug alongside the HD TV shows now. Still lists both SD and HD versions when streaming instead of syncing, but now you can tell which is which.
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Jesse David Hollington said 1:12AM on 10-03-2008
The duplicate TV Shows problem is actually on the part of iTunes, not the Apple TV. If you update iTunes to 8.0.1 that problem should be fixed (even without updating the Apple TV).
The problem was that Apple changed the internal cnIDs of the HD/SD TV show versions so they no longer matched, likely to solve the issue with HD/SD shows overwriting each other on download. As a side-effect, however, this resulted in iTunes 8 treating them as two completely different episodes, rather than merely two versions of the same episode. You'd get both versions on the Apple TV (since it can handle both), and your iPod/iPhone would pop up an error that it couldn't sync the HD version.
iTunes 8.0.1 fixes this by recognizing the offset cnID of the HD version as matching the SD version.
Spikester said 9:44AM on 10-04-2008
Indeed, I had not yet upgraded iTunes when I observed this. Version 8.0.1 fixes this.
Ricardo said 12:07AM on 10-03-2008
there is a standby mode now
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alenm88@me.com said 10:46PM on 10-08-2008
what about buying HDTV shows? Is that feature added?
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Jason Snell said 12:42AM on 10-03-2008
Yes, buying HD shows is now supported.
http://xrl.us/osqib
louis said 12:43AM on 10-03-2008
Yes you can now buy HD Tv shows. In regards to the standby, it can be found under the Settings menu.
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Galley said 1:51AM on 10-03-2008
Apple TV Junkie is reporting there are Music Video playlists!
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trainwrecka said 2:12PM on 10-03-2008
Music Video Playlist --- FINALLY!!! I've been waiting for this since I picked up my Apple TV. I've got tons of videos.
Bloobie said 4:17AM on 10-03-2008
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3187
There's a table of changes.
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Jash Sayani said 6:58AM on 10-03-2008
Waiting for a firmware update for iPod Nano 2G. Want Genius !!!
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tobeyonekenobi said 7:32AM on 10-03-2008
anyone knows if this update works with aTV Flash? thx!!
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datajockey said 9:07AM on 10-04-2008
What's it gonna take to get some VOLUME control?!
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Kyle said 8:16AM on 10-03-2008
On the list of changes, it says about Standby mode "From the main menu, press Play/Pause for about three seconds (or go to Settings > Standby)"
I've been holding the play/pause button to put my Apple TV into standby for a while now. What's new about this feature?
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Jesse David Hollington said 12:52PM on 10-03-2008
What's likely new is that you can now only do this from the main menu.
The press-and-hold feature has other functions when browsing music or when viewing videos, which is likely why the "Standby" menu option was added.
Koolio said 4:13PM on 10-03-2008
Now, it seems the only way to put the ATV to sleep is to hold the play/pause button only when the main menu is showing. Ugh...what a pain in the a** because now I'll have to see if I can re-program my Harmony remote to actually shut the ATV off.
I tried using the Genius list on 5-10 songs and every one I tried it said 'no genius playlist available for this song.'
Alex said 8:20AM on 10-03-2008
First thing I checked for (and have been missing!) is that Genius has been enabled on the Remote app for iPhone/touch ... and it does! Excellent!
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