Watched Status syncing not working between devices

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#1

Hi all, I have two ATVs 4K connected to the same Apple ID, iCloud and Trakt account but for some reason the Watched Status on the native Infuse library (no Plex/Jellyfin integration etc) does not sync between devices. It used to but it just stopped.

I have adequate free space in my iCloud account, I’ve tried logged out of iCloud snd my Trakt account from Infuse and obviously I’ve restarted both ATVs several times I still can’t make the watches status to sync between devices again.

Other than deleting the app from my ATV and starting from scratch, is there something else I could try?

#2

Not trying to be a smart alack but have you checked to make sure that iCloud sync is “on” in the Infuse settings on both?

#3

I wish it were that simple and I was that dumb! :grinning:

#4

I won’t go into why I ask that. :roll_eyes:

When you launch Infuse and go straight to the Library settings page where it shows the progress messages under the total number of moves, tv episodes and other, do both ATVs go though the process of “syncing to iCloud” before it show the “Last Updated…” If not do they show it after you do a “Scan for Changes” on that same settings page?

#5

You’re definitely on to something here, @NC_Bullseye . I used to hit the refresh button on the top of the main page and maybe a couple of times go to the Library settings page to check what it was actually scanning but I never paid close attention to it.

Turns out, both ATVs start the scan content and metadata process; they complete it without reaching syncing to iCloud, only to start again with the exact same number of movies and TV series that need sync the next time I start Infuse or manually hit the rescan button. Each and every time!!!
This must be some kind of corruption on the fetched metadata I guess. I cleared all metadata from the first ATV and waiting for repopulation. I’ll let you know what it goes.

Thanks for the hint! :+1:

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#6

I rely pretty heavily on those status messages because you can see behind the curtain enough to make sense of some of the occasional delays. I only wish that we didn’t have to drill down so far to see them.

Not sure if it’d be the same thing but I had a couple of cases where I got what I thought was a loop of the updating and I just let it run for a while. Sure enough it ran several times and finally settled. I wonder if it is doing an incremental sync and it takes several cycles to get caught up sometimes…

Keep me posted. :wink:

#7

Another thing I notice is that although the scan process does not stop per se, it seems to pause/hibernate when I leave the Library settings page; the scan icon on the main menu keeps spinning like it’s working but as soon as I go into the Library settings page, the scan effectively continues from the point I was when I left the Library settings page the last time. Is this normal?

#8

I believe that’s kind of the design so you can if wanted, watch content without Infuse slowing down to do the scan while watching. I don’t think it pauses completely but I’m guessing it slows way down to prioritize the navigation and viewing. That’s strictly speculation on my part but it follows the behavior as you’ve noted.

#9

Well, I’ve tried everything I could think of, but no luck… I’ve cleared all the cached metadata and refreshed, I’ve logged out of iCloud and Trakt and logged in again, I’ve even deleted Infuse from both ATVs but no luck…

Upon initial scan, both ATVs present the same watched status (since it is fetched from my iCloud account); however when I start watching content from my library on my ATVs, the watched status does not stay in sync. It’s as if the ATVs are independent of each other and each ATV only tracks it’s watched history independently.

I’m continuously refreshing, I make sure that both ATVs reach “iCloud sync” at the end of each scan but I can’t get my ATVs to get a consistent watched status no matter what. At this point, I would gladly sacrifice my iCloud watched status history in order to start fresh if that’s the only way to get this to work again. Is this even an option? Can someone please help?

#10

I’m digging around on this but hopefully someone will chime in with some more suggestions.

One thing I ran across, do both ATVs have the same “Default User ID”?

Since you can have multiple user IDs on the ATV and there is only one that is labeled “Default” it has to be the same Default user on both for things to work correctly.

#11

Thanks for helping out @NC_Bullseye . Yea, both ATVs have the same Default User.

#12

Okay, maybe another silly question but I’ve seen cases in the past where this came into play.

When you’re done watching something with Infuse, do you just exit with the “Home” button on the remote and then go to a different app, or do you by chance force quit the Infuse app? Also, do you turn off your ATV (turning off power) or just let it go to sleep?

#13

In most cases, my ATVs just stay in Infuse’s main screen since they serve as media players. In the cases where I exit Infuse, I use the equivalent of the Home button (since I actually use Logitech Harmony remotes).

#14

I’m afraid I’ve tried everything I could think of (including what I’ve described in my first post, several times!) but I can’t troubleshoot by myself any more and I need support from Firecore.

I know that Firecore staff monitor these forums but should I open a support case directly with them, or is this thread the same thing and I should just wait to get contacted?

For anyone wanting to help without reading through the entire thread, the problem is that my two ATVs cannot maintain their watched status in sync. The craziest thing is that ATV4K #1 is able to access the watched status of ATV4K #2 (so all is well there), but ATV4K #2 does NOT play catchup, so any movies or series I start watching on ATV4K #1 is not updated on ATV4K #2.

Keep in mind that the only problem I face is the sync of the watched status. Any movies or series I add or remove from my shares, are correctly identified and scanned on both ATVs.

What I’ve tried on both ATVs:
Made sure both ATVs use the same AppleID/iCloud/ and use the same default user
Made sure both ATVs are logged in the same Trakt account
Made sure there is enough free space on iCloud
Cleared metadata cache and rescaned
Logged out from Trakt and logged in again
Deleted Infuse from my ATVs and reinstalled/rescanned etc.

I’m running the latest TVOS and Infuse versions. Can someone please help me out?

#15

I appreciate your continued efforts on this!

Posting isn’t the same as opening a support ticket but as you said Firecore does monitor the forums. That being said, the forums are usually supported by community input so Firecore doesn’t always go through every post.

I’d like to keep on plugging at this but I may have encountered the same problem as you or close to it. Last day or so I’m not getting watched status syncing from one or two different ATVs. I only use Infuse (not trakt) so I’m trying to figure this out and hopefully also have another suggestion for you.

Perhaps @james will have an opportunity to chime in and make add to this.

#16

Thank you @NC_Bullseye for your response; sorry to hear you’re experiencing similar issues.

Please do get back to me if you find something and I’ll also do the same if I make some progress and hopefully we’ll get some more ideas from @james.

#17

A few things to check here.

  1. Is the Infuse Pro logo visible in the Infuse > Settings menu on all devices?
  2. Are you using multiple profiles on the Apple TV? If so, you will need to ensure the Apple ID you wish to sync with is set up as the main (default) iCloud profile
  3. iCloud Drive enabled on all devices (details here)
  4. Some free iCloud storage (details here)
  5. Restart all devices (never hurts)

Note: It’s possible to login using separate IDs for iCloud and the App Store. To use iCloud Sync you will need to use the same ID for iCloud on all devices. The App Store IDs can be different, if needed.

#18

And the hits just keep on comin’

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#19

Well, no joy here, 4 different ATVs and only an occasional sync from a random unit. Did restarts around and still no watched status sync. Over half of the iCloud space available.

All 4 show they are syncing in the messages on the Library settings page.

@james Diagnostics code 4KMG8 on most recent launch and after it said synced and showed the “Last Updated” message.

Edit to add: This was after making sure that all Apple iCloud services were back up.

#20

Well, after performing the exact same procedure I described above (clearing all metadata, logging out of all services, removing Infuse and reinstalling on all my ATVs), for a THIRD time, it kinda works now.
The ATVs are able to keep in sync their watched status… partially. When I go into my share and change the watched status of several shows from watched to unwatched (and vice versa), some of the changes are propagated to the other ATV, while others don’t. At least the current watch status seems to work… for now. I wish I could tell you I dad done something different this time around but I haven’t.

I should also point out that the problems I had with the sync status had started more than a month ago, so they have nothing to do with Apple’s reported iCloud unavailability.

@james Thx for your reply. All of the things you suggested are already in place so the issue lies somewhere else.

The sync process is extremely buggy. I hope the next major version of Infuse really shakes things up in this department…