I was having a really frustrating issue with my Apple TV+ app on my LG OLED TV. I started to watch Ted Lasso, which I love and the audio was not in time with the video, and it made for an unpleasant viewing experience. I spent some time troubleshooting and found the problem. If you´re experiencing the same problem, here is how to fix it.
How I found out the problem:
I had just fiddled with the audio settings on my TV earlier that day so that I could use AirPods instead of the internal speakers as a source for sound.
I completely forgot about that and the TV settings were absolutely miscalibrated when later I went to watch my show on Apple+. So it turned out, this was actually what caused an issue with audio sync!
If yours is an LG OLED (like mine), head over here for sound adjustments; if not- follow these instructions will be similar, just find the audio source settings.
Fixing the issue
1 – Go to sound settings on your TV
I have an LG OLED, but this should be pretty similar for other brands such as Samsung and Sony. Just head over to the menu where you can change the audio source from internal speakers to AirPods or any other external device. In my case, it´s called “Sound out”, while others require a more specific description- check out your manual if it´s not clear what do to.
2 – Change it to “Internal TV Speakers” (or the name of your sound source)
If you make sure that this setting is selected, like in my case- then no issues will happen with audio sync. The problem was that I had left it on another setting which turned out not to be optimal for the Apple TV app. Once changed back to Internal TV Speakers everything became fine! So if you are experiencing similar problems just try switching between different audio sources and see if there might be a connection – or even better do as I did first thing 🙂 Try running through this process again until all works well!
This worked for me and sorted the issue. But if it doesn´t for you, or if you’re using an Apple TV box instead of an app on a smart TV (like me) you could also try to update to the latest tvOS.
Update to latest TV OS
On your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD box
Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and select Update Software.
If there’s an update, select Download and Install.
Wait for your Apple TV to download the update. Don’t disconnect or unplug your Apple TV until the update has been completed.
After the update has been downloaded, your Apple TV will restart, prepare the update and then install it. When the update has been completed, your Apple TV will restart again automatically.
- Head over to this document from Apple that has detailed instructions for your version of Apple TV box.
Check Audio settings on your Apple TV
The next step to try is checking the audio settings on your Apple TV itself. For example, your Apple TV should automatically select the highest quality audio compatible with your television, but it may not be compatible with all of the content you’re watching.
Go to Settings > Video and Audio > Audio Format > Change Format and test out both Stereo and Dolby Digital. Does one sound better than another? If yes- that´s probably what you need to use for this particular show or episode.
If none sounds good enough try troubleshooting further; if two work perfectly fine then go back into “sound” options on your TV as well as in Preferences on iTunes/Apple+, check those again too!
Did any of these steps fix the issue? Comment below!
I hope this helped you out. I was able to resolve the issue on my end, and hopefully, it´ll help someone else too. If none of these steps works for you- please leave a comment below so that other readers can find your solution as well. Cheers!
