I have an unexplainable phenomena happening and it's really freaking me out. The past two nights, most of my TV's have been turning on by themselves. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with them being connected to Apple TV's. All of my TV's are Samsung, and only one of them isn't connected to an Apple TV (and it's the only TV that doesn't randomly turn on). I am completely stumped as to what is causing this. I live alone, unless my dog is playing tricks on me. I thought maybe someone hacked into my network, but my router log doesn't show any anomalies. By chance does anyone have any ideas on how this is even possible?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
All Apple TV's Turning On Randomly
- Thread starter DrewDowne
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
More than likely when your TV wakes up during the night to perform background routine maintenance it’s also sending power through the last used HDMI port which is what’s powering on the AppleTV which in turn fully powers on the TV.
You can test this by switching HDMI ports before you switch off the TV and see if the same happens.
You can also prevent by disabling HDMI CEC on the TV or disabling Home Cinema Control on the AppleTV.
You can test this by switching HDMI ports before you switch off the TV and see if the same happens.
You can also prevent by disabling HDMI CEC on the TV or disabling Home Cinema Control on the AppleTV.
Last edited:
A close neighbor could be attempting to AirPlay to them, especially if you live in an apartment. By default, Apple lets everyone AirPlay to Apple TVs, even if they aren't on your network. You can change this in Settings. Changing it to "Anyone on the Same Network" will make the Apple TVs only show up on devices connected to your network, preventing others from seeing and connecting to them.
![1707668022307.png]( "1707668022307.png")
As much as I'd love the intrigue and possibility of some nefarious neighbor airplaying to your TV's at all hours, it's most certainly as @-Gonzo- states. Check your CEC settings, check your AppleTV sleep schedule, and make sure before turning off the TV, you get it back to the AppleTV home screen. That way even if the TV does turn itself on, there'd be no chance for audio to pump through your speakers (like happened with us a couple times) 
If it's an OLED TV, make sure you have the screensaver kicking on (or Apple's) and set an auto off like 4 hours, to make sure it turns back off (in the middle of the night).
If it's an OLED TV, make sure you have the screensaver kicking on (or Apple's) and set an auto off like 4 hours, to make sure it turns back off (in the middle of the night).
My neighbors used to have the "allow anyone" option turned on, So when I went to airplay, I had 2 aTVs listed as "Living Room" one was mine, one was theirs, and they looked identical on the phone.
No intrigue, just a drunk person coming home late at night, and clicking "Living Room" instead of "Living Room"
That has happened to me too. I've also read stories of people pranking others by AirPlaying to their TVs or HomePods...which I'm guilty of too, lol. I'd rickroll my neighbors at odd times of the day/night. We thought it was funny and had a good laugh. I filled them in about the setting since they weren't aware of it and didn't know they were exposing their devices to everyone.
It reminds me of the days when Apple used to let anyone AirDrop to anyone, and people would prank others at shopping malls, airports, etc. who didn't know better to turn it off. Apple fixed that, but I wonder why they didn't change the default setting on these too. (Maybe they already have for new set ups.) I get it's convenient in that friends/visitors don't need to be on your network to AirPlay something; but at the same time, it's also inconvenient for others when they have numerous devices showing up in the "AirPlay to" list that aren't theirs.