There was a time when if someone asked me what smart TV operating system or streaming device was my favorite, the answer was very simple: the Apple TV 4K. Its sleek design is unparalleled, the UI is simple to navigate, the most recent Siri Remote is great, streaming app updates often hit the platform first, and it supports notable high-end visual and audio formats like HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and more. It can even play great casual games like Alto’s Adventure, Crossy Road Castle, and Pac-Man 256, though admittedly, I don’t do this very often on my Apple TV 4K (2021).

The streaming device might be pricey, but it’s truly one of the most complete packages out there.

More importantly, it was once the most reliable glitch-free streaming device available, but unfortunately, that’s changed over the past few years. And to be clear, I’m not using an old model — this is the second generation Apple TV 4K (2021) I’m talking about. Whether it’s Apple not placing as much emphasis on tvOS’ development or the Apple TV 4K being pushed to the side in general (where is that refresh that’s been rumored for years?), my experience with the tech giant’s streamer has become significantly less stable over the past few years, leading me to consider jumping to a Roku device or even one of Amazon’s Fire TV streamers.

The list of issues is growing

I miss the Apple TV’s era of stability

Some of the key issues I’ve encountered are apps frequently freezing or not loading properly, forcing me to reset the Apple TV 4K or uninstall/reinstall and then sign back into whatever streaming platform I’m experiencing issues with. This issue could be on the app side, but even if that’s the case, Apple should be on top of it since its App Store is so tightly controlled and curated. This has always been a key reason why the Apple TV’s App Store is so great.

Next up is an odd audio looping problem I often encounter. Sometimes, after I pause or finish content on a streaming app like Netflix, audio will start looping until I turn the Apple TV 4K off, while in other situations, I can just quit the app and go back in. This started happening after the Apple TV 4K updated to tvOS 26 and has become progressively worse over the past few weeks. I’ve also encountered another odd audio bug where the Apple TV disconnects from my soundbar entirely, forcing me to restart the Apple TV and my soundbar. Could this be an issue with my soundbar? It’s possible, but I don’t run into the same problem when I watch content directly though my TV.

Adding to the pile of problems is the fact that streaming apps randomly freeze or leg, the second generation Siri Remote disconnects, and in some cases, the Apple TV 4K drops its connection from my Nest Wifi Pro entirely, forcing me to manually reconnect (though to be fair, I’ve had a lot of issues with Google’s router). Even AirPlay 2 has been a bit of a mess, with videos often not casting to the Apple TV 4K from my iPhone 17 Pro.

After a long day at work, I don’t want to spend 20 minutes troubleshooting problems with my streaming device. I just want to sit back and launch The Sopranos on Crave (for US readers, this is where all HBO content streams in Canada), and zone out for a bit. With all of these issues in mind, I’d really like to see Apple focus on stability improvements with tvOS 27, instead of iOS 26’s Liquid Glass’ flashy visual redesign, the addition of FaceTime, and singing along to Apple Music songs, all features I either don’t use or don’t care about.

Very bluntly, I want a streaming device that’s simple to use and works consistently, and at least right now, that’s not the Apple TV 4K (2021).

So what platform am I switching to?

I’m not totally sure yet

So what streaming platform will I end up moving, too? I don’t know yet. My U8H Hisense TV’s built-in Google TV OS isn’t great, and I’ve heard bad things about the Google TV Streamer. There was a time when I was all in on Roku, so I can see myself landing back in that camp, or maybe I’ll give Amazon’s new Fire TV Select a chance, though the platform’s recent shift to Vega OS and the rampant blocking of a certain type of app limits its appeal considerably, especially as the cost of streaming app subscriptions continues to skyrocket.

In reality, I really don’t want to abandon the Apple TV 4K and tvOS. It’s the platform I’ve used for years, and I’m very comfortable with it. I just need Apple to step its game up like it did back when iOS started to suffer from stability issues a few years ago.