[100% Working] 3 Troubleshooting Tips to Solve Apple TV AVI Playback Issue

Recently, when I browsing Apple Forum and Reddit, I always come across the debate on “whether Apple TV can play AVI”. I got curious and did some searching. In fact, from the official technical parameters (https://support.apple.com/specs/appletv), AVI format is supported by Apple TV 2nd and 3rd generations, but under a strict rule - It requires Motion JPEG ( M-JPEG) video up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 fps, audio in u-law, PCM stereo audio. That is, most AVI videos are not supported since few meet the standard. When it gets to Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, I figure Apple finally finds it meaningless so that they removed that futile and ridiculous AVI support.

Given the backgrounds, to properly watch AVI on Apple TV, there’s no point in fiddling with your Apple TV, let’s proceed to find out 3 free Apple TV AVI playback troubleshooting methods.

Method 1 (Recommended). Convert AVI to Apple TV Supported Format

Method 2. Stream AVI to Apple TV via AirPlay Mirroring

Method 3. Install VLC for Apple TV for Apple TV AVI Playback

I’m sure you can’t be unfamiliar with AirPlay as an iOS user, but perhaps you either haven’t tried it or haven’t made full use of it. To make it easier to digest, AirPlay is a suite developed by Apple enabling wireless streaming of audio, video, screens, and photos between devices, which naturally sounds similar to DLNA services, right? Those with experiences of using Plex, Roku, Emby have it easy, the gist is to utilize the native AVI support provided by a third-party media player and stream it to your Apple TV taking the advantage of AirPlay.

Related Posts: Play AVI on Roku, AVI to Chromecast

iOS:

System requirement: iPhone 4s, iPad 2, or iPod touch 5th, iPad mini with iOS 12.2 or later

1) Connect iOS device to your Apple TV with the same WiFi

2) On your device, play the desired AVI files with an AVI player

3) Swipe up to access control center, hit “AirPlay”

4) Select the receiver (Apple TV) and enable “Mirroring”

Mac:

System requirement: Mac with macOS 10.14.5 or later

1) Open iTunes on your Mac, login with your account

2) Connect your Mac with Apple TV using the same Wi-Fi

3) Once synced, there should be an AirPlay button appears on the menu bar, click and enable it

4) Play the AVI files you desire with an AVI player on your Mac

5) If failed, go to System Preferences > Display, and try again

VLC media player is a completely free and open-source media player that supports virtually all video formats with its integrated codecs. The best part is, it’s a multi-platform program that you can find on App Store, Google Play and Windows Store. BeOS, BSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Windows CE, etc. So if you are having trouble playing a video, VLC media player is a solid support to draw.

Implement AVI Apple TV Playback with VLC Media Player:

1) On your Apple TV, navigate to https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-appletv.html or search “VLC” in apple store

2) Download and install VLC media player

3) Import the AVI files you intend to play to your Apple TV

4) Launch VLC media player App on Apple TV

5) Play AVI files with VLC media player

If VLC media player failed to correctly play your files, which happens at times (there is a known defect that VLC fails to play the AVI files containing AC3 audio codec), navigate to Method 1 or Method 2 for troubleshooting.