How to get more Aerial Apple TV videos or change your screensaver outright

The fourth generation Apple TV ships with a couple of Aerial screen saver videos pre-installed. If you didn't tell it to check automatically for new videos when you set up the Apple TV, It doesn't take long to tire of the small initial selection — but Apple's got loads more, and AppleInsider will tell you how to get them.

Here's how to change the screen saver if you'd rather not see any more of the in-air videos at all, and also how to get more Aerial videos from Apple.

The procedure to do both is similar. To start:

Open Settings
Select "General"
Select "Screensaver"
Select "Type"
If you wish to change the screen saver, select which you want on this screen, and back out.

However, if you want more Aerial videos:

Select "Aerial" even if it is already selected.
Hit the "Menu" button once on the Siri Remote
A new menu option, "Download new videos" is available - select that.
Then, select how often you want to download new Aerial videos from the Apple servers

There are 11 different locations for the Aerial screen saver, and 55 different videos in total. Apple says that the Aerial screensaver takes about 600 MB of a month, so be mindful.

32 Comments

hucom2000 8 Years · 149 comments

About 7 years ago

Yea nice, except that it doesn't work on our device - keeps playing the same two or three videos even with the "daily" option selected...

anantksundaram 18 Years · 20391 comments

I am going to finally get around to buying an AppleTV 4. The 2nd Gen in the basement is getting long in the tooth (e.g., the YouTube app is gone), so I have to bite the bullet.

This is the FIRST EVER Apple product purchase that I can recall where I am going, "meh."

The only question I have is whether I should save $50, i.e., whether a 32GB will suffice...

revenant 15 Years · 610 comments

hucom2000 said:

Yea nice, except that it doesn't work on our device - keeps playing the same two or three videos even with the "daily" option selected...

I restarted and changed options and changed then back to Aerial and daily--nothing new for days.

daven 16 Years · 722 comments

anantksundaram said:

I am going to finally get around to buying an AppleTV 4. The 2nd Gen in the basement is getting long in the tooth (e.g., the YouTube app is gone), so I have to bite the bullet.

This is the FIRST EVER Apple product purchase that I can recall where I am going, "meh."

The only question I have is whether I should save $50, i.e., whether a 32GB will suffice...

I have one each of Apple TV versions 2, 3, and 4. I installed the Kodi hack on the 2 version so I now have YouTube, MeTV, and local files for viewing. You may want to give that a try.

You will like the 4 version. Having a swipe option, dictation, and installable apps is nice. I also installed an app for viewing local files.

Between the options I cut off cable tv. Instead of buying a new Apple TV have you considered the ATT Apple TV offer? I don't know if it is still available. It was something like pay for three months of service and get an ATV 4 for free. The three month total was less cost than buying a new ATV 4 and you get three months of service.

Looks like the offer expired but the page is still up. When I click on the redeem button it takes me to a seven day free signup

https://directvnow.com/appletv

zroger73 13 Years · 787 comments

Interesting to read about others' experiences... I've got three Apple TV 4 devices - all set to download new screen savers daily. Since a year ago when I bought my first Apple TV 4, I've only seen a small number of the same screen savers. I've also noticed that the screen savers are not associated with day and night like they're supposed to be - i.e., I'll see daytime screen savers at 11 o'clock at night. My time zone is set correctly, I have very few apps installed, and the units have been reset and the firmware upgraded several times.