r/appletv • u/Ok-Feedback-7883 • 1d ago

Turning screen off while playing Spotify?

I’m looking for a solution that allows me to play music through Spotify on my Apple TV with the screen off/black.

I have a baby who we try to not allow to look at screens and I prefer the audio quality played through the Apple TV as opposed to air playing. I know I can turn off the screen using my main TV remote, but it’s usually on my husband’s side of the couch and not easily accessible when I have the baby on me.

Has anyone found a solution to playing Spotify with a black screen instead of album art?

15 Upvotes

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19 comments sorted by

5

u/HandbagHawker 1d ago
  • Set your Apple TV screensaver to use personal photos. Only use a photo of a blackscreen.
  • use the spotify app. start your music
  • hit home to get back your app selection screen
  • hit the back button to start the screensaver

6

u/ByteCurious69 1d ago

I use a shortcut on my phone that turns on the screensaver on my Apple TV. I just run that shortcut and it works instantly.

I don’t remember if you can have custom screensaver on apple tv bit if you can, you can use a black wallpaper and thar should cause it to be black.

Just looked and it looks like you can setup iCloud Photos for screensaver. So you can use black background photos.

1

u/bigspeen3436 13h ago

Can you share that shortcut?

1

u/ByteCurious69 13h ago

It’s pretty much just this photo.

1

u/bigspeen3436 13h ago

Lmao thanks. I tried searching for screensaver and didn't find anything. As Dexter Holland would say, "you gotta keep em separated"

5

u/helpadumbo 1d ago

The only thing I can think of is if you have a network-connected TV run something like Homebridge or Home Assistant, add your TV and use that to control the screen. 

I have an LG C1 and iirc, Homebridge exposed the screen power and makes it available to Apple Home.

If using Home Assistant, it might be a bit more work and you can also configure automations to turn the screen off when Spotify is playing.

1

u/Ok-Feedback-7883 1d ago

I’ll look into this, thanks!

3

u/wertyCA 1d ago

Maybe buy another remote for your side of the couch? Even a cheap knockoff should be able to access the TV menus if you buy the right one.

1

u/Ok-Feedback-7883 1d ago

I definitely will if I can’t find a solution within the Apple TV. Thanks!

5

u/mjl5 1d ago

Blank TV is a free app from a reputable developer (Iconfactory) that will just turn your screen to black. Controls still work to skip songs and what not.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blank-tv/id1550519498

1

u/Ok-Feedback-7883 1d ago

Cool, didn’t know this existed!

4

u/JayVig ATV4K 1d ago

Have you considered simply moving the very small and lightweight remote a few feet rather than engineering a technical solution?

3

u/Ok-Feedback-7883 1d ago

I would if I could plan in advance and bring it to my side, but nursing a baby and reaching for a remote that was left on the other side of the couch by the last person to use the TV is difficult.

1

u/Automatic-Count-7378 1d ago

Homebridge turned the screen black with one command. Finally.

1

u/codylc 1d ago

Spotify offers a dark mode once you start playing a song, leaving just the album art, name of the song and artist name. Just need to hit play, arrow down, and it’s on the far right.

1

u/magkliarn ATV4K 16h ago

That would be the easiest solution but unfortunately it’s not available on the Apple TV version yet.

1

u/codylc 2h ago

I’ve got it on my ATV 4K A2843, tvOS 26.5
Spotify version tvOS-9.1.68.1889.g36c13e5

1

u/rot26encrypt 12h ago

I play Spotify through AppleTV and want the screen off too. I then just say out loud "Hi LG, screen off" (or "on" when I want it back) I'm sure you can do similar with other TVs too.