Apple TV Setup

1. Plug in the Apple TV and complete Apple’s first-time setup (sign in to your Apple ID, choose your Wi-Fi or plug in Ethernet).
2. From the Apple TV home screen, open the App Store.
3. Navigate to Search in the top menu and type DisplayCache.
4. Select DisplayCache from the results and choose Get. The download is under 20 MB.
5. Once installed, choose Open to launch DisplayCache.

The app launches into a fullscreen pairing screen with a 6-character code. Leave it on that screen for the next step.

You can also open the App Store listing on your phone or Mac: apps.apple.com/app/displaycache. From the listing, tap Open in → Apple TV to install on a paired Apple TV directly.

This is the most important step for signage. Apple TVs ship with an aggressive screen saver and a 20-minute sleep timer that will interrupt the slideshow. Both can be turned off in under a minute.

1. Go to Settings → General → Screen Saver.
2. Set Start After to Never. (This is the screen saver delay — with it set to Never, the screen saver never activates.)
3. Go back, then to Settings → General → Sleep After.
4. Set Sleep After to Never.
5. Optional but recommended: Settings → Apps → DisplayCache → Allow Background Refresh — turn it on so content downloads continue if the screen is ever closed.

The Apple TV will now stay awake indefinitely as long as it has power. If you also want the TV itself to turn on with the Apple TV remote (most TVs support this via CEC), go to Settings → Remotes and Devices → Control TVs and Receivers and turn it on.

Switch back to the DisplayCache app. You should see a 6-character pairing code on screen.

1. Open admin.displaycache.com in your browser and sign in.
2. Go to Devices in the sidebar.
3. Click + Pair Device.
4. Enter the 6-character code shown on the Apple TV and click Pair.
5. Give the device a friendly name (e.g., “Lobby TV”) and assign it to a location.

The pairing code disappears within a couple of seconds and the screen switches to your assigned content (or a holding screen if nothing is scheduled yet).

From the web admin, point the device at a playlist or a schedule.

1. Add the device to a group (optional) so you can target multiple screens at once.
2. Assign a playlist directly, or create a schedule that switches playlists at different times of day.
3. Save. The Apple TV downloads scheduled content within a minute or two and begins playback.

From this point on, any changes in admin push to the Apple TV automatically. No need to touch the remote again.

If the Apple TV is in a public space — a lobby, classroom, or hallway — you may want to prevent anyone with the Siri Remote from exiting DisplayCache. Apple supports this through Single App Mode, which pins one app to the screen until an administrator unlocks it.

Single App Mode requires Mobile Device Management (MDM). If you already use Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager, or any MDM (Jamf, Mosyle, Kandji, Intune, etc.):

1. Enroll the Apple TV in your MDM as you would any other device.
2. Create or apply a profile with Single App Mode set to DisplayCache (bundle identifier com.fbchtn.DisplayCache).
3. Push the profile to the device. DisplayCache will pin itself fullscreen and the Home button is disabled until the profile is removed.

If you don’t have MDM, the simplest fix is to hide the Siri Remote — Apple TV runs fine without one. The app starts automatically on boot, content is managed from the web admin, and the remote is only needed for the initial setup steps.