Advanced Apple TV Remote Interface for iOS and Macs Outlined in Apple Patent Application

[PsykX]

So.. reverse airplay?

Makes sense. I'll be able to stream my Apple TV OS onto an iOS or OS X device.
It'll be much better this way, because right now browsing on an Apple TV is a PITA, with the virtual remote... let alone the physical remote for those who don't have an iPhone.

Then, what they need to do is reduce the number of menus/submenus and integrate a little bit of Siri wizardry and add a bunch of common TV channels. Oh, one more thing : an App Store

 

[MachineShedFred]

Wait a minute, look I have both Apple TV and Roku. Roku has been doing something similar to this since they had their iOS app.

As has Plex. And there have been apps that do this for Windows Media Center on iOS and Android that do this.

It will be interesting to see what exactly they are attempting to patent here...

 

[Epsilon0]

I refer the honourable gentlemen to the Virgin Media TiVo app on iOS. It does everything referred to in this article. You can browser the listings, look up info on shows and cast, set recordings, view on demand and manage your series links. It controls the box if you are connected through the same hub. It's not perfect and can be slow but I can't see how it differs from this patent outline.

Of course this must work in a different way that is transparent to the end user but functionally, it is identical.

 

[Intelligent]

Yes! Please a new Apple TV soon.

 

[Populism]

And the hobby… continues.

 

[b1wils1]

why is the laptop so thick?!?!

powerbook G5?

 

[macduke]

I just want the new Apple TV to come out already! Give me an App Store where I can subscribe to the channels I want without needing to buy an entire cable package to use just a few channels, and give me games with bluetooth controller support so I can play games like Minecraft with my wife without having to lug down the Xbox from my man cave. My wife also wants Siri support. We briefly used the Xbox One in the living room before I moved it to my man cave and it was really handy—especially with our hands full with a baby now—to easily put on a show with voice commands or pause while we run to the kitchen. Sometimes she still yells at the Apple TV "Xbox, pause!" when leaving the room just wishing that it would pause the thing. "Hey Siri, pause!" would be great.

 

[JAT]

HOWEVER, for the sake of all that is good in this world, PLEASE kill the cable dependency for content.

Drop your cable, find much of the content elsewhere, give a little of it up. Be happy.

Worked for me. 3 years last month...do I get a chip for that?

 

[iamgalt]

I've never considered the remote app to be the worst app out there and never had huge issues with it and think it works better than the stock physical remote (don't get me wrong, it could use some improvement). I think the biggest problem is the Apple TV interface. I've got quite a few movies in my iTunes library and to scroll through them can take a while. I would be happy to see a new apple tv interface, but if they can integrate it more with the remote app, awesome.

 

[whooleytoo]

In my opinion one of the biggest flaws in the AppleTV and most every other streamer where they want you to use your phone as an input device is the lack of HDMI-CEC input switching like the Chromecast is able to do. I HATE having something that I want to Airplay for example only to have to stop what I am doing on my phone and reach for the TV remote to switch inputs to the AppleTV. Completely ruins the flow. With the Chromecast I just tell it to play and the TV switches.

I can't understand why this isn't a bigger deal with people? It can't just be me can it?

Absolutely, yes!

I'd love to see Apple go even further. (I know some people will hate this idea, but...) I'd love for the Apple television to entirely replace my home theatre. Loads of ports, so no need for a HDMI switch. Amplifier / receiver built in, so you hook your surround sound speakers directly to the TV. One volume control - the TV. One input selector - the TV.

No need for loads of remotes (or spending money & time on a Harmony remote trying to replace them all like I did!). Select a video on your iOS device, and your TV powers on, switches to the correct input and plays it. You could even do nice picture-in-picture features to keep watching what's on TV, or monitor how a console update is going as you watch something else.

 

[Hammie]

It would be great to have a UI that allows better control of the Apple TV, especially the settings. It would be nice to be able to hide, remove, arrange the tiles shown on the Apple TV Home screen right from the app.

 

[whooleytoo]

I've never considered the remote app to be the worst app out there and never had huge issues with it and think it works better than the stock physical remote (don't get me wrong, it could use some improvement). I think the biggest problem is the Apple TV interface. I've got quite a few movies in my iTunes library and to scroll through them can take a while. I would be happy to see a new apple tv interface, but if they can integrate it more with the remote app, awesome.

Yeah, funnily the best way to watch content on Netflix (IMO) is browsing for content on an iPad, with Airplay on so the films play on the TV. The touch UI, the ability to just tap the one you want rather than tap-tap-tap to select it, the smooth scrolling & acceleration to get through a long list quickly...

It's a much better experience than the native app or your iTunes library.

 

[LukasValine]

You go draw a thin laptop then

How's this?

 

[charlituna]

So.. reverse airplay?

And I love it. The cuz mentioned this idea ages ago and we are thrilled that it has been at least a thought at Apple. Because it seems dumb that it never happened before.

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HOWEVER, for the sake of all that is good in this world, PLEASE kill the cable dependency for content.

Not in Apple's control. They have to wait for the current cable contracts to end and see what they can do. But if the nets and studios won't play they won't play.

That said, it is possible some of them are ending and that's why HBO and Starz made murmurs they would consider the idea.

 

[2457282]

Drop your cable, find much of the content elsewhere, give a little of it up. Be happy.

Worked for me. 3 years last month...do I get a chip for that?

I have been without a cable subscription for years as well. However, Apple TV keeps adding channels that I cannot use since a cable subscription is required (which defeats the point of the Apple TV in my opinion). This is what needs to be fixed. I guess it will get fixed as folks like Netflix and Amazon continue to create their own content. If the cable companies refuse to sell a la cart then they will continue to lose subscribers (again, my opinion).

 

[charlituna]

I would LOVE for them to officially bring back Front Row.

i did not like that UI. But then again I don't particularly like the UI on the ATV at the moment.

My big beef is that music/movies/tv goes to the store and not my stuff. That's back ass wards to me. those areas should be my stuff as a combo of what's on home sharing and what's on iCloud etc. give me a store app or a button in those apps to go to the appropriate store (kind of like how iTunes 12 does it).

And I like my cousins idea that the ATV UI should be that of iOS 8 with a store for allowing us to download which channels we want, rather than forcing us to take it and hide it.

 

[cosmichobo]

Why do I get the feeling that such an app will only work on the current generation devices... just like the new screen "sharing" feature that Apple is working on...?

Even if it's capable of working on older machines... they just wont let it happen.

(Oh yes, cos I'm a conspiratorialist.)

 

[charlituna]

I can't understand why this isn't a bigger deal with people? It can't just be me can it?

Most people just deal with whatever they have to.

Ultimately the best world would be if we didn't have to switch inputs because the ATV, Chromecast or whatever was our 'cable box'. Perhaps even have a set up where there is a second HDMI and the ability to control a dvd/blu-ray player off the same UI. At least until way way higher quality downloads can happen and we don't need blu-ray discs.

 

[iLLUMI]

What a great idea!
So say if you're in one room, and the Apple TV etc are in another room and you're listening to iTunes radio and you want to change the station, instead of having to go to that other room to look at the TV so you can select another station, all you need to do is see the options on your iPad or iPhone and select it from there.
Makes great sense. Apple TV Remote should have already had that feature.
This will make Apple TV remote a true remote.
Really looking forward to this. I think it will breathe some life back into iPad sales too.

 

[charlituna]

Apple has been working on a new apple TV for some time now. I think these rumors are a complete shot in the dark.

most of those rumors have been that they are working on an Apple TV not a box.

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It should auto-detect nearby TVs, and allow me to *swipe* a photo or other content onto the TV.

one of my fav tricks from that hideous Casino Royale sequel. But I still want my Apple Table

 

[Menel]

most of those rumors have been that they are working on an Apple TV not a box.

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one of my fav tricks from that hideous Casino Royale sequel. But I still want my Apple Table

The TV rumors have dried out and fizzled. Reverted back to being about a box.

And for a good reason, Apple doesn't want to compete in that space, that market is a race to the bottom.

 

[rGiskard]

So to control my TV with my iPhone, the signal has to go through a cloud somewhere? WTF is up with that?

Apple should just copy Android's IR Blasters and move on.

I would LOVE to pay for an iOS App that did away with all my IR remotes - without having to buy a bunch of extra hardware.

 

[Col4bin]

The current remote app could certainly use a little sprucing up. And providing a remote app on the Mac would be nice too.

HOWEVER, for the sake of all that is good in this world, PLEASE kill the cable dependency for content.

Seems pretty straight-forward, but why note just use your iPhone or iPad as the Apple TV remote via app? (Or is this already possible?) I dont own an Apple TV, so not sure what the answer is…

 

[JHankwitz]

Originally Posted by Cuban Missles:
HOWEVER, for the sake of all that is good in this world, PLEASE kill the cable dependency for content.
- - - - - -
I don't think they have a choice.

I'm sure they're trying to negotiate a bypass of the cable companies with the content providers. This would create something wonderful if I didn't have to pay for hundreds of channels I never watch, and could pay for only the channels I want. The concept of making people first pay for crap they don't want in order to pay even more for stuff they do want totally sucks. 50 years of using this model is long enough!

 

[ozone54]

Why not make it so the cable boxes hdmi out goes into the appleTV? Then make it so cable TV is an actual channel on the appleTV and then make so the user would be able to control the cable box with their phone/iPad/computer.

Maybe even make so the Apple TV is the hub. Youde hook everything up to it now that you have hooked up to your TVS. Instead of it being another source it would be the only source needed. All you do to watch anything on your TV is turn on your Apple TV and it would all be right there on your home screen.