Returning mine too

[Agent2015]

Today, I returned my 32GB as well. For what I was using my ATV3, the ATV4 felt like a downgrade (no native Internet Radio and Podcast apps), cheap feeling remote. Just like I am waiting for watch 2, I will patiently wait for ATV5 with updated App store, apps etc. If ATV4, was @$99 for 32GB, I would be more keen to keep it, but at $149, this thing is not worth it for me.

Really? Unbelievably silly excuses to return it. App store is getting better every day. Cheap remote? Oh come on, have you tried any of the competition's crappy plastic? So yeah go ahead and wait till the ATV5 (and I'm sure you'll have excuses for returning that one too). In the mean time millions of us will be enjoying our ATV4s. By the way have you heard about Airplay? That beams everything you might have on your dusty iPhone including IR and Podcasts. Of course if you are on a solid Android, say no more.

 

[StarShot]

If you hate to start another thread about this, why are you?

Probably going for a original poster record.

 

[mlody]

you don't even like ipad air? and prefer ATV 3 remote? you must be in minority.

I do not like iPad air because of how the screen feels, but I do have iPad air 2 and I am fine with it. and yes,I do prefer atv3 remote to atv4 - anything wrong with it ? I am not a blind sheep that jumps on anything new Apple releases and ignores all faults/issues with their products.

 

[Agent2015]

You can just stop there.

Anyone thoroughly invested in iTunes purchases will always be best with an Apple TV.

Oh I won't stop there. The Plex client on the ATV4 is fantastic bringing my hundreds worth of movies seamlessly over to my TV. No more kludgy solutions for that. And the endless variety of apps including HBO Now, Airplay, AC networking, upcoming tvOS updates, hey even that cool screen saver! All in all a worthy upgrade from the ATV3 (that is still in service on the spare TV).

 

[mlody]

Really? Unbelievably silly excuses to return it. App store is getting better every day. Cheap remote? Oh come on, have you tried any of the competition's crappy plastic? So yeah go ahead and wait till the ATV5 (and I'm sure you'll have excuses for returning that one too). In the mean time millions of us will be enjoying our ATV4s. By the way have you heard about Airplay? That beams everything you might have on your dusty iPhone including IR and Podcasts. Of course if you are on a solid Android, say no more.

Why does it bother you soo much that I returned my atv4 - it was mine and I made my decision, based on my own needs,uses cases and cost to value proposition.

 

[Agent2015]

I'm generally happy with my 32gb ATV4. Only 2 major dislikes are the new black on white interface verse the old white on black and the "missing' Amazon Prime app.

Regardless, do any of the alternatives have a hard wire ethernet input? The FireStick doesn't. My ethernet clocks 85-100Mbps with NO spooling. My previous ATVs, which also had an ethernet port, occasionally spooled to the point where I threw the towel in. I recently ran an ethernet cable to my video room and it was a huge improvement. No wifi FireSticks in my future or any other wifi only device for me.

Actually I am finding the ATV4's AC wireless connection to be working very nicely. My ATV3 worked best with a wired ethernet connection.

 

[StarShot]

...In the mean time millions of us will be enjoying our ATV4s. By the way have you heard about Airplay? That beams everything you might have on your dusty iPhone including IR and Podcasts. Of course if you are on a solid Android, say no more.

This is really in reply to the OP, but you raised a point about AirPlay that I would like to comment on. I have the new ATV4 and have NO plans to return it. However, I'm a bit disappointed to learn that Amazon Prime still doesn't have an app for the ATV4 or as far as I know, the earlier ATVs. This doesn't effect me too much as I do have a Samsung that does have the Amazon Prime app.

So today I did a test just to see what would happen if I tried to AirPlay Amazon Prime with my ATV4. It did, but it took wide screen iPhone picture and squeezed it down to the old 4x3 format (letterbox). However, instead of just chopping off a bit on each side, the picture actually looks like the wide screen format is completely squeezed down to 4x3. I checked and my old ATV3 did the same thing.

Wondering if this is some hack Amazon did with their app to prevent full enjoyment or just a feature of AirPlay in itself. Unwatchable unless as a last resort.

 

[Agent2015]

Why does it bother you soo much that I returned my atv4 - it was mine and I made my decision, based on my own needs,uses cases and cost to value proposition.

Doesn't bother me in the least just as it shouldn't bother you in the least that I with millions of others are not returning our ATV4s. I just find it odd that you have to announce to the world that you are returning yours. Since you no longer own one, seems to me that you have lost your voice for complaining about the ATV4. But no worries, I am thoroughly enjoying mine...worth every penny.

 

[StarShot]

...yes,I do prefer atv3 remote to atv4 - anything wrong with it ?

At this moment, I would have to say I mostly agree about the ATV4 remote. I find the touch pad too sensitive and I'm constantly overshooting where I want the cursor to be. I'm hoping to get used to it, but it's going to be a while as ATV is NOT a daily thing with me. Even once a week is probably a stretch. Do like the volume control though.

 

[Agent2015]

This is really in reply to the OP, but you raised a point about AirPlay that I would like to comment on. I have the new ATV4 and have NO plans to return it. However, I'm a bit disappointed to learn that Amazon Prime still doesn't have an app for the ATV4 or as far as I know, the earlier ATVs. This doesn't effect me too much as I do have a Samsung that does have the Amazon Prime app.

So today I did a test just to see what would happen if I tried to AirPlay Amazon Prime with my ATV4. It did, but it took wide screen iPhone picture and squeezed it down to the old 4x3 format (letterbox). However, instead of just chopping off a bit on each side, the picture actually looks like the wide screen format is completely squeezed down to 4x3. I checked and my old ATV3 did the same thing.

Wondering if this is some hack Amazon did with their app to prevent full enjoyment or just a feature of AirPlay in itself. Unwatchable unless as a last resort.

Totally agree with you. I too have a Samsung TV with the "smart" Smart Hub that includes the Amazon Prime app. That's the only time I use the Smart Hub as find that environment to be feeble at best. I don't seem to get the same video/audio quality that I get from the ATV4. I've had a better experience with Prime via a Mac mini using the Chrome browser (again the only time I use Chrome) and then presented via Airplay. I thing the key is to make sure your network is fully optimized to handle the consistent bandwidth necessary. Unfortunately I don't think there will ever be a Prime client on the ATV platform considering the skirmish that Amazon and Apple are conducting. As you know this includes Amazon banishing the ATV platform from retail. Such silliness! Either way not having Prime on the ATV4 is not a deal breaker for me.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Oh I won't stop there. The Plex client on the ATV4 is fantastic bringing my hundreds worth of movies seamlessly over to my TV. No more kludgy solutions for that. And the endless variety of apps including HBO Now, Airplay, AC networking, upcoming tvOS updates, hey even that cool screen saver! All in all a worthy upgrade from the ATV3 (that is still in service on the spare TV).

You completely missed my point. I'm agreeing with you. For your types of uses, the Apple TV lineup is the only thing you should even be considering

You were citing all those other boxes. What I was saying is that anyone thoroughly invested in iTunes purchases should not ever be considering other solutions beyond Apple TV...whatever gen you choose.

Apple tv is the only box that will ever give you the iTunes integration you're looking for.

 

[Agent2015]

I do not like iPad air because of how the screen feels, but I do have iPad air 2 and I am fine with it. and yes,I do prefer atv3 remote to atv4 - anything wrong with it ? I am not a blind sheep that jumps on anything new Apple releases and ignores all faults/issues with their products.

Wow there must be millions upon millions of blind sheep using Apple products out there! Certainly Apple products are not perfect but when you compare and use the many alternatives available, there is no doubt that the Apple experience is best. I work in the IT world and touch just about every platform and device out there and can with confidence that Apple stuff is just better. But this is a free world and if the ATV3 remote feels better to you, more power to you! For me the ATV4 remote is a far superior device (heck I'm finding Siri via the remote to be quite good). Although I also use a Logitech Harmony simply because of the complexity of my HT setup...works very well even with the ATV4.

 

[Agent2015]

You completely missed my point. I'm agreeing with you. For your types of uses, the Apple TV lineup is the only thing you should even be considering

You were citing all those other boxes. What I was saying is that anyone thoroughly invested in iTunes purchases should not ever be considering other solutions beyond Apple TV...whatever gen you choose.

Apple tv is the only box that will ever give you the iTunes integration you're looking for.

Yes I understand what you are saying but your are missing my point. Even I didn't own a single piece of iTunes media, the ATV4 would still be an excellent option. The ATV4 is a box capable of much more. But thanks for agreeing with me nonetheless.

 

[Jazwire]

No SlingTV, No Kodi, 10/100 ethernet port, No Bluetooth keyboard capability, No SD/Mini SD slot, No USB slot(s). No 4k Video, Voice command doesn't work on other apps (namely Youtube)

I owned 2, returned 1, the other one is still sitting in the box collecting dust, not even worth hooking it up and wasting an HDMI port on it in its current state.

I currently own a Nvidia Shield TV, FireTV2, Roku3, AppleTV 3 , Apple TV4.

Order I'd rate them.
#1 Nvidia Shield TV (By a mile, nothing else is even close.)
#2 FireTV 2 (Not a fan of the interface, I do find it a bit clunky,but a lot of options the below boxes don't have.)
#3 AppleTV3
#4 Roku3
#5 AppleTV4 - Once they add Sling TV, and Keyboard Support, I'd rate it #3, In addition, if Kodi is able to be added even via a sideload, and they open up Siri for other apps (youtube) then I'd rank it #2, it still wouldn't have 4k and user storage expandability like the FireTV, but the AppleTV interface is superior.

 

[omnimoeish]

To me, the airplay feature is pretty useful, but Apple pretty much just followed the smart TV crowd here. Apple really needs to shake up management and design team. They are refusing to think of ways to combine iOS app capability and Mac OS X functionality. They can't even figure out how to combine Mac mini functionality to make a real smart TV. They're thinking inside the box more than any other tech company. It's pretty scary. They're copying Samsung making watches. It took them 5 years to make a decent size screen iPhone. I think business will start contracting now that the pent up demand for large screen iPhones is gone. The iPhone will go the way of the iPad and that's really going to hurt. Too bad because there's so many cool things they can do. I remember laughing when I saw the iPhone 5S, and a company with hundreds of billions of dollars, the most valuable company on the planet, with unlimited resources in the heart of silicon valley, took an entire year to install a thumb print reader that they got from a company they bought out. They still refused to make a larger screen phone until 2014.

I really knew Apple had jumped the shark when their tagline for this last product launch when they told us the 6S was really a 6 with the ability to right click on apps and things was "The only thing that's changed is everything" - i.e. the most childish marketing slogan I could imagine. It sounds like a parody of an Apple product launch tagline.

 

[BMox81]

No SlingTV, No Kodi, 10/100 ethernet port, No Bluetooth keyboard capability, No SD/Mini SD slot, No USB slot(s). No 4k Video, Voice command doesn't work on other apps (namely Youtube)

I owned 2, returned 1, the other one is still sitting in the box collecting dust, not even worth hooking it up and wasting an HDMI port on it in its current state.

I currently own a Nvidia Shield TV, FireTV2, Roku3, AppleTV 3 , Apple TV4.

Order I'd rate them.
#1 Nvidia Shield TV (By a mile, nothing else is even close.)
#2 FireTV 2 (Not a fan of the interface, I do find it a bit clunky,but a lot of options the below boxes don't have.)
#3 AppleTV3
#4 Roku3
#5 AppleTV4 - Once they add Sling TV, and Keyboard Support, I'd rate it #3, In addition, if Kodi is able to be added even via a sideload, and they open up Siri for other apps (youtube) then I'd rank it #2, it still wouldn't have 4k and user storage expandability like the FireTV, but the AppleTV interface is superior.

Kodi can be sideloaded.

 

[matrix07]

They're copying Samsung making watches.

I stop reading right there. It's sad that people believes this FUD or just plain ignorant of Apple history

I really knew Apple had jumped the shark when their tagline for this last product launch when they told us the 6S was really a 6 with the ability to right click on apps and things was "The only thing that's changed is everything" - i.e. the most childish marketing slogan I could imagine. It sounds like a parody of an Apple product launch tagline.

I'm guilty. I admit I glanced on, and I found this gem.
So nothing else in 6s has changed. No CPU, GPU change? No camera change? No material change etc.
Guess I have my answer. Just plain ignorant here.

 

[StuMcBill]

Kodi can be sideloaded.

How do you go about installing add-ons etc since there is no real file system in iOS? I had them installed on my iPad when I was jailbroken, but I had full access to the file system there?

 

[normanfox]

No SlingTV, No Kodi, 10/100 ethernet port, No Bluetooth keyboard capability, No SD/Mini SD slot, No USB slot(s). No 4k Video, Voice command doesn't work on other apps (namely Youtube)

I owned 2, returned 1, the other one is still sitting in the box collecting dust, not even worth hooking it up and wasting an HDMI port on it in its current state.

I currently own a Nvidia Shield TV, FireTV2, Roku3, AppleTV 3 , Apple TV4.

Order I'd rate them.
#1 Nvidia Shield TV (By a mile, nothing else is even close.)
#2 FireTV 2 (Not a fan of the interface, I do find it a bit clunky,but a lot of options the below boxes don't have.)
#3 AppleTV3
#4 Roku3
#5 AppleTV4 - Once they add Sling TV, and Keyboard Support, I'd rate it #3, In addition, if Kodi is able to be added even via a sideload, and they open up Siri for other apps (youtube) then I'd rank it #2, it still wouldn't have 4k and user storage expandability like the FireTV, but the AppleTV interface is superior.

I own the following streaming boxes, and this is the order that I would rate them:
1) ATV 4
2) Nvidia Shield TV (currently using it for Kodi)
3) Google Nexus Player
4) ATV 3

Once ATV 4 have Kodi in the app store, Nvidia Shield would have less usage.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Even I didn't own a single piece of iTunes media, the ATV4 would still be an excellent option.

If you are not interested in the Apple eco-system of AirPlay & iTunes purchases, the ATV’s are absolutely NOT the best boxes/streaming solutions out there. Not even close if you consider “value” (ATV3 dismissed - talking ATV4 only).

ATV4 is best of the lot…
Nothing comes close to consolidating my media library that includes a substantial investment in iTunes movies and music.

With the addition of the Plex client on the ATV4 I know have my DVD and Blu Ray collection seamlessly available as well. To say nothing of the ever increasing number of apps that are getting better, better in terms of quality.

You go on an on about your iTunes library and stolen Plex content (or illegally ripped at best). Plex has long been available through SO many other means, ATV was literally the last to get it. And App selection is still far better on other platforms and “App Quality” is completely subjective.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Once ATV 4 have Kodi in the app store

Pretty sure a pirated content centric app is going to always be sideload only.

 

[normanfox]

To me, the airplay feature is pretty useful, but Apple pretty much just followed the smart TV crowd here. Apple really needs to shake up management and design team. They are refusing to think of ways to combine iOS app capability and Mac OS X functionality. They can't even figure out how to combine Mac mini functionality to make a real smart TV. They're thinking inside the box more than any other tech company. It's pretty scary. They're copying Samsung making watches. It took them 5 years to make a decent size screen iPhone. I think business will start contracting now that the pent up demand for large screen iPhones is gone. The iPhone will go the way of the iPad and that's really going to hurt. Too bad because there's so many cool things they can do. I remember laughing when I saw the iPhone 5S, and a company with hundreds of billions of dollars, the most valuable company on the planet, with unlimited resources in the heart of silicon valley, took an entire year to install a thumb print reader that they got from a company they bought out. They still refused to make a larger screen phone until 2014.

I really knew Apple had jumped the shark when their tagline for this last product launch when they told us the 6S was really a 6 with the ability to right click on apps and things was "The only thing that's changed is everything" - i.e. the most childish marketing slogan I could imagine. It sounds like a parody of an Apple product launch tagline.

dude, you are way off here.

Combining ios and OS X sounds nice, but in reality there are to many compromises. here is the example, Microsoft window 8. they combine mobile and desktop OS into one. I installed it first day, and it is unuable. I have to install a hack to get the start menu back. Here is another one: Surface Pro. it can barely touch ipad in term of market share. its battery life is no where near ipad.

Apple copying Samung watch? if you know anything about Samsung history, their copying is in their DNA. they even copy the Rose Gold color and even naming their phone "plus"

5s touch ID is the best feature that I use countless times a day. I remember back in old day when Dell XPS laptop had a finger print. it worked half of the time, and it is buggy. eventually, I gave up using it. Touch ID just works and it makes my phone much more secure. it also make paying with credit card easy, fast and secure. Samsung copying this but it is not even in the same league.

now back to ATV 4. I own ATV 4, google nexus player, Nvidia Shield TV. Nvidia Shield has all of best hardware out there. problem is that it runs Google TV. Google TV was released over a year ago but it is far behind tvOS. rev/ff on Google TV is terrible and no consistency. each app implements rev/FF differently. voice seach can't search Netflix. both Nexus player and Nvidia shield remote are like every tv remotes. I tossed them in the box.

 

[turbineseaplane]

To me, the airplay feature is pretty useful

To this i very much agree - For us mainly AirPlay crowd, the ATV3 continues to be the best value, especially now where people are dropping them like a hot rock all over the place.

 

[turbineseaplane]

but Apple pretty much just followed the smart TV crowd here.

So true. I love Apple, but why anyone thinks this is now "the future of TV" or "game changing" is just beyond me.

"Apps" in themselves do nothing to shake up TV. Content deals will.

Apple?
How's that coming? Been a long wait.
PS Vue is doing it....what's the hold up?

 

[normanfox]

Pretty sure a pirated content centric app is going to always be sideload only.

you did not catch up with the latest news? they fork Kodi to another app called Mrmc and remove add-on/python so that it is compliant with apple policy. it is still in beta testing, and hopefully it will be the app store before Christmas.

Apple is making a big splash with ATV, and developers want to join.