A thread for those who DON'T hate the new Apple TV

[MH01]

Yeah, it's always like this with a brand new product category unfortunately (the AppStore on ATV being the new product category.)

The apps will come, the vast majority of developers have only had a few months with the sdk for the Apple TV and few even got their hands on a unit to test on before the public launch last week.

Getting in at the start always has it's downfalls, but until more software comes and we get to see the true potential, I'm enjoying a few of the games available and that there's Apple Music access. I'm less fussed about the various catch up services getting their finger out and making apps, they will, but it's not like I don't have other ways to watch them in the meantime.

I was disappointed cause I could not find plex at launch, but saw in another thread that it's available now . If I can play media off my NAS through plex on the ATV that's a big move in the right direction . Going to give it a go this week .

Between the ATV and the fire stick I am in a good place .

 

[DNichter]

I have been impressed with the ATV4 despite the poor rollout by Apple. Here are some of the things that I enjoy about it.

- Fast - this thing flies, apps open quickly and multitasking is very fast. Streaming started instantly for me on anything I played.
- Remote - very fun to use, love the parallax, seems natural after using it for a little
- Siri - needs improvement, but a good first step. Asking for sports scores, weather, or who's in the movie is pretty cool.
- Overall UI - much needed, clear, concise, mostly consistent. I think some of the issues people are seeing will be smoothed out. Overall though, I think it looks fresh and modern and is fast to use.
- Apps - great potential here. I was never much of a gamer, but do play a casual game here and there and found myself doing this a lot more over the weekend. Live programming with computer like features (see QVC app) will be the future. True interactivity with live programming.

Thing to improve: Password management (Comcast info in one place?). I am confident the rest of the kinks will be worked out soon if they update it regularly like they do with iOS.

Those are my initial thoughts. I like it enough to keep the one being delivered tomorrow for the bedroom.

 

[shk718]

Just curious what TV (and receiver, if you have one) you are using. HDMI-CEC, is a mixed bag for me. If I turn off my TV -- My receiver powers off, as well. But the Apple TV doesn't (big whoop it uses, what like 5 watts?). However, turning on my TV or the Apple TV does not power anyone up. But, the Apple TV (by HDMI-CEC) can adjust the volume on my receiver.

My TV is a 55" LG (55HG90) from 2010. My receiver is a Marantz NR1403 from 2012 or 2013.

I guess, is my TV just incompatible? or does everything have to be HDMI 1.4 HDMI-CEC to work?

I have the LG-65EF9500 (OLED) TV. The Apple remote turns it on just fine - but doesn't seem to turn it off. Can't seem to figure out why.

 

[d21mike]

I have the LG-65EF9500 (OLED) TV. The Apple remote turns it on just fine - but doesn't seem to turn it off. Can't seem to figure out why.

My ATV controls the Samsung SoundBar normally. What I did was set my VIZIO TV to SHUT OFF when no signal for 10 minutes. So when the ATV goes to sleep for 10 minutes the TV Shuts off. When the ATV Sleeps it immediately shuts off the SoundBar. To restart, I just touch my home button (or any button, not sure) and the TV Comes on which turns on the SoundBar and then the Remote starts to control the SoundBar for Volume. This works really well for me. In my past my TV would turn on the Sound Bar but would not control the volume until I power reset the sound bar. I do not have this problem with the SIRI Remote.

 

[shk718]

My ATV controls the Samsung SoundBar normally. What I did was set my VIZIO TV to SHUT OFF when no signal for 10 minutes. So when the ATV goes to sleep for 10 minutes the TV Shuts off. When the ATV Sleeps it immediately shuts off the SoundBar. To restart, I just touch my home button (or any button, not sure) and the TV Comes on which turns on the SoundBar and then the Remote starts to control the SoundBar for Volume. This works really well for me. In my past my TV would turn on the Sound Bar but would not control the volume until I power reset the sound bar. I do not have this problem with the SIRI Remote.

I was thinking about doing that - have the TV shut itself off after no signal detected - haven't yet found out how to set it up to do that - the LG manual is not easy to understand. Thanks for the reply.

 

[pjarvi]

I was thinking about doing that - have the TV shut itself off after no signal detected - haven't yet found out how to set it up to do that - the LG manual is not easy to understand. Thanks for the reply.

LG has a pretty nifty online user guide: http://kr.eguide.lgappstv.com/manual/w15/atsc/Apps/w15_u04/u_enga/settings.html

I don't see any option to turn the TV off after a set amount of time, only at a specific time of day. It looks like they refer to their HDMI-CEC feature as Simplink. From what I read it seems like they half-assed it and made it so a connected device can turn the TV on, but that the TV is designed to turn the connected device off when turning off the TV, rather than letting the connected device turn the TV off.

 

[shk718]

LG has a pretty nifty online user guide: http://kr.eguide.lgappstv.com/manual/w15/atsc/Apps/w15_u04/u_enga/settings.html

I don't see any option to turn the TV off after a set amount of time, only at a specific time of day. It looks like they refer to their HDMI-CEC feature as Simplink. From what I read it seems like they half-assed it and made it so a connected device can turn the TV on, but that the TV is designed to turn the connected device off when turning off the TV, rather than letting the connected device turn the TV off.

I was just reading thru their online manual and agree with you - the way they have it worded makes it seem as if the tv remote has to turn off everything - which seems very odd. they also have a power savings modes but don't explain their actions very well. I sent their tech support an email to get some clarification. I'll let y'all know my findings

 

[redman042]

Where's the fun in that?
Adopt early, and then you can appreciate the improvement and growth of the product over time. Otherwise you end up buying just before the next version is announced

I'm with you on this. Sure it depends on the person and what minimum functionality they need to see at the outset to be satisfied with their purchase. Also the device needs to be reliable for at least their core functions. In most cases, even as an early adopter of new Apple products, I find this is the case for me. I got the Apple Watch right after release, and am very happy with it. I'm not yet happy with third party app performance, and some other items, but the items that I use most work well and I feel I'm getting the value I expected. And it's fun being a part of the improvements that Apple very consistently rolls out. So, I'm happy. I believe I will be with the new Apple TV as well.

 

[Rogifan]

I must say I think the complaints about the symmetry of the remote are silly. One, there are two different surfaces so it's really easy to tell when you rub your thumb on the remote if it's upside down or not. Also volume up/down is one continuous button where as play/pause and Siri are obviously not. If I was holding the remote upside down it wouldn't take me long to figure that out. Also how often are people going to be using the remote in complete darkness where they can't see a thing? Even if yore watching a movie in bed some light will be coming from the TV.

 

[Laurence Eckert]

I freaking love this thing. The interface is so beautiful! i have only come across a handful of little problems but I won't bring them up here because of this thread

 

[31 Flavas]

I have the LG-65EF9500 (OLED) TV. The Apple remote turns it on just fine - but doesn't seem to turn it off. Can't seem to figure out why.

Yea, I guess LG just cut corners on the hdmi-cec in my particular TV -- Sounds like in general TV manufacturers have largely rather done their own thing with it to promote their own products first. LG wants to sell you an LG blu-ray/dvd and sound bar / receiver, etc.

I googled my TV's instruction manual. It states: Yea, your TV has HDMI-CEC. But.... only devices bearing the "SimpLink" logo are fully compatible with your TV. And just so you know only LG electronics have "SimpLink". So anything else might or might not be compatible as far as CEC goes. Good luck.

That's not verbatim, but I'm reading between the lines.

 

[mellofello]

Oops wrong thread for me:

 

[carfreak12321]

Yea, I guess LG just cut corners on the hdmi-cec in my particular TV -- Sounds like in general TV manufacturers have largely rather done their own thing with it to promote their own products first. LG wants to sell you an LG blu-ray/dvd and sound bar / receiver, etc.

I googled my TV's instruction manual. It states: Yea, your TV has HDMI-CEC. But.... only devices bearing the "SimpLink" logo are fully compatible with your TV. And just so you know only LG electronics have "SimpLink". So anything else might or might not be compatible as far as CEC goes. Good luck.

That's not verbatim, but I'm reading between the lines.

Yeah I had a similar problem and came to the same conclusion.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/hdmi-cec-setup-with-lg-simplelink.1934311/

 

[bleachy dude]

Got the 64GB version this morning.

I'm loving it so far. Responsive, fast and the trackpad remote is pretty awesome. Really like the NEW OS (especially the ability to search both Netflix and Hulu at the same time.

I love how it just immediately starts playing again after pausing or FF/rewinding a video. Always took a few moments on the ATV3.

Siri seems to understand me (Aussie accent) even better than my iPhone 5 somehow.

I'm not a massive game player but crossyroad is a bit fun!

 

[mattDC5R]

Received my 64gb model today and set it up this afternoon.

Im really liking it so far, some nice apps available and apple music access is nice. Other than thats is a pretty familiar feel albeit much faster to do things than my ATV2.

Looks to be a bunch of pretty entertaining games there too, i haven't really gamed a great deal on my iOS devices, but I can see myself playing some more on the ATV.

 

[Taco1933]

I must say I think the complaints about the symmetry of the remote are silly. One, there are two different surfaces so it's really easy to tell when you rub your thumb on the remote if it's upside down or not. Also volume up/down is one continuous button where as play/pause and Siri are obviously not. If I was holding the remote upside down it wouldn't take me long to figure that out. Also how often are people going to be using the remote in complete darkness where they can't see a thing? Even if yore watching a movie in bed some light will be coming from the TV.

I was watching a movie last night. There was a lot of quiet dialog when suddenly explosions and gunfire everywhere! I quickly grabbed for the remote to turn down the volume, and... blasted the roof off our house pressing volume up while holding the remote upside down.

No, if I have time to study the remote, I won't do that, but it is a little obnoxious that I have to pay attention to whether it's upside down or not.

 

[HoosBruce]

I am more impressed with this device than I was expecting. I knew there would be a few shortcomings at the start, and have heard and read a lot of complaints, but most of them are extremely petty and not worth paying an ounce of attention to.

The best thing about it is that it will keep getting better and better.

 

[shk718]

Yea, I guess LG just cut corners on the hdmi-cec in my particular TV -- Sounds like in general TV manufacturers have largely rather done their own thing with it to promote their own products first. LG wants to sell you an LG blu-ray/dvd and sound bar / receiver, etc.

I googled my TV's instruction manual. It states: Yea, your TV has HDMI-CEC. But.... only devices bearing the "SimpLink" logo are fully compatible with your TV. And just so you know only LG electronics have "SimpLink". So anything else might or might not be compatible as far as CEC goes. Good luck.

That's not verbatim, but I'm reading between the lines.

The group in charge of the HDMI standard needs to put an end to these variants that the moron TV manufacturers are putting out there!!!

 

[ztw2002]

This is actually my first apple tv, I am sick of the Plex performance on samsung smart tv, it crashes a lot so I decided to get an Apple TV.