Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Anybody unhappy with the Apple TV remote?

A

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 26, 2008
3,990
16,299
Alaska
Apple TV 4 controlling a Samsung TV, and a Visio sound bar, watching Netflix movies and such. Everything works fine, except that the Apple TV remote has gotten a lot more difficult to use. The thing is very slippery, so I bought a rubberized sleeve for it, but now FF and playback is just a pain in the neck to achieve.

I ended up buying a relatively cheap Inteset "INT-422-3" universal remote that is larger and a lot easier to use than the Apple TV remote, but I haven't been able to program it to control the Visio sound bar's volume via Bluetooth. Does anybody know how to program it properly?
 
Remotes are very ordinary. Mine fell from the coffee table to the floor and the glass surface to break so I had to pay $89 for a new one. You can set up practically any remote in the Apple TV settings.
 
I love the design of ATV remote and the laggy trackpad seems to be great now. The iPhone app for ATV is great. When I had ATV 2 and then 3, i'd always use the app as a remote as I wasn't fan of the old remote.

BTW remember those old DVD player remotes with 50+ tiny buttons on? How complicated were they, just to watch a damn film!
 
priitv8 said:
I still tend to reach for my TV remote for that. And it works pretty well for me.
Click to expand...
The TV remote of the Samsung TV I have is somewhat limited. The Apple TV remote (ATR) has a myriad of features you can use to control even the TV, receivers, and the rest. The problem with it is its compactness, and very sleek housing. It's very easy to drop or lose, plus fragile, and the worst thing is that there are too many features or command options (FF, RW, Skip, and so on) cramped on the very small touch pad. It was designed to be logical or easy for the user, but with the updates it has turned very difficult to use because of all the taps and presses required. In reality an Apple TV remote should be the size close to an iPhone 5s with a similar screen and apps, or just like some of the Harmony remotes.
 
AlaskaMoose said:
Apple TV 4 controlling a Samsung TV, and a Visio sound bar, watching Netflix movies and such. Everything works fine, except that the Apple TV remote has gotten a lot more difficult to use. The thing is very slippery, so I bought a rubberized sleeve for it, but now FF and playback is just a pain in the neck to achieve.

I ended up buying a relatively cheap Inteset "INT-422-3" universal remote that is larger and a lot easier to use than the Apple TV remote, but I haven't been able to program it to control the Visio sound bar's volume via Bluetooth. Does anybody know how to program it properly?
Click to expand...

Usually with Universal remote you program with it the serial number of the device.. Apple TV, DVD Player etc.. to which you want to control.

https://www.universalremotes.net/inteset-universal-remote-control-device-code-lookup.html

http://downloads.inteset.com/Inteset_Remote_(INT-422-3)_User_Guide.pdf
 
Tech198 said:
Usually with Universal remote you program with it the serial number of the device.. Apple TV, DVD Player etc.. to which you want to control.

https://www.universalremotes.net/inteset-universal-remote-control-device-code-lookup.html

http://downloads.inteset.com/Inteset_Remote_(INT-422-3)_User_Guide.pdf
Click to expand...

Thank you, Tech198, but the remote is already programmed at the factory for the Apple TV, and three more devices. All you have to do is to choose from the letter A (for the Apple TV), to B, C, or D for other devices. The only thing the remote can't learn is sound control (Up/Down) of the Visio sound bar, while the Apple TV does. I tried several times to program the Interest remote to control the volume, but was unsuccessful. The code to manually program the Inteset remote to learn the Apple TV codes is 02615. Another way is to add the codes automatically using the Apple TV's Learn Remote."
 
I have a love hate relationship with that little touchscreen remote.
51% of the time I am happy with it, the other 49% is grrrrrrrr why is is super sensitive sometimes and not sensitive at all next time.
Then when all buttons are positioned right in the middle of the remote, it feels very similar no matter which way you pick it up, so sometimes I turn the volume down sometimes i turn the show off.

Passwords are a bear to enter - especially since Apple and everyone else wants you to use more complicated passwords - which means enter with your phone, but then it's open an app but for some reason the app signed me out of my account, start to login, put remote down pick up phone, enter password put phone down pick up remote, continue. Single sign on chooses if and when it feels like working. Great concept but work dangit, just work.

Pick my poison.
 
  • Like
Reactions: colodane
I don't like the touch pad, and the endless swiping that goes along with it. It makes navigating and entering passwords frustrating.

Anyone else ever swipe pass the intended selection, and select something else instead? Only to have to go back and re-select what you wanted the first time? Yeah, it only a few seconds to back track, but it is still annoying.

I really wished there was a D-pad instead of a touch pad.

I have been using on-Apple IR remotes for years using the remote learning feature on the tvOS, ATV2 and 3, but on tvOS, the IR remotes don't work on all apps.
 
They’re intuitive. Maybe a bit sensitive at times but it has never caused me to accidentally skip around in a program. My wish is to make the shape oblong so you know the direction you pick it up without looking.
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
My biggest gripe with the Apple TV remote is that it doesn't have a back button. I like to switch between channels and it would be nice to be able to do that with the Apple TV remote.
Click to expand...
A mute button would be welcome!
To give them credit, Apple have built the remote so it can learn a (non-Apple) sound system’s volume controls. This has been useful for changing the volume but it is tedious to turn it all the way down and then back for ads (using Channels tvOS app to watch live TV via a Homerun HD tuner).
 
  • Like
Reactions: RLT, colodane and Apple_Robert
BasicGreatGuy said:
My biggest gripe with the Apple TV remote is that it doesn't have a back button. I like to switch between channels and it would be nice to be able to do that with the Apple TV remote.
Click to expand...
Menu button works for me for this (has been so from the very beginning). And if I need to switch between the apps, then double-click the Home(screen) button.
Other than that, HDMI-CEC is TV-centric, so the original idea was to use TV remote to control all devices.
For tvOS, I use the Return, OK, and arrow buttons. They cover all the commands besides Task-switch and the trackpad swipe-up commands.
To exit back to desktop from any app, I need to use the CEC menu item called Content List, which also I can not reproduce on the TV remote.
 
Last edited:
vertical smile said:
I don't like the touch pad, and the endless swiping that goes along with it. It makes navigating and entering passwords frustrating.

Anyone else ever swipe pass the intended selection, and select something else instead? Only to have to go back and re-select what you wanted the first time? Yeah, it only a few seconds to back track, but it is still annoying.

I really wished there was a D-pad instead of a touch pad.
Click to expand...

Tap the edges of the touch pad. Lightly doing that, without actually pressing down on the touch pad, makes it work like a D-pad.
 
thisismyusername said:
Tap the edges of the touch pad. Lightly doing that, without actually pressing down on the touch pad, makes it work like a D-pad.
Click to expand...
It is not the same as a d-pad, and it doesn't work on every app.

Even the apps it does work on, it seems like it doesn't always work, but this could be do to not getting the edge enough.

I have taken a few weeks break from using my ATV4 since I purchased a new TV with built in Roku. While there are some things I miss from tvOS, mainly just games, there is definitely one thing that the Roku has better than the ATV4, and that is the remote imo.

There is never a question about how the Roku is going to respond when attempting to navigate, with the Siri Remote, it is unpredictable.
 
vertical smile said:
It is not the same as a d-pad, and it doesn't work on every app.

Even the apps it does work on, it seems like it doesn't always work, but this could be do to not getting the edge enough.

I have taken a few weeks break from using my ATV4 since I purchased a new TV with built in Roku. While there are some things I miss from tvOS, mainly just games, there is definitely one thing that the Roku has better than the ATV4, and that is the remote imo.

There is never a question about how the Roku is going to respond when attempting to navigate, with the Siri Remote, it is unpredictable.
Click to expand...

I got used to the ATV4 remote after using it a lot. I still dislike it, but it is what it is. Not having physical buttons forces you to be more careful and exert more energy on how you use it. I def prefer physical buttons to the trackpad
 
ipponrg said:
I got used to the ATV4 remote after using it a lot. I still dislike it, but it is what it is.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much how I feel about the Siri Remote.

Being a long time ATV fan, I bought the ATV4 at launch, but quickly found the Siri Remote, especially the touch pad, takes more away from the experience than adds to it. Scrubbing is nice, but that is pretty much the only thing the touch pad is good for. Everything else about the touch pad is a hassle.

ipponrg said:
Not having physical buttons forces you to be more careful and exert more energy on how you use it.
Click to expand...
This is a good way of describing it.

Over time you get used to it, but I don't think I will ever like it or prefer it.
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
My biggest gripe with the Apple TV remote is that it doesn't have a back button. I like to switch between channels and it would be nice to be able to do that with the Apple TV remote.
Click to expand...
If I am not mistaken you can able/disable a lot of commands or options. Take a look at the Apple TV settings. of the late iOS.
[doublepost=1532914259][/doublepost]
mmomega said:
I have a love hate relationship with that little touchscreen remote.
51% of the time I am happy with it, the other 49% is grrrrrrrr why is is super sensitive sometimes and not sensitive at all next time.
Then when all buttons are positioned right in the middle of the remote, it feels very similar no matter which way you pick it up, so sometimes I turn the volume down sometimes i turn the show off.

Passwords are a bear to enter - especially since Apple and everyone else wants you to use more complicated passwords - which means enter with your phone, but then it's open an app but for some reason the app signed me out of my account, start to login, put remote down pick up phone, enter password put phone down pick up remote, continue. Single sign on chooses if and when it feels like working. Great concept but work dangit, just work.

Pick my poison.
Click to expand...
You are correct about having entering passwords and things like that, and about being too sensitive or not sensitive enough at times.
[doublepost=1532914474][/doublepost]
mpainesyd said:
A mute button would be welcome!
To give them credit, Apple have built the remote so it can learn a (non-Apple) sound system’s volume controls. This has been useful for changing the volume but it is tedious to turn it all the way down and then back for ads (using Channels tvOS app to watch live TV via a Homerun HD tuner).
Click to expand...
:) For a couple of times already I have somehow muted the sound, and haven't had any idea how. I am sure that there is a way.
-----------

By the way, maybe I have figured why the Visio sound bar and woofer don't work with the Inteset remote. I still have to try a few other things, but the Inteset remove communicates with the Apple TV via IR, and the sound bar is not connected to the Apple TV via a cable, but via Bluetooth. The Apple TV controls the volume without any problem, but not the Inteset remote, not even if I manually (remote to remote) try to program the UP/Down volume buttons on the Inteset remote.
 
Last edited:
For those having problems with sensitivity, don’t forget you can change it in the settings.
 
steve23094 said:
For those having problems with sensitivity, don’t forget you can change it in the settings.
Click to expand...
At least for me, it is not an issue of adjusting the sensitivity, but inconsistent levels of sensitivity on any one setting.

I think that lag could to be blame for majority of the sensitivity issues, but not all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back