Add some speakers, a small screen, and call it the Hand Pod. It would also work as remote...sort of.
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Apple Reportedly Working on Redesigned Apple TV Remote
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They need to change more than the remote. They need a much lower price as well, because right now the Chromecast with Google TV blows Apple TV HD out of the water at 150 dollars cheaper.
I was on the fence at first, but once I got the feel for it I started to like it.
Also, I began using apps that have a bit more scrolling in them (Infuse and my TV providers IPTV app). The IPTV app in specific has tons of scrolling in the guide, and the touchpad is a lot nicer to use that a D PAD.
Also, I began using apps that have a bit more scrolling in them (Infuse and my TV providers IPTV app). The IPTV app in specific has tons of scrolling in the guide, and the touchpad is a lot nicer to use that a D PAD.
Idk I've never had a problem with the remote. At all. But then again, I've been using the remote from my previous non4K AppleTV. The one that doesn't have the white rounded edge on the menu button
That seriously works about half the time for me. It’s so frustrating.
Wow thanks for this tip, I had no idea. It’s still not as ideal as a physical clickwheel would be imo but this should help with more accurate navigation.
I curse this remote on a daily basis. Sometimes, if I look at it just right, it triggers some function or other. Perhaps the most frustrating piece of Apple kit I have ever used. The only positive thing I can say about this remote is its stellar battery life. Good lord let this article be true.
Rumors that Apple intends to launch a new Apple TV have been around for some time, with the headlining feature being a more powerful processor for gaming and all-round performance benefits. However, alongside a new powerful chip, new evidence is pointing towards a possible new Apple TV remote also shipping alongside the TV set-top box.
According to a report from 9to5Mac, citing people familiar with Apple's plans, the company has been developing a new Apple TV remote under the codename "B519," which differs from the current "B439" codename for the existing remote. Specifics on what to expect from the new remote aren't provided; however, 9to5Mac believes the changes will be "significant."
The last time Apple updated the remote was with the Apple TV 4K in 2017, when the company added a white border around the Menu button. However, the remote has remained unchanged since, while its slimline design and lack of physical navigation buttons continues to divide users.
MacRumors recently discovered that within the tvOS 14.5 beta, Apple has renamed the remote from "Siri Remote" to "Apple TV Remote" in multiple instances across the system. The system-wide change in wording could indicate that the new remote will have less of a focus on Siri and instead be designed around more traditional content navigation and other TV functionality.
Article Link: Apple Reportedly Working on Redesigned Apple TV Remote
One of those No S@@t Sherlock posts. A new remote is obvious. I just wish Tim would get on with it and release the damn Apple TV already. The slowness of how he gets things out the door is appalling. Even my Apple stock is not impressed.
It's not quite $150 - but at $50 for the Chromecast vs. $180 for the base ATV 4K, it's pretty close to a $150 difference.
since upgrading to a 2020 LG Oled TV which has the App built I’ve not used the Atv in months.
I suppose a new remote will make a difference to those using the device for gaming or with older tvs.
I suppose a new remote will make a difference to those using the device for gaming or with older tvs.
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Do these five things to make the remote absolutely perfect:
1. Build the entire thing out of aluminum. There is absolutely no reason for the front to be glass plated, other than making it more breakable.
2. Add a mute and dedicated home button. As the Apple TV is supposed to be a gaming machine as well as a TV watching machine, the TV button kind of annoys me when you have to press it twice to get to your actual home screen. Just split TV and home into two separate buttons, it’s that simple.
3. Ditch the touch controls for dedicated up, down, left, and right buttons. Or, even cooler idea, move the buttons all to the top, and then make the bottom half an iPod scroll wheel.
4. Add find my support with U1.
5. Build the buttons in a way that makes them slightly more durable to dust and other things that could get caught underneath them. I can’t tell you how many times the buttons have gotten stuck on mine, it’s quite annoying
1. Build the entire thing out of aluminum. There is absolutely no reason for the front to be glass plated, other than making it more breakable.
2. Add a mute and dedicated home button. As the Apple TV is supposed to be a gaming machine as well as a TV watching machine, the TV button kind of annoys me when you have to press it twice to get to your actual home screen. Just split TV and home into two separate buttons, it’s that simple.
3. Ditch the touch controls for dedicated up, down, left, and right buttons. Or, even cooler idea, move the buttons all to the top, and then make the bottom half an iPod scroll wheel.
4. Add find my support with U1.
5. Build the buttons in a way that makes them slightly more durable to dust and other things that could get caught underneath them. I can’t tell you how many times the buttons have gotten stuck on mine, it’s quite annoying
The Apple TV 4K is in bad need of an update. New CPU/GPU, storage increase, TrueHD/ATMOS audio codec support for local media (Streaming services like Netflix pay the licensing fees which Apple seems unwilling to - as a developer/beta tester with Infuse Pro we’ve been petitioning Apple for years to allow local media audio codecs to be played instead of down converted) - minimum.
Ideally, I’d love mesh networking to be added as a return to the networking market esp as the Apple TV acts as a HomeKit hub. A gaming edition with the new support for controllers would be perfect with Apple Arcade, Steam, etc.
With the HomePod getting ATMOS just before Apple decided to discontinue it I hope Apple will finally add full support for audio codecs and some HomePod features moving to the Apple TV. Maybe inputs for camera’s for FaceTime.
Ideally, I’d love mesh networking to be added as a return to the networking market esp as the Apple TV acts as a HomeKit hub. A gaming edition with the new support for controllers would be perfect with Apple Arcade, Steam, etc.
With the HomePod getting ATMOS just before Apple decided to discontinue it I hope Apple will finally add full support for audio codecs and some HomePod features moving to the Apple TV. Maybe inputs for camera’s for FaceTime.
After using a bunch of other remotes, well, Apple got some things right and some things wrong.
Inputting is super easy, and is much better than any other remote.
However, the physical remote itself is annoying. There's the "I can't tell which way is up" problem when you pick it up. Then you inevitably click by mistake, which means you have to figure out which way the remote is and what to do about whatever just happened.
I think they could have fixed that by suppressing input unless the remote is somewhat vertical (someone's holding it)...or completely horizontal (it's on a flat surface). Really this might be the real problem. I have the two previous generation remotes, and I use my thumb to find the orientation of the remote, then flip it. With the Siri remote you touch it and something happens...which is unexpected. Since you're not sure what you did it's unclear where in the model you are and how to get out of it. With TV that's super-annoying, because it usually means some kind of on-screen thing has happened that you now want to get rid of...or you've fast forwarded/rewound by mistake.
And as others have said, a "Find My Remote" would be great. It gets lost...a lot.
In any case, we're using Netflix/Disney+/Plex/Prime on our TVs now, so the ATV is basically idle. And any other content we just AirPlay...so the ATV era might be ending.
Inputting is super easy, and is much better than any other remote.
However, the physical remote itself is annoying. There's the "I can't tell which way is up" problem when you pick it up. Then you inevitably click by mistake, which means you have to figure out which way the remote is and what to do about whatever just happened.
I think they could have fixed that by suppressing input unless the remote is somewhat vertical (someone's holding it)...or completely horizontal (it's on a flat surface). Really this might be the real problem. I have the two previous generation remotes, and I use my thumb to find the orientation of the remote, then flip it. With the Siri remote you touch it and something happens...which is unexpected. Since you're not sure what you did it's unclear where in the model you are and how to get out of it. With TV that's super-annoying, because it usually means some kind of on-screen thing has happened that you now want to get rid of...or you've fast forwarded/rewound by mistake.
And as others have said, a "Find My Remote" would be great. It gets lost...a lot.
In any case, we're using Netflix/Disney+/Plex/Prime on our TVs now, so the ATV is basically idle. And any other content we just AirPlay...so the ATV era might be ending.
Unfortunately most Smart TV’s don’t have enough power to play a lot of content. I have LG OLED’s and my main home theatre is 8K with a McIntosh AVR and B&W speaks with 200+ TB’s of lossless 1080P-8K content on server racks. I have an Apple TV 4K with infuse pro and Plex I sometimes use as even 1080P content with ATMOS/TrueHD/DTS tracks struggles on 2020 LG and Sony OLED systems that plays perfectly on my Apple TV 4K.
The Apple TV app is still dependent on the smart TVs equipment and with Apple pushing hard into streaming services esp with Apple TV+ there’s no way they’ll ditch the Apple TV and depend on other manufacturers for playing their content. If anything, it’s a secondary method of content delivery for those who don’t want an Apple TV but want Apple TV+.
I’ve heard from various sources that Apple is planning a media centric keynote with a focus on the Apple TV, new HomePods, Apple TV+ and Arcade/Gaming announcements, and other related products.
It would be brilliant if Apple added mesh into the Apple TV and HomePod lineup as they act as HomeKit hubs and I never understood why Apple discontinued the AirPort line when ~90% of their products and services depend on networking. If they didn’t want to produce it themselves they could have acquired another corporation and brought mesh systems in-house.
Yes absolutely.
Also make it less slippery to hold. Test it on people with dry hands! These things are so hard to hold onto. So thin it gets in the hinges of the Lazyboy chair to often.
Fix the remote and I’ll be running an ATV in the family room - my Roku will wind up in the guest bedroom, attached to that old Vizio that lives in there.
Not hard to understand, I love the remote. It is easy to use, I can use it in a pitch-black environment without having to turn on a light or feel around for one of the many buttons on regular remotes and hope I hit the right one, it is slick and fast to use no constantly having to hit a button to do things. Never had a problem losing it anywhere.
Honestly, I'm more surprised by all the complaints, this is easily my most favourite remote I've ever used. Fortunately for me, it'll be a while before I'll need to upgrade or buy a new Apple TV.
I honestly don't know if the dislike of the remote is widespread or the detractors are just loud. Not ragging on others' experiences just mine have been very positive and I'll miss the remote.
Well I certainly hate the current TV 4K remote. For someone with bad arthritis it is a nightmare to use. It is too small and slippery to grip well, and it uses form over function. The trackpad is terrible. It probably works just fine for people with smaller hands and who are young enough to have great physical dexterity still. For an older person with larger hands and arthritis, well it sucks. Plus the Apple TV App/Home button doesn't map to any 3rd party remote I’ve tried to use. So that is another ding against it.
However, with many newer TVs having HDMI-CEC capability, most of the functionality of the TV 4K remote can easily and quickly be assigned to the TV's remote. My new Sony Bravia 4K TV took only a few minutes to set up the TV remote to operate my TV 4K, Fire TV Cube 2nd generation, and older Panasonic Blu-Ray player. I didn't have to lookup and enter any codes as all my devices were HDMI-CEC capable. I didn’t have to buy a 3rd party programmable remote, which always takes a long time (and a lot of research) to set up. I find that my TV remote controls about 98% of what I need it to on the TV 4K, so I rarely have to look for the TV 4K remote.
However, with many newer TVs having HDMI-CEC capability, most of the functionality of the TV 4K remote can easily and quickly be assigned to the TV's remote. My new Sony Bravia 4K TV took only a few minutes to set up the TV remote to operate my TV 4K, Fire TV Cube 2nd generation, and older Panasonic Blu-Ray player. I didn't have to lookup and enter any codes as all my devices were HDMI-CEC capable. I didn’t have to buy a 3rd party programmable remote, which always takes a long time (and a lot of research) to set up. I find that my TV remote controls about 98% of what I need it to on the TV 4K, so I rarely have to look for the TV 4K remote.
I think you have an edge use case. Far from the mainstream experience I would expect.
For the majority of casual users that App will do fine. I'm certainly not saying they'll discontinue the device, but it isa mainstream mead player. It is not a HT hub like a Kaleidoscope. Apple are generally a (higher end) of Mass Market company these days so will likely have a strategy that targets that market mostly. They'll make money off service and not a cheap $200 device.
All I can say is that the built in app in my TV has made the hardware redundant. It plays all the content I need from Netflix, Amazon, Disney and AppleTV+/Itunes. So other than missing out on the "extras" it does all the rest. I expect it is "good enough" for most people.
Hence the original response. The quality of the remote - which is what this thread is about - is quickly becoming an irrelevance for ATV for simply media consumption (excluding games).
The current remote is a convoluted result of Apple‘s pathetic attempt to get into gaming, and to control things other than my ATV in my entertainment system. As it stands, it‘s a massive fail. Yep, this remote is officially the most anti-Apple thing they have ever produced, and I for one, will be glad to see it go. I already have controllers for gaming, and remotes that control everything in my entertainment system. All I need from Apple, is a decent ATV remote...period. Please, give me one.
I wouldn’t mind a touch screen touch pad like the magic track pad. It’s not an actual button and responds to taps. Apple could do this on a smaller scale if they wanted to keep the touch pad. They need to make scrolling better though but there more a software thing with the animations. still can be improved a lot with those things.
I hope this is the year of peripheral changes across the board. Updated: Remote, Mouse, Mechanical Keyboard, New Trackpad [although this one is great]. Now that Sir thinium is gone, hopefully, we can get to normal dimensions and battery sizes.
Just add a microphone and mic button plus a volume button.