Apple TV 4K Gen2 remote touchpad malfunctioning, any advice?

[kofman13]

So as you know this Gen2 remote has a touch pad and a touch ring which is a D-Pad as well, with a center click.
It's not completely broken. below are the things that work and don't work. It's annoying as it makes me use two remotes. my LG remote in Infrared mode to navigate, and apple tv remote for everything else. I am hoping its some dirt/grime that can be cleaned/fixed if i open it up? what should i do? disassemble and see what's up? is it safe to do without breaking the touch pad area? or is it a lost hope?
trackpad swipe does not work,
ring swipe touch doesnt work
clicking up/left/right on D-pad does not work
but clicking down on D-Pad WORKS
The center selection click WORKS
everything else like volume, play, mute, siri, works.

 

[Bigwaff]

Use Remote app on your iPhone or iPad or buy replacement on eBay. Fix not worth the hassle, unless you simply want to learn.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Did you try rebooting the remote? Yes, that's a thing... and from time to time AppleTV remotes need to be rebooted.

Make sure it is reasonably charged too. If you are perhaps down to the last bits of battery power, maybe less intensive things can still work and more intensive things are excluded until recharged. I recall a similar issue in some other thread and OP there seemed quite surprised to learn that the remote needs to be charged at all.

 

[kofman13]

i tried rebooting and all that. no luck. will take it to apple store and see what they say

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

They'll probably say $59 💰

However, note that almost ANY remote can work with AppleTV. In fact, AppleTV is great at doing something different than the traditional universal remote approach (where you program the remote): you can have AppleTV learn (or self-program) to work with another remote.

So if they do say $59, you might consider doing a little research to find yourself a good universal remote that can work with everything you have and then end up with "one remote to rule them all."

Or if perhaps you TV remote offers some "modes" button (which is a part of making IT a universal remote), allocate a mode to AppleTV and let it take over as your AppleTV remote. My multiple AppleTVs in the household all use a universal instead of the Apple one.

If you want some similar to AppleTV remote but with more traditional buttons compatible with AppleTV, the Function 101, URC1110 and similar are quite popular.

And of course, post #2 identifies a remote substitute likely always on you and as fully functional as the original.

 

[kofman13]

They'll probably say $59 💰

However, note that almost ANY remote can work with AppleTV. In fact, AppleTV is great at doing something different than the traditional universal remote approach (where you program the remote): you can have AppleTV learn (or self-program) to work with another remote.

So if they do say $59, you might consider doing a little research to find yourself a good universal remote that can work with everything you have and then end up with "one remote to rule them all."

Or if perhaps you TV remote offers some "modes" button (which is a part of making IT a universal remote), allocate a mode to AppleTV and let it take over as your AppleTV remote. My multiple AppleTVs in the household all use a universal instead of the Apple one.

If you want some similar to AppleTV remote but with more traditional buttons compatible with AppleTV, the Function 101, URC1110 and similar are quite popular.

And of course, post #2 identifies a remote substitute likely always on you and as fully functional as the original.

Thank you for the advice. I do use my LG tv remote sometimes with the Apple TV, the issue is there is a half second delay for every button press when i use it with apple tv. super frustrating (is that a limitation of infrared vs bluetooth?) its huge compared to apple tv remote, no siri/voice to type, no swiping. I'll use my phone for now!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Infrared is speed of light. All my remotes lean on it and it seems fast to me. Perhaps re-learn it again? If you programmed that remote by punching in a number, try using AppleTVs “learn” function instead as linked in that previous post.

 

[waw74]

if you use HDMI CEC (simplink on LG), the LG remote can control the aTV over the HDMI cable, I have no delay with that. Still lacks siri, but the direction, play/pause, enter, and back should work.

It will work much better than "learn commands". The LG remote also uses bluetooth to the TV.