Oh man it was awful for me too especially because I forgot my netflix credentials. I accidentally put an extra letter in the beginning of the email and had to erase the entire thing just to get rid of that extra letter (am I wrong or is there a cursor??).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple TV first impressions and questions.....
- Thread starter rossy100
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh man it was awful for me too especially because I forgot my netflix credentials. I accidentally put an extra letter in the beginning of the email and had to erase the entire thing just to get rid of that extra letter (am I wrong or is there a cursor??).
I have Nvidia Shield for a few months and was worried that it would collect dust once I use ATV4.
little disappointed, I will move ATV 4 to the living room and keep using the Shield in my room. Here is why
1) like in car, touch control is not the best way to control in home theater. touching by accident causes more troubles.
2) too many touches and clicks just to select subtitle and go back, compared to old ATV 3.
3) Netflix UI is the same as one on the Shield but Shield have category of genes.
4) adding bluetooth speaker/headphone is nice but losing bluetooth keyboard. still a nightmare to type ID/password.
5) old ATV 3 remote works (programmed with universal remote) but it can't do rev/FF 10 seconds and can't turn on subtitle (holding select).
Steve, this is no where near "finally cracked it." Apple could have put app store on ATV 3 years ago. this is not evolution.
As I mentioned many times before. Tim Cook is just another CEO. He is not visionary like Steve Jobs who is not replaceable. Tim spent more time with the media and government than his own products.
little disappointed, I will move ATV 4 to the living room and keep using the Shield in my room. Here is why
1) like in car, touch control is not the best way to control in home theater. touching by accident causes more troubles.
2) too many touches and clicks just to select subtitle and go back, compared to old ATV 3.
3) Netflix UI is the same as one on the Shield but Shield have category of genes.
4) adding bluetooth speaker/headphone is nice but losing bluetooth keyboard. still a nightmare to type ID/password.
5) old ATV 3 remote works (programmed with universal remote) but it can't do rev/FF 10 seconds and can't turn on subtitle (holding select).
Steve, this is no where near "finally cracked it." Apple could have put app store on ATV 3 years ago. this is not evolution.
As I mentioned many times before. Tim Cook is just another CEO. He is not visionary like Steve Jobs who is not replaceable. Tim spent more time with the media and government than his own products.
Last edited:
Well I would agree.. however if I unplug the cable from the back of the ATV then plug it into my laptop I again get 117Mbps download speeds.
4. How do you mark movies, series or episodes watched and unwatched?
5. How do you sort shows by release date or number of unwatched? All other generations would do this.
The watch is freaking amazing. Not sure why you don't like it. The new Apple TV is fantastic for v1. The voice search is superior to anything on the market. Siri does more than Amazon or Roku.
It JUST got launched. 500 titles in 24 hours is good... wow people amaze me with their crazy standards. Btw, Galaxy on Fire is a great game!
Anyone else grabbing the remote trying to use the touch pad for a few seconds and only then realizing it's upside down!?
It keeps happening!!
More than once. Much more than once. I had the same experience trying to charge it before i realized that I had it upside down. The IR window appears to be the exact same size as the lighting connector.
So, it's a nice device, no doubt. But for something that was probably in the works a while, and the fact that Siri has now been around forever, this simply isn't a great job.
1. The remote's fine - but who designed that keyboard? Someone in the UI department forgot that aesthetics does not always mean ergonomics. It's terrible to use.
2. Why would you not release the device with basic Bluetooth keyboard support? or Apple remote keyboard? It's so frustrating to re-enter credentials using that awful keyboard
3. Let's talk about Siri - there's some basic intelligence missing and the app integration isn't quite there yet, here are some examples
Search for "show me a hero" - says can't find it. Well, it's right there in HBO GO if you go to the app. Maybe HBOs problem, maybe Apple's, I don't know. All I experience is "it's there why aren't you taking me to it?!"
Say "Daredevil Season 1 on Netflix" - says doesn't understand it. Come on! But I say Daredevil and it shows me Netflix as an option.
When it has results on more than channel (say iTunes, Netflix), it doesn't take me to the one I want even if I say it (it's not consistent). For e.g. even if I say "Silicon Valley Season 1 on HBO GO", it shows me the menu of channels. Just take me to the one I asked for because I'm saying it explicitly and I can see I got it right because the Siri transcribed text is correct!
4. The Fire TV concept of having the top row show the latest programs you're watching would be great, instead of having to ask for the program I want every single time. I'm hoping this will come in time because Apple is now aggregating content for multiple sources, so if I watch Daredevil on Netflix, there's no reason it shouldn't show up on the ATV screen the next time I go to ATV
5. Approve Plex already! Maybe it's the Plex guys being careless in submission - I know it's not Apple's fault.
6. When you say "show me zombie movies" or "show me sci-fi", it's nice to see recommendations. But those recommendations don't show ratings under them, which means unless I click every one of them I don't know whether it's garbage or actually pretty well reviewed. And I don't recollect seeing "show more..." type of action if I want to see the entire list.
7. No Amazon Prime - this is a huge disappointment, these 2 companies need to act like adults.
Almost all of these are software fixes, and it's not that it won't get done, it's just that it lacks that polish for something that's evolutionary and this thing's been around a long time now.
Will I use it? Yes. Do I like it? Yes. Is it a great first impression? No. I've had ATV2 and 3, I have Fire TV.
1. The remote's fine - but who designed that keyboard? Someone in the UI department forgot that aesthetics does not always mean ergonomics. It's terrible to use.
2. Why would you not release the device with basic Bluetooth keyboard support? or Apple remote keyboard? It's so frustrating to re-enter credentials using that awful keyboard
3. Let's talk about Siri - there's some basic intelligence missing and the app integration isn't quite there yet, here are some examples
Search for "show me a hero" - says can't find it. Well, it's right there in HBO GO if you go to the app. Maybe HBOs problem, maybe Apple's, I don't know. All I experience is "it's there why aren't you taking me to it?!"
Say "Daredevil Season 1 on Netflix" - says doesn't understand it. Come on! But I say Daredevil and it shows me Netflix as an option.
When it has results on more than channel (say iTunes, Netflix), it doesn't take me to the one I want even if I say it (it's not consistent). For e.g. even if I say "Silicon Valley Season 1 on HBO GO", it shows me the menu of channels. Just take me to the one I asked for because I'm saying it explicitly and I can see I got it right because the Siri transcribed text is correct!
4. The Fire TV concept of having the top row show the latest programs you're watching would be great, instead of having to ask for the program I want every single time. I'm hoping this will come in time because Apple is now aggregating content for multiple sources, so if I watch Daredevil on Netflix, there's no reason it shouldn't show up on the ATV screen the next time I go to ATV
5. Approve Plex already! Maybe it's the Plex guys being careless in submission - I know it's not Apple's fault.
6. When you say "show me zombie movies" or "show me sci-fi", it's nice to see recommendations. But those recommendations don't show ratings under them, which means unless I click every one of them I don't know whether it's garbage or actually pretty well reviewed. And I don't recollect seeing "show more..." type of action if I want to see the entire list.
7. No Amazon Prime - this is a huge disappointment, these 2 companies need to act like adults.
Almost all of these are software fixes, and it's not that it won't get done, it's just that it lacks that polish for something that's evolutionary and this thing's been around a long time now.
Will I use it? Yes. Do I like it? Yes. Is it a great first impression? No. I've had ATV2 and 3, I have Fire TV.
I would exchange it. I am getting full speeds on mine. We subscribe to a 75mbps and it is getting 83.94 Mbps down over Ethernet according to speed test.
My biggest complaint is the lack of the podcast app.
This.
Looks like I will not be getting a new Apple TV. I like the other stuff but there local network stuff has languished for years. Very disappointed to hear this.
HAHA, I did this like 4 times. It's funny but it seems like to should be the other way for some reason.
I am really loving it thus far. I agree that there is quite a bit missing (podcast app, categories in app store, universal login, etc...) but a lot of this is certainly in the roadmap just not ready for launch day. So I'm not too worried. I'm just excited to have an app store. And I hope that they plan to integrate it with itunes at some point so that you can browse the apple tv apps there (kind of like you can now for iphone and ipad). I think that will be nice.
Really hoping Tablo and Mubi get on it and have apps soon. Plex too though Simplex is working fine for me so far. Also, the new keyboard works great. I actually like it as is. Being in single file (roughly) it's easy to swipe back and forth and it gets easier as I get accustomed to the sensitivity of the remote. If folks need the touch pad to be more or less sensitive you can adjust it in settings. And thanks to whomever posted the play/pause tip for switching to all caps and back. That's going to be helpful. Because having to scroll down did break my flow.
I couldn't figure out how to get two player working on Crossy Road. So I gave up. But I couldn't stop playing Arlo. I am not a big video gamer but I'm excited to have it for company and such as another thing to do.
Wow, I don't understand reports of it being slow? Mine is like playing video from local storage! Here are my first impressions. FYI I've had every generation of Apple TV and played with netflix on a friends PS4. I have the latest Apple Router (2013 model).
FAST! Playing video is near instant. Same with fast forwarding and rewinding. I don't know what voodoo Apple have done but they've nailed it. No buffering. Same with skipping back and forth in the stream. The only delay is introduced when accessing my computer to play local iTunes content and my 24TB Drobo starts up. Never thought i'd see the day were streaming was faster then local storage!
Using US unblock to access US netflix here in the UK does introduce a second or so delay to the streaming.
Speed Test tops out at 90 something ish on both wired and wireless. Performance seems to be the same on both. I left it wired.
Airplay is near instant when mirroring. I wondered if they would finally sort the lag out. they have.
UI is clean and modern. Has lots of nice little touches. You can use siri to go to the settings, ect like on iPhone which is a nice touch. ATV setup was painless. logging into each app was a pain though i've got used to the keyboard now.. Tip: swiping totally across the touch pad from left to right or right to left moves the cursor much quicker across the keyboard.
Apps! Surprised at how many they are out the gate. TV Player is there which has 85 UK freeview channels. Before I had to airplay that to my TV so thats much improved. Great watching TFI Friday last night!
Manticore, Beat Sports, and Rayman play the best as they are designed for Apple TV. Graphics on Manticore are really quite good and silky smooth. By comparison Beat Sports has much simpler graphics and a much lower frame right. Any one who's played space channel 5 will dig beat sports. Rayman is great. Excellent controls for a platform. Feels a little freeplay with all the menus.
Breakneck looks good but seems to have frame rate issues. All the more weird when compared to Manticore which is butter smooth. Asphalt has a steady frame rate but pauses occasionally. You know when you start a game on your phone and it occasionally pauses for a split second now and then when its doing too much? That. Weird how other games don't do it.
Remote consistency. I forget which way around it is, But asphalt has you hold the remote control one way (lets say touch pad on left) to steer and breakneck has you hold it the other.
Asphalt was one of the first games i played yesterday and the last. The first time I thought the remote sucked as a steering wheel, kept crashing and came last in the race. The 2nd time I played later in the day it seemed a lot more natural and I came first. Maybe because I spent the day getting used to the remote?
Overall i'm super impressed. A great start to what I'm sure will be an interesting platform. Can't wait to get Guitar hero and Disney infinity.
FAST! Playing video is near instant. Same with fast forwarding and rewinding. I don't know what voodoo Apple have done but they've nailed it. No buffering. Same with skipping back and forth in the stream. The only delay is introduced when accessing my computer to play local iTunes content and my 24TB Drobo starts up. Never thought i'd see the day were streaming was faster then local storage!
Using US unblock to access US netflix here in the UK does introduce a second or so delay to the streaming.
Speed Test tops out at 90 something ish on both wired and wireless. Performance seems to be the same on both. I left it wired.
Airplay is near instant when mirroring. I wondered if they would finally sort the lag out. they have.
UI is clean and modern. Has lots of nice little touches. You can use siri to go to the settings, ect like on iPhone which is a nice touch. ATV setup was painless. logging into each app was a pain though i've got used to the keyboard now.. Tip: swiping totally across the touch pad from left to right or right to left moves the cursor much quicker across the keyboard.
Apps! Surprised at how many they are out the gate. TV Player is there which has 85 UK freeview channels. Before I had to airplay that to my TV so thats much improved. Great watching TFI Friday last night!
Manticore, Beat Sports, and Rayman play the best as they are designed for Apple TV. Graphics on Manticore are really quite good and silky smooth. By comparison Beat Sports has much simpler graphics and a much lower frame right. Any one who's played space channel 5 will dig beat sports. Rayman is great. Excellent controls for a platform. Feels a little freeplay with all the menus.
Breakneck looks good but seems to have frame rate issues. All the more weird when compared to Manticore which is butter smooth. Asphalt has a steady frame rate but pauses occasionally. You know when you start a game on your phone and it occasionally pauses for a split second now and then when its doing too much? That. Weird how other games don't do it.
Remote consistency. I forget which way around it is, But asphalt has you hold the remote control one way (lets say touch pad on left) to steer and breakneck has you hold it the other.
Asphalt was one of the first games i played yesterday and the last. The first time I thought the remote sucked as a steering wheel, kept crashing and came last in the race. The 2nd time I played later in the day it seemed a lot more natural and I came first. Maybe because I spent the day getting used to the remote?
Overall i'm super impressed. A great start to what I'm sure will be an interesting platform. Can't wait to get Guitar hero and Disney infinity.
Last edited:
It sounds like the entire product should have come at the beginning of next year..
I've found what could be a serious problem for a few of us. It appears that games (or probably any app) can force a change in the TV resolution without any prompt or warning to the user. What happened to me is that I launched the Crossy Road app and it apparently tried to change the output resolution to something other than the 480p that I was currently using. Well, my TV only supports 480p and 1080i and thus this caused the TV to lose sync with the Apple TV and there appears to be no easy or quick way to switch the output resolution back to that needed for you TV. So, I had scrambled video until I could force the resolution back to 480p (you can do this with the old remote, holding down on the menu and up key for at least 6 seconds, which starts a rotation through all of the available resolutions which can take four or five minutes to reach the 480p setting). In fact, I don't know how you can do this with the Siri remote, does anyone know what keys on the Siri remote will force the TV resolution scan?
Quick solution, delete the Crossy Road app.
UPDATE: It appears that Apple support has told some users that you can hold the Menu and Play/Pause button down on the Siri remote to force the resolution scan. However, I could not get that to work and I had to use my old Apple TV remote to switch the resolution back to 480p.
Quick solution, delete the Crossy Road app.
UPDATE: It appears that Apple support has told some users that you can hold the Menu and Play/Pause button down on the Siri remote to force the resolution scan. However, I could not get that to work and I had to use my old Apple TV remote to switch the resolution back to 480p.
I chatted with Sky re lack of Now TV - they said it is a known issue and there will be a fix very soon.also read on BBC site that iplayer is coming in next month or so. But I agree general content in UK is lacking and App Store is bizarre having just featured, purchased and search - no category listings at all.
Hi, just to be clear, there is a fully functional TV Player app that doesn't require AirPlay?
This makes all the difference to me, I was on the fence but this would tip the scales!
Thanks
Wow some high expectations you guys have. I think it's fantastic! New UI and an App Store. That's it? Yeah but the implementation is where the wow factor is for me. Setting it up via just my iPhone was brilliant. I can't recommend this product enough, it's sure to only get better!
Found a glitch with purchased TV shows no longer in iTunes. The cover art is missing and will say not available in iTunes instead of being available to watch in the cloud. It is however still showing up and available in the cloud through iTunes on the Mac and my other IOS devices, so I hope this is just a temporary thing.
Another apparent problem with the video resolution setup and switching. The behavior MAY depend upon the particular TV and HDMI implementation, but when I select the "Sleep Now" feature using the menu system the Apple TV won't come back on in the last selected TV resolution. I'm not certain exactly what happens, but my TV will no longer sync to the Apple TV's output and I have to reset the TV resolution using my old Apple remote to force the Apple TV to scan through its resolution settings. This may only happen if you are set to use the 480p output, so hopefully it will only affect a very small number of people (but one of those, unfortunately, is me).
Thus, to be safe I've turned OFF the automatic sleep feature on my Apple TV.
Thus, to be safe I've turned OFF the automatic sleep feature on my Apple TV.