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

ATV4 - a real disappointment.

L

LiquidRadio

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2015
10
25
No 4K (I didn't care, until I excitedly received the ATV4 this morning and the other major faults showed themselves.)

Siri is almost useless. It offers just a small selection of films/TV, with no option to switch to a full catalogue. Full cat. requires a main search which can only be done using the 'good' ol' fashioned, slow 'letter scanning' with the remote. No dictation for search boxes. It can't even search shared libraries. Essentially, all the options which would have made Siri useful on the ATV are missing.

The remote is improved, but that's hardly saying much. It's too small so easily lost and still not user friendly; hence the next drawback being even more irritating:

No Remote App compatibility. Sure it'll come, but to miss launch day is unbelievable and each day without it is a complete bugger up.

iOSTV is just a facelift of the previous software. It looks nice, and I knew it wasn't wildly new from previews but the other shortcomings make this even more obvious and it starts to feel like a rip off.

So few apps available on release, especially in the UK. They've been developing this for a long time. How difficult would it have been to have the essential apps ready?

I could go on. And on. (And on.)

If I were really strapped for cash I'd send it back. Thankfully I'm disgustingly rich and don't need to (ok, ok, that's a lie. I'm grateful to be comfortable, and tragic enough to keep hold of what is pretty much a completely useless box of junk in the hope Apple will develop it into something worth bothering with. Moreover I've bought tonnes of films, music and TV shows from Apple and want to be able to watch them, but still really pissed I wasted £170 on this.)

I'm not one of the catastrophists; attacking Apple with every new release while continuing to buy their products. I loved them, until perhaps a year ago. Apple Music, which mucked up my much loved music library and now ATV4 have really let me down, and I'm sure millions of others too. For the first time I'm investigating other options for my music library (Plex looks great) and will be using Amazon Fire TV for a while, which until now was a pretty much unused gift. On trying it out more today, it's miles ahead of ATV. So annoying, and sad.

Wow. I've ranted. Develop Apple, develop like the wiiiind!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: IJBrekke, tdroz73, adampk17 and 15 others
LiquidRadio said:
No 4K (I didn't care, until I excitedly received the ATV4 this morning and the other major faults showed themselves.)

Siri is almost useless. It offers just a small selection of films/TV, with no option to switch to a full catalogue. Full cat. requires a main search which can only be done using the 'good' ol' fashioned, slow 'letter scanning' with the remote. No dictation for search boxes. It can't even search shared libraries. Essentially, all the options which would have made Siri useful on the ATV are missing.

The remote is improved, but that's hardly saying much. It's too small so easily lost and still not user friendly; hence the next drawback being even more irritating:

No Remote App compatibility. Sure it'll come, but to miss launch day is unbelievable and each day without it is a complete bugger up.

iOSTV is just a facelift of the previous software. It looks nice, and I knew it wasn't wildly new from previews but the other shortcomings make this even more obvious and it starts to feel like a rip off.

So few apps available on release, especially in the UK. They've been developing this for a long time. How difficult would it have been to have the essential apps ready?

I could go on. And on. (And on.)

If I were really strapped for cash I'd send it back. Thankfully I'm disgustingly rich and don't need to (ok, ok, that's a lie. I'm grateful to be comfortable, and tragic enough to keep hold of what is pretty much a completely useless box of junk in the hope Apple will develop it into something worth bothering with. Moreover I've bought tonnes of films, music and TV shows from Apple and want to be able to watch them, but still really pissed I wasted £170 on this.)

I'm not one of the catastrophists; attacking Apple with every new release while continuing to buy their products. I loved them, until perhaps a year ago. Apple Music, which mucked up my much loved music library and now ATV4 have really let me down, and I'm sure millions of others too. For the first time I'm investigating other options for my music library (Plex looks great) and will be using Amazon Fire TV for a while, which until now was a pretty much unused gift. On trying it out more today, it's miles ahead of ATV. So annoying, and sad.

Wow. I've ranted. Develop Apple, develop like the wiiiind!
Click to expand...

All fair comment. But it will get better, mate.

I'm not buying one yet. But I strongly suspect that, a year from now, it'll be pretty great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deaglecat
RhythmAndBlues said:
All fair comment. But it will get better, mate.

I'm not buying one yet. But I strongly suspect that, a year from now, it'll be pretty great.
Click to expand...

Agreed - a lot of valid points and the ATV4 is not near it's potential yet. I am really disappointed that I can't use Siri to search my library of movies. But I look at it this way - it sure seems like it was rushed out for the holiday season and could have used another couple of months of polish - but it's already better than the ATV3 and will continue to improve.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deaglecat
richpjr said:
... it sure seems like it was rushed out for the holiday season and could have used another couple of months of polish - but it's already better than the ATV3 and will continue to improve.
Click to expand...

Good-natured but slightly provocative question:

I wonder whether Steve Jobs - 'the product man' - would've let it out the door like this. Tim Cook - 'the money man' - is a fine fellow in his own right, but I sometimes feel like "it just works" has given way to "it just sells"...

... or maybe I'm just rose-tinted. I dunno.

[shrug]
 
  • Like
Reactions: colourfastt, JGRE, Wavell and 26 others
rrm74001 said:
This. No excuse for this.

The way the remote app functions with the old AppleTV is very similar to how the new remote now works (touch, swipe, etc).
Click to expand...

Right, so it would be redundant, and didn't it come out with the first iPhone? keep it for legacy Apple TVs and make new app that mirrors the screen for input/search/navigate right on your iPhone/iPad.

It's a big upgrade buuttttt......A new iPad/iPhone app and Apple Watch functionality should have been day one features. Guess they didn't have time since the last Apple TV launch to get it right:rolleyes:
 
RhythmAndBlues said:
Good-natured but slightly provocative question:

I wonder whether Steve Jobs - 'the product man' - would've let it out the door like this. Tim Cook - 'the money man' - is a fine fellow in his own right, but I sometimes feel like "it just works" has given way to "it just sells"...

... or maybe I'm just rose-tinted. I dunno.

[shrug]
Click to expand...

Tim was not the money man. He was the supply chain man. Get it right, or end up showing that you *don't* get it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aristobrat
betabeta said:
Right, so it would be redundant, and didn't it come out with the first iPhone? keep it for legacy Apple TVs and make new app that mirrors the screen for input/search/navigate right on your iPhone/iPad.

It's a big upgrade buuttttt......A new iPad/iPhone app and Apple Watch functionality should have been day one features. Guess they didn't have time since the last Apple TV launch to get it right:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
If we are going to say that it is redundant, then why does the app exist in the first place?
 
rrm74001 said:
If we are going to say that it is redundant, then why does the app exist in the first place?
Click to expand...

It's essential for input, by redundant I just mean it needs to be better now.

We need a new iPad/iPhone Apple TV app, a much better app for input/navigation. The remote app is old, could be amazing, and not just duplicating the swiping like the new TV remote but true navigation and input.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JKNorth
RhythmAndBlues said:
Good-natured but slightly provocative question:

I wonder whether Steve Jobs - 'the product man' - would've let it out the door like this. Tim Cook - 'the money man' - is a fine fellow in his own right, but I sometimes feel like "it just works" has given way to "it just sells"...

... or maybe I'm just rose-tinted. I dunno.

[shrug]
Click to expand...

I think this is one of those times when it's a fair question. But i do recall the initial App Store sounding a lot like this. The Apple Remote app took a bit to get on there. The app selection was limited beyond a few major ones shown at the unveiling, such as MLB At-Bat. So I'm pretty sure Steve Jobs would've gone with this.

It also sounds a lot like a gaming system launch. "There aren't five Mario games and three Zelda games. New Nintendo sux." I figure there will be small early adopter pains, but they don't sound that bad. It doesn't sound like, aside from the remote app, there's much really missing from the ATV3 experience.

As far as 4K, it's just not ready yet. It's also not really mainstream yet. You can get sets for a little as $500 if you get like a Westinghouse brand at Best Buy. But you can get a TV of about the same specs outside of 4K in a brand like Samsung for half that. $300 for a 40-inch LED 1080p TV is pretty damn good. My 46-inch Samsung Smart TV (oh I hate those having owned one) that is LED, 1080p, 120Hz and came with a free WiFi dongle cost me about $1,100 a mere three or so years ago. I wouldn't drop much more on 4K because there's almost zero content available.

I have a feeling 4K will start to take hold once the price difference is negligible (maybe an extra $50 or $100) and content is widely available. But even then it's also going to take a while with all the people owning very, very good HD televisions.
 
I'm enjoying mine a lot. I am upgrading from a gen 2 apple tv so one of the big things for me was being able to stream my content in 1080p which is great. I also like the new remote with Siri integration which works very well and very fast. I think the new approach with apps is spot on which should only improve with time. Couple weeks ago, I also upgraded my internet connection to 1000Mbps so that has greatly contributed to the overall experience!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dr. Echsel and MickeyDoodle
RhythmAndBlues said:
Good-natured but slightly provocative question:

I wonder whether Steve Jobs - 'the product man' - would've let it out the door like this. Tim Cook - 'the money man' - is a fine fellow in his own right, but I sometimes feel like "it just works" has given way to "it just sells"...

... or maybe I'm just rose-tinted. I dunno.

[shrug]
Click to expand...

I've been thinking that a lot recently. Somebody mentioned that the connecty wire thingy (I've lost touch with what all these things are called) is still white, yet the remote and the ATV itself are black. They were wishing for a black one. Jobs would have given them one. He would immediately have noticed the mismatch and corrected it way before it got to market. Those were the kinds of details he obsessed about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost, Count Blah, George Dawes and 1 other person
Lightning cable..

My disappointment with apple has grown 10 fold over the last few months. The mess that is AW that horse is so lame it should be shot, the bugs everywhere and things that just don't fit together and work smoothly anymore and now this - it's less than a beta product at the moment. Optical gone - its not like theres not space on the back for it, no 4K even though i wouldn't use it.

I think this is the last straw for me. I'm keeping the ATV for the week and if I'm not seeing anything new/good I'm returning it friday. I'm also going to look at the new MS laptop today. Apple have lost a big customer, but i doubt they will care as long as people are buying iPhones.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: colourfastt, Benjamin Frost, Cbdboz and 3 others
Biggest disappointment for me is the Photos app, which isn't at all like the Photos app on my iMac, iPhone and iPad. Please.... No more bloody Photostream - it's never worked right, is so limited and yet here it is again, on the 'new' Apple TV.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost
I got to say what I think I am pretty impressed by it, my photo Libary up in stunning quality , music Libary brillabtb, the games for day one are pretty cool . Yeah Siri seems a bit redundant but as with everything it will get better . Only one media server client but works ok with a little tweaking . Overall in glad I got one and know it's day one it will get better
 
I've a
le.bouch said:
Biggest disappointment for me is the Photos app, which isn't at all like the Photos app on my iMac, iPhone and iPad. Please.... No more bloody Photostream - it's never worked right, is so limited and yet here it is again, on the 'new' Apple TV.
Click to expand...
I've always found photo stream to work perfect in merging my imported d3200 Nikon pics with iPhone pics . Love it .
 
Artrock said:
I got to say what I think I am pretty impressed by it, my photo Libary up in stunning quality , music Libary brillabtb, the games for day one are pretty cool . Yeah Siri seems a bit redundant but as with everything it will get better . Only one media server client but works ok with a little tweaking . Overall in glad I got one and know it's day one it will get better
Click to expand...

But it's not your Photo Library, is it? It's the crappy Photostream or specific albums that you've chosen to share. Or am I missing something?
 
It's alright, obviously what makes it great is the App Store, only time to allow developers to make stuff is going to help that situation.

If Apple can get good content deals going then that will make it a 'TV killer' I suspect the rest of the world will be behind on getting that than the USA.

Here in the UK (and I suspect other countries) you could argue that with it's more 'limited' abilities it is a little over priced, however I think it is an investment product. It will become more valuable over time.
Most of people's problems with it will be gone when new apps, streaming services, and software updates come along. There is a valid case of Apple releasing it too soon without content deals, but if they did release it later then you would have a scenarios where there is content deals but hardly any apps. Maybe the population of apps on the App Store is what will help content providers realise that the Apple TV is platform that they need to be on?
 
  • Like
Reactions: deaglecat
mostlycharlie said:
Judging by all the negative comments in this forum, it seems like I'm the only one actually enjoying the new Apple TV. It's a little rough around the edges for sure, but at least for my habits it seems solid and I can tell there's a lot of room to grow.
Click to expand...


No, I love mine, loved it even before there was an AppStore. But there are some fairly glaring oversights that really should have been sorted out in the four years they have had to make it.

But it's hardly new for early adopters in the Apple world to get a slightly unfinished product, that while still very good, becomes much better once one or two software updates hit. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy what it does do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shawnjcullen, From A Buick 8 and zachlegomaniac
LiquidRadio said:
If I were really strapped for cash I'd send it back. Thankfully I'm disgustingly rich and don't need to (ok, ok, that's a lie. I'm grateful to be comfortable, and tragic enough to keep hold of what is pretty much a completely useless box of junk in the hope Apple will develop it into something worth bothering with. Moreover I've bought tonnes of films, music and TV shows from Apple and want to be able to watch them, but still really pissed I wasted £170 on this.)
Click to expand...

I'm not strapped for cash either but my time like everyone else's is a scare resource. That's why I didn't bother with ATV4. From the outset it looked like ATV3 in a new suit, and not an attractive suit of good tailoring and fine fabric like a Canali but a clunky, stiff Jos. A. Bank. I'm not sure why you are pissed. You got exactly what Apple advertised. I think your expectations led you astray. Do you shop at Jos. A. Bank thinking their suits are rebranded Canalis?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scott6666, aristobrat and junglesnake
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