Function101 Offering Alternative Apple TV Remote Control for $30

[Kevin2055]

You can pair apple tv with any IR remote. Very easy. I have used receiver remote for apple tv for years.

 

[Braderunner]

Obviously, you only speak one language. Siri is useless for people who speak one or more languages, because you can't tell it to play anything that does not have a system-language title. This is why the Salt remote in multi-lingual Switzerland has no provision for Siri.

That has nothing to do with my comment. I still wish the Watch had the new Remote app, with the Siri button. Or, that Siri could play content on the ATV from the Watch.
You have different frustration, that has nothing to do with mine.

 

[Apple Macintosh 128K]

I'm fine with the standard Apple TV report. Does all I need it to do. Can enter text from my iPhone when really needed.

 

[samwise_the_why2394]

How is the One for All remote? It seems like a good option.

From what I can tell it's just an IR remote with a simple button layout. The "One for All remote," which I use, is the exact same thing. It's $25 at BB (you don't have to wait until end of July for shipping like this remote), and often goes on sale for $15. The only thin I can't seem to get my remote to do is siri (of course), and fast app switching. Maybe this remote can do that. I don't understand why all the sites (Verge, AppleInsider, Macrumors) are all jumping on this remote. I am happy for someone to explain what makes it better than ANY other IR remote, If it's significantly better than the "one for all" I'll even consider it.

 

[gbc204]

Scrubbing is a problem with a button remote, whether it is a Logitech remote or likely the above Button Remote too. With the current software versions, fast forward and review do work but the speed maxes out at a relatively slow or at best moderate speed on button remotes. In order to get full speed scrubbing, you need to swipe on the Apple touch remote or an iPhone/iPad.

I know this because I prefer to use my Logitech Harmony remote over Apple's disaster of a remote. This mostly works, except if you want to get maximum scrubbing speed. BTW, it doesn't work properly with Apple's old button remote either.

Scrubbing is basically the only reason I keep the Apple TV remote around. Totally right on that count.

 

[Gasu E.]

The Appletv remote is the greatest ever. Simple, easy to operate, gets it done. I hate those legacy remotes with all the buttons that you can't see in the dark, and practically have to study just to find a function. It is nice that you can use a conventional remote with AppleTV, I guess, for those who don't like the easy to use one

I mostly agree. The only thing I don't like (and actually HATE) is the ridiculous symmetry. I don't know how many times I quickly tried to pause a show and ended up at the home screen. It's annoying and embarrassing. It's the one flaw in an otherwise clever design.

 

[WannaGoMac]

They have those?
If they do does it interfere at all when using the trackpad part?

Works perfectly everything. I have had one since i first got an Apple TV. Works great and i even got one that glows in the dark. Remote survived countless drops to the floor thanks to the case. It even mostly solved the orientation of the remote issue. Tons to choose from on amazon.

 

[Bearxor]

I couldn't click the buy button fast enough.

 

[bodonnell202]

Never understood the hate for the Siri remote. I find the touch controls super intuitive and much easier to use than a clunky/slow old button. I guess some people prefer clunky and slow? Whatever makes people happy I guess.

 

[Nacho1234]

I think one of the most under rated feature of the Siri remote is it’s asymmetry. Having the volume button as one and the other buttons as circles makes it so much easier to know what you are pressing without checking

 

[az431]

Useless without a CC button. It'd spend good money on a CC button, wife loves them and I can't stand them. Constantly getting toggled.

Totally useless? Really?

Fascinating that people think their own subjective beliefs are shared by every other person on Earth.

 

[barryblack]

I have this remote. I had it shipped from overseas and regret my purchase. It's bad. First, it's really uncomfortable to hold. The edges are sharp and the bottom is really slippery. I actually filed down the edges to make them less sharp. Next the buttons are just bad. They're too flat and it's not easy to feel yourself around the remote without looking. Next, the fact that it's IR is a huge pain and would have required me to move my Apple TV to some place visible. Last, the buttons are just weird. There doesn't seem to be a separate back from home so you end up having to do a long press for home. In the end it just wasn't worth it. I don't love the Apple TV remote but this is a step back. Don't bother buying it... even for $30.

 

[archer75]

I don't understand peoples issues with the apple remote. My whole family uses it without issue. Quick and easy to navigate. And the pad is a godsend for scrubbing through video. Feels good in the hand and I know where each button is without looking.

 

[Makosuke]

I actually don't mind the Apple remote that much, but I also don't use it much--to simplify turning on the TV and sound system and selecting inputs, we use a Pioneer universal remote for most things.

Except it doesn't have a button that maps to the "TV" button that you can use to bring up the app switcher. This turns out to be a bigger issue than I'd have thought because of the absolute garbage Hulu app--the dang thing hangs constantly and the only way to recover is to either dig out the Apple remote to force quit it or use the universal remote to reboot the Apple TV.

If this thing were capable of powering on both the Pioneer and my TV and selecting an input (which it looks like it isn't) I'd probably buy one. The sad part is it'd only be half because it's a nice, simple remote, and half just because Hulu is the crashiest piece of software I've ever used.

 

[PickUrPoison]

From what I can tell it's just an IR remote with a simple button layout. The "One for All remote," which I use, is the exact same thing. It's $25 at BB (you don't have to wait until end of July for shipping like this remote), and often goes on sale for $15. The only thin I can't seem to get my remote to do is siri (of course), and fast app switching. Maybe this remote can do that. I don't understand why all the sites (Verge, AppleInsider, Macrumors) are all jumping on this remote. I am happy for someone to explain what makes it better than ANY other IR remote, If it's significantly better than the "one for all" I'll even consider it.

Yeah I posted about the one for all earlier in this thread, and some months ago in the thread for the similar SALT remote from Switzerland. It seemed like a good alternative, especially with TV and sound bar support, dedicated home and back button, etc.

thx for the info. Didn’t know it ever went on sale (not that $25 is expensive but hey $10 is $10 🙂

 

[HiRez]

Is there a discrete button code for that (for example, to make a CC toggle a top-level menu item on a Harmony universal remote)? I'm in the same situation exactly: my wife always turns it on, and I want it off.

A CC button for ATV captions could be problematic. Even if a remote can trigger the standard ATV captions, not all apps use it. BritBox, for example, has a horrible CC implementation on Apple TV where you actually have to find and play a different version of a show to get captions, then it doesn't remember you were watching with captions when you go to resume later so you have to go deep into the menus and find the caption version all over again.

 

[EugW]

I don't understand peoples issues with the apple remote. My whole family uses it without issue. Quick and easy to navigate. And the pad is a godsend for scrubbing through video. Feels good in the hand and I know where each button is without looking.

The pad wasn't needed before for scrubbing. Then they introduced this remote and changed the software so it required this remote for proper scrubbing. In the process they reduced the functionality of not only third party remotes, but also of their own previous remote.

 

[archer75]

The pad wasn't needed before for scrubbing. Then they introduced this remote and changed the software so it required this remote for proper scrubbing. In the process they reduced the functionality of not only third party remotes, but also of their own previous remote.

Needed? No. But it certainly works better than any other remote I've used for that. I also have a shield, roku, firetv and others and I prefer the ATV remote.

 

[CLS9]

Apple unveiled its ‌Siri‌ (or ‌Apple TV‌) Remote with touch surface in 2015 alongside the fourth-generation ‌Apple TV‌, and it's never been a particularly popular accessory.

Last year we saw Swiss telco Salt launch an alternative remote control for the Apple TV 4K set-top boxes that it includes in its domestic broadband TV bundle, and yesterday AppleInsider surfaced another potential alternative for anyone frustrated with Apple's native Remote.

Function101's "Button Remote for Apple TV" costs $30 and looks very similar to the Swiss model, but this one will be available in the U.S. later this month, providing another option for anyone watching one of the Salt models on eBay, where they sell at a hefty premium.

The Button Remote includes directional arrows in place of the Siri Remote's glass Touch surface, a power button in addition to a Menu button, along with separate volume and channel rockers and traditional media playback buttons. There's no Siri button included, however.

If that omission is a deal breaker but you can't live with Apple's own remote, you could always control your Apple TV using an iPhone or via your Apple Watch.

Article Link: Function101 Offering Alternative Apple TV Remote Control for $30

I've been waiting for this. The Apple TV remote is so touchy that I have to keep going back and trying again and I've been using it ever since the 4th gen. And forget using your iPhone. You can't control volume with the iPhone remote and that's one of the most important functions.

 

[EugW]

Needed? No. But it certainly works better than any other remote I've used for that. I also have a shield, roku, firetv and others and I prefer the ATV remote.

It already worked pretty well before on older models of Apple TV, with their own button remote. But then they changed it not to work so well when they changed to the touch remote. That's my beef here.

Have you owned a previous model of Apple TV? Like I mean Apple TV 2 or Apple TV 3.

 

[nutmac]

The fact that this thread has now 120 responses in few hours demonstrates just how polarizing Sir Remote is. Earlier iOS beta referenced new remote and I hope it will be less polarizing without compromising too much of Apple's design language.

 

[CarlJ]

I mostly agree. The only thing I don't like (and actually HATE) is the ridiculous symmetry. I don't know how many times I quickly tried to pause a show and ended up at the home screen. It's annoying and embarrassing. It's the one flaw in an otherwise clever design.

Putting the remote in a silicone case helps break up that symmetry, along with making the remote a little more grippy. We should not have to do this, it should come out of the box fully ergonomic, but it’s a cheap fix.

i take the additional step of attaching Apple’s Remote Loop, not as a wrist strap, but merely as a tail to make it that much easier to orient in the hand without looking. It also helps in locating it if it tries to hide under a pillow or couch cushion (I recently noticed a case on Amazon that has a hard plastic tail extending several inches off the bottom end of the remote, for similar reasons, but it looked rather unwieldy).

 

[wilhoitm]

Putting the remote in a silicone case helps break up that symmetry, along with making the remote a little more grippy. We should not have to do this, it should come out of the box fully ergonomic, but it’s a cheap fix.

i take the additional step of attaching Apple’s Remote Loop, not as a wrist strap, but merely as a tail to make it that much easier to orient in the hand without looking. It also helps in locating it if it tries to hide under a pillow or couch cushion (I recently noticed a case on Amazon that has a hard plastic tail extending several inches off the bottom end of the remote, for similar reasons, but it looked rather unwieldy).

That remote looks horrible! Like something you would find in a Windows product! You do not need 18 buttons! Some people will never get what is wrong with that! The UX is horrible too!

 

[CarlJ]

That remote looks horrible! Like something you would find in a Windows product! You do not need 18 buttons! Some people will never get what is wrong with that! The UX is horrible too!

Excuse me, what in the world are you talking about? Did you mean to reply to a different comment? Or the article itself, perhaps?

 

[Cndnmax]

Why not just buy a harmony remote. You can usually find the 6** series on sale for like $40 and they are fully customizable.