Hands-On With the New Apple TV: An Overview of Siri and Search

[mrklaw]

While it's not Apple's fault, Apple is in the best position to change the industry. After all, couldn't the same have been said about music only 10-15 years ago?

Except other companies like Sony already have cord cutting subscriptions out there, and on-demand streaming boxes/platforms are almost a dime a dozen (smart TVs, bluray players, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox one, android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Tv, now TV etc). Likewise Roku, Microsoft and Amazon have voice activated search and control.

I don't see anything that Apple are doing being particularly innovative or game changing. Maybe that is enough for them for now in this space. Maybe apps will be the differentiator.

Sad there isn't an always on Siri option. I know there'd be some trouble here and there with it possibly accidentally activating, but man I loved saying "Xbox Pause" during Netflix. If I'm finding the remote to use Siri, might as well hit the pause button there.

Agree. Although 'hey Siri' was a bad choice for a command phrase as it is way less distinct than 'Xbox blah'. I've already had my iPhone 6s go off a few times by calling my daughters name (daisy) and someone saying something about history on the TV..

 

[gijoeinla]

So far my experience with Apple TV 4 has been awful. Just awful. I can honestly say I actually miss my old Apple TV after using this one for three days, which is bizarre for an early adopter like me.

1) Remote app doesn't work with Apple TV 4 at launch, which makes #2 worse

2) Setup sucks. Without the remote app, I have to type in all my passwords for all my services like Netflix and Hulu with the awful on screen keyboard.

3) Apps like Hulu are inferior to their Apple TV 3 counterparts. The new Hulu app is terrible compared to the old one. It looks awful and doesn't remember the latest episode you've been watching in an older TV series. Not to mention it crashes frequently, requiring you to restart the Apple TV

4) Bugs - as mentioned in #3, my Apple TV crashed frequently when watching Hulu, when I went to restart I saw pink pars across the screen for several seconds before seeing the Apple logo. It was reminiscent of the BSOD on Windows, which put a bad taste in my mouth and shows no real testing was done with 3rd party apps. In the industry we call this the cost of poor quality when trying to rush a release.

5) Feautres - Siri doesn't work as promised - results weren't showing me only the services I'd subscribed to - but rather everything available to purchase or subscribe. Additionally the 'what did he say' function only works with Apple's TV and movies. If you try this in a third party app like Hulu, it won't add the captions temporarily like it's advertised.

6) Interface - the new UI has gotten a facelift but I hate - absolutely HATE the 3D cover art swivel that you get when scrolling between menu items. It adds unnecessary 'friction' when trying to scroll between items, which is bad - this feature is even present when scrolling through letters on the keyboard. Who the hell needs 3D swivel for the letters? Are you kidding me?! Also, the 'top menu' of Purchased, Top Movies, etc. disappears when scrolling down, making it confusing on how pull it up again in order to navigate between tabs of content

7) Remote - this one is surprising but I don't like the placement of the menu button + TV button. I find myself accidentally hitting the Siri button as the menu button and vice versa. It would feel much more natural if they left all of the buttons off of the touch trackpad and moved them to the lower part of the device, making it easier for your thumb to hit. Having them so high up feels like a bad compromise for them trying to turn it into a gaming remote. Also, despite me having a brand new Samsung TV, I couldn't get it to work to power my TV or change volume - I suspect this is because I have my Apple TV fed as an input to my XBox One, so it throws off the HDMI-C thing but as of now I have 3 buttons on the remote I cannot use for anything.

I tried to like the new Apple TV, I really did. But in its current form, it really stinks. This doesn't seem like a high quality, polished Apple product that I've come to expect.

Wow. Considerable unhappiness yet the consensus from tech reviewers hands down were mostly favorable. Strange they didn't see these multitude of flaws. Hmmmm.

 

[charlituna]

I'm currently not impressed. I was hoping part of the reason this took so long was because they were redoing their media metadata. When they demo'd Siri during the keynote it looked like I was right. But I have tried numerous searches and they came up zilch.
I'm not returning it because I do like the games etc but the search doesn't do it for me. not at the moment

Agree. Although 'hey Siri' was a bad choice for a command phrase as it is way less distinct than 'Xbox blah'. I've already had my iPhone 6s go off a few times by calling my daughters name (daisy) and someone saying something about history on the TV..

I would rather, on both, to be able to pick my own phrase. And yes I agree that for the Apple TV an always on option would be nice. Even if it was only 'always on' when the Apple TV had been activated for the first time via the remote. at least for now

 

[keifer.street]

This whole swipe to scroll was very erratic when I tried to use it at an Apple Store.
I think Apple has 'Swipe Fever'. Just because we do that on a phone doesn't mean it works on a large TV display.
Big bold images flying across the screen is jaring and disorienting.

Sometimes simple lists work. Think original iPod scroll wheel.
Less is more.

I don't mind the swiping. It's the 3D swivel effect I don't like, as mentioned in my review. If you don't have one, you'll know what I mean after seeing it. It's a useless 'lipstick on a pig' feature that actually adds friction in the UX experience and takes away from the simplicity of use.

 

[mrklaw]

I would rather, on both, to be able to pick my own phrase. And yes I agree that for the Apple TV an always on option would be nice. Even if it was only 'always on' when the Apple TV had been activated for the first time via the remote. at least for now

Yeah, I'd even take always on only while playing something

 

[JimmyHook]

You just explained it in your response ... Apple wants a cut of what Amazon is selling so Amazon doesn't make the app. Apple is trying to make deals with cable companies, why doesn't Apple at least try to work with Amazon.

Wrong. Apple only takes a cut of the sign up is on the Apple device. Example, there is a Prime iOS app but you have to sign up on the web. It's sheer Amazon greed here

 

[keifer.street]

Wow. Considerable unhappiness yet the consensus from tech reviewers hands down were mostly favorable. Strange they didn't see these multitude of flaws. Hmmmm.

I suspect this is because most tech blogs like The Verge post their review after only having the device for an hour or so. I used it for at least 20 hours over the weekend - I put it through its paces. I believe as time goes on, we'll see more 'balanced' reviews highlighting some of the flaws I mentioned.

 

[macfacts]

Wrong. Apple only takes a cut of the sign up is on the Apple device. Example, there is a Prime iOS app but you have to sign up on the web. It's sheer Amazon greed here

Maybe Amazon wants a better app experience and wants customers to be able to stream and buy/rent stuff in one app instead of the experience of switching between two different devices to watch and buy. That can't happen without some special deal with Apple or Amazon giving Apple a 30% cut.

I suspect this is because most tech blogs like The Verge post their review after only having the device for an hour or so. I used it for at least 20 hours over the weekend - I put it through its paces. I believe as time goes on, we'll see more 'balanced' reviews highlighting some of the flaws I mentioned.

If you read the entire review by TheVerge, it mentions ALL the negatives that have been said by people in this thread on MacRumors. The only thing is, in the last paragraph and the final score out of 10, TheVerge reviewer ignores all that and gives the appleTV4 a 9/10. The reviewer tries to play off these negatives as ok cause TVos is a 1st gen product (It's a hobby still!)

 

[RockSpider]

It's not just me. Apple has higher customer sat ratings than Amazon. Given the choice it would be easy to see Amazon pushed out. I'm suggesting through Apple Feedback that they yank all Amazon apps from the App Store

You should go outside and play Jimmy, all this Apple power is making you delusional.

 

[The Game 161]

i'm glad that you can go back using siri on amazon prime via airplay...

 

[RebornProphet]

Amazon is actually very popular in the UK they purchased and integrated "Love Film" which was probably the most popular streaming service in the UK. Like Netflix they have a lot of original TV content that is not available anywhere else. Netflix has not been £5.99 a month for a while now. In fact two price increases from £5.99 to £6.99 in 2014 and from £6.99 to £7.45 in 2015. This is for non 4K streaming if you want 4K the price is actually higher still.

My Netflix is still £5.99 for HD on two devices, but then I've been a member for years.

My point is that Amazon charge a flat up front fee for 12 months of use. At least I believe that's still the case. I personally prefer paying per month rather than upfront in one go. And from experience, Love Film was never the most popular streaming service in the UK ... their selection was utter dross, far behind even Netflix in its infancy. Now it's been integrated into Amazon's Prime Video it's far better with shows, as you mentioned, that are exclusive to them (Bosch, etc). But Love Film was always better for renting movies on physical media, it's streaming selection was always poor.

 

[mrklaw]

Wrong. Apple only takes a cut of the sign up is on the Apple device. Example, there is a Prime iOS app but you have to sign up on the web. It's sheer Amazon greed here

For Amazon prime that would be fine. But Amazon also rents/sells TV shows and movies. if they did that in their app then Apple would take a cut which would make them uncompetitive vs apple's iTunes prices.

They have a 'play only' app on iOS, but on a TV I think most consumers would want to also be able to rent something to watch.

 

[Mark.T]

When Siri works, it's great.

But it really needs work. Siri remains a bit daft. Search for "28 days later" and it tells me it can't play movies in the future. Search for a movie with an "&" in the title and it can't find it. Search by actor, and it shows up.

Loving the new Apple TV, but I'm disappointed with Siri.

This should be fixed shortly (send in a feedback notice to speed to make you feel like you're speeding things along).

When Siri was new, I couldn't get Siri to "set a timer for four minutes" without getting the "how long would you like me to set the timer for?" reply. Now it works flawlessly.

 

[BruceEBonus]

"Siri...get me a good action movie with great acting, story and special effects"

"Does not compute .... Now Playing 'San Andreas"

"Whaaaaat? Why, I oughta .... "

 

[mariana888]

Having read most comments I still don't know what to do.

Do I buy one or not? Million dollar question. Do I need one.? Almost certainly not. I can watch Netflix from my TV directly and it has plenty apps. I have a PS4 and whatever services are not available on the TV I can get on the Play station.

Do I want one? Yes, why? I don't know....

can Anybody help?

 

[macfoxpro]

After 6 hours with me new ATV, my life hasn't changed and I am going to return this thing.
All is lost.
I can't go on like this.
Oh, the humanity.

I think it was a mistake to put so much importance on Siri.

I'm confident that almost everyone will not use Siri for interacting with the Apple TV, because it's innately unnatural to speak to a box. You would have thought that Apple would have built an app for the Apple Watch that allows you to flick through TV stations. That's another big flaw with Cook's thinking about TV: apps are not the right medium for TV; channels are. It's much quicker pressing a button once to get to another station than it is to close an app, open another app and navigate to the station you want.

I don't think this is the future of TV that Steve Jobs worked out; it seems too slow and clunky. Surely, the ideal TV interface would be customised to show all your favourite content accessible with one tap, and that content would include all non-iTunes content, live TV and cable together with iTunes. There would be no logging in whatsoever, as the TV would sync log-in details via iCloud from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac.

"What did he say?"

 

[Rigby]

Check your facts. Amazon is refusing to write an app for the Apple TV. Apple is not disallowing or forbidding such an app. It's Amazon's choice not to make an app, so if you're frustrated then you need to place blame squarely where it belongs: Amazon. Why do you think Amazon stopped selling Apple TVs through amazon.com? It can't stand the competition and will do everything it can to sell its own 2nd-rate products instead.

It's always amusing to read claims like this on an Apple-centric forum of all places. In fact Apple is the *only* major online video store that won't make its content available on any other devices than its own, obviously in an attempt to "sell its own whatever-rated products instead". Amazon video apps, on the other hand, are available on a multitude of other devices, including a direct competitor to their Fire TV (the Roku).

As others have noted, this is all about competition in the electronic sell-through business. Netflix and Hulu don't sell movies, but Amazon and Vudu do, and because they haven't reached agreeable terms with Apple they are not on the Apple TV.

 

[Precision Gem]

I think if the Siri ended every movie with a "happy ending", you still wouldn't be satisfied.

You are not going to get your current Cable/Sat content free. Sorry, not going to happen. It's a device for RENTING movies. Get over it.

 

[2457282]

Went out and picked up a 64 GB TV around 4pm today at Best Buy. They had plenty in stock and as I asked the employee how sales were he said they were steady. Disappointed that the remote app is not compatible and surely they will update it soon. I do like the new TV so far but it has room for improvement and Siri is limited. Really like the bluetooth headphone pairing. I Airplayed some streaming radio from my iTunes via my Mac to the TV with Bluetooth and no latency at all. Also liked that after a longtime of inactivity the TV turned off my TV and receiver. I have had some sudden closings of apps that return to the home screen especially when playing Music. I am not that impressed with the game apps with the remote so far but I am sure Apple and App Developers will make it much better as things should evolve quickly. There are some things to complain about for a first day product but a lot to look forward to as well.

Pretty much nailed it. I downloaded asphalt 8 and really did not like the experience with the remote. That game needs a better interface, like the phone or a proper controller. Definitely was surprised by the ATV's ability to turn off and on the other equipment. That a nice add-on I was not expecting. More updates needed, but I do consider this a significant improvement. As the apps figure out how to really take advantage of the ATV and how the experience needs to be different than in the iPad, I think this will be really nice.

 

[donster28]

Having read most comments I still don't know what to do.

Do I buy one or not? Million dollar question. Do I need one.? Almost certainly not. I can watch Netflix from my TV directly and it has plenty apps. I have a PS4 and whatever services are not available on the TV I can get on the Play station.

Do I want one? Yes, why? I don't know....

can Anybody help?

You just justified not needing it. I was in the same situation as you and was attracted to it just because it's a new gadget...and I wanted to try gaming on it but to me it's not worth the price.

And with all the negative reviews in mind and the multitude of gadgetry you already own, that can do the same things it does, save your money for something else and wait for a price drop. Who knows, by that time, there is reason enough to buy it.

 

[macfoxpro]

Netflix has the worst UI. Thinking my Samsung Smart TV app is better than the one on ATV.
I find myself going to netflix.com to browse, and then search it on ATV.

 

[dpace32]

You should check out this forum link https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/itunes-movie-codes.1931946/

This has made getting iTunes movies super easy for a great price.

This is great! Thank you!! Didn't realize people bought and sold these codes.

 

[KopThat]

I didn't know that the Siri search worked across iTunes and Netflix

I wonder if it can do it across regions, when I am using my oz or us account

 

[2457282]

I think it was a mistake to put so much importance on Siri.

I'm confident that almost everyone will not use Siri for interacting with the Apple TV, because it's innately unnatural to speak to a box. You would have thought that Apple would have built an app for the Apple Watch that allows you to flick through TV stations. That's another big flaw with Cook's thinking about TV: apps are not the right medium for TV; channels are. It's much quicker pressing a button once to get to another station than it is to close an app, open another app and navigate to the station you want.

I don't think this is the future of TV that Steve Jobs worked out; it seems too slow and clunky. Surely, the ideal TV interface would be customised to show all your favourite content accessible with one tap, and that content would include all non-iTunes content, live TV and cable together with iTunes. There would be no logging in whatsoever, as the TV would sync log-in details via iCloud from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac.

I partially agree, but not 100%

I haven't played with Siri too much, on any device, so not really sure about interacting with a machine through voice. Maybe the younger generation will totally love this. But as far as the tv experience, I like the apps. But I think we have a paradigm shift that needs to be looked at.

To your point, our experience is one of channel surfing (I go back to the experience of knob turning). In that paradigm, the idea of having to jump in and out of apps seems all wrong and I would totally agree. But the tv itself was just an app that grabbed content from different airwaves (later cable signals) and presented in a simple format. Hulu and Netflix are examples of pretty much the same thing and allows you to surf. Let's call them the aggregator.

If Siri or some other app can agregate accross the aggregators then we really have something. The experience is a little different in that instead of mindlessly wandering around you have to give some instructions related to genre or mood or actor or whatever.

Lets watch it mature over a couple of years and I think we might indeed have something that really does change things.

 

[charlituna]

Wrong. Apple only takes a cut of the sign up is on the Apple device. Example, there is a Prime iOS app but you have to sign up on the web. It's sheer Amazon greed here

even if they let you sign up via the app, Amazon would likely pull a Youtube and charge you more so they get their whatever out of it