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Hands-On With the Redesigned Apple TV 4K Siri Remote
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I set up our new Apple TV 4ks on Saturday (one for the den/office, one for the Living Room 65" Sony) and here's my.02:
Bottom line up front: There are some issues, but I like it. I'm not quite as clumsy with the touch circular pad as I was with the mini-touchpad version, I like the power button (HDMI-CEC is working flawlessly and automagically - I had compatible components and it "just worked"). With the earlier model, I was kind of clumsy for a while before I adapted whereas with this version, I was cruising around without looking (most of the time) right away.
I'd like some kind of backlighting, but after a week, I expect muscle memory will adapt me to button placement and that shortcoming won't bother me. I almost never lost my previous (and smaller) ATV remote and I expect that won't be a problem with this modestly larger one, either. Because of that, the lack of "find me" just won't be a problem for me or for my wife. Similarly, I never used the earlier version for gaming with, preferring instead to use a dedicated game controller, so that's not a problem for us, either (I realize that others might disagree).
My biggest issues are these:
It's probably just me and my fat fingers, but I keep on hitting the Siri button by mistake and then I have to dismiss it. That's fairly annoying. I'm sure that I will figure out how to hold it (Steve would be proud of me holding it right!) - but until I do, I'm going to annoy myself with unintended invocations of Siri from time to time.
Scrubbing is super awkward for me. With applications where it is supported, I seem to scrub forward, then backward, then forward... I mean, I really suck at it. It is probably just fat fingered clumsiness at work, but I find it hardly intuitive. Again, it is likely that experience will lend me some expertise, but my out of the box experience with scrubbing has not been a delight. Also, as several others have pointed out, scrubbing flat out does not work with many applications. Going forward, there will be app updates and that situation will resolve itself. Until that happens, it's going to be another imperfect use case which will lead to some annoyances.
So it is not perfect, but I do like it. I'm not sure I will buy it separately to replace the remote on our older ATV 4k, but I like it just fine.
One other note... I don't hate the older ATV remote. It's also not perfect, took too much time to learn, is not very "wife friendly", etc. etc. - but I adapted to it just fine after dealing with the frustration of the learning curve and now I'm okay with it.
As always, YMMV
Bottom line up front: There are some issues, but I like it. I'm not quite as clumsy with the touch circular pad as I was with the mini-touchpad version, I like the power button (HDMI-CEC is working flawlessly and automagically - I had compatible components and it "just worked"). With the earlier model, I was kind of clumsy for a while before I adapted whereas with this version, I was cruising around without looking (most of the time) right away.
I'd like some kind of backlighting, but after a week, I expect muscle memory will adapt me to button placement and that shortcoming won't bother me. I almost never lost my previous (and smaller) ATV remote and I expect that won't be a problem with this modestly larger one, either. Because of that, the lack of "find me" just won't be a problem for me or for my wife. Similarly, I never used the earlier version for gaming with, preferring instead to use a dedicated game controller, so that's not a problem for us, either (I realize that others might disagree).
My biggest issues are these:
It's probably just me and my fat fingers, but I keep on hitting the Siri button by mistake and then I have to dismiss it. That's fairly annoying. I'm sure that I will figure out how to hold it (Steve would be proud of me holding it right!) - but until I do, I'm going to annoy myself with unintended invocations of Siri from time to time.
Scrubbing is super awkward for me. With applications where it is supported, I seem to scrub forward, then backward, then forward... I mean, I really suck at it. It is probably just fat fingered clumsiness at work, but I find it hardly intuitive. Again, it is likely that experience will lend me some expertise, but my out of the box experience with scrubbing has not been a delight. Also, as several others have pointed out, scrubbing flat out does not work with many applications. Going forward, there will be app updates and that situation will resolve itself. Until that happens, it's going to be another imperfect use case which will lead to some annoyances.
So it is not perfect, but I do like it. I'm not sure I will buy it separately to replace the remote on our older ATV 4k, but I like it just fine.
One other note... I don't hate the older ATV remote. It's also not perfect, took too much time to learn, is not very "wife friendly", etc. etc. - but I adapted to it just fine after dealing with the frustration of the learning curve and now I'm okay with it.
As always, YMMV
It's automatic, when I wake my ATV it communicates to the Receiver to change to the ATV input (from whatever input it might have been on from previous use). So I press one button on ATV and everything wakes up and is setup correctly to start viewing.
Who else no matter what you do is having trouble scrubbing or going ff or rewind
no matter how many tips or tricks you google the fine tuning always jumps way ahead or behind where I would love to be
no matter how many tips or tricks you google the fine tuning always jumps way ahead or behind where I would love to be
Volume Control has a glitch! My old apple remote paired perfectly with my sound bar. The new Apple TV remote does not. I went through all the steps to pair it (using the original IR remote that came with the sound bar). ATV said pairing worked, but still no joy when I click the volume buttons. Same goes for any mute functionality.
It turns out I'm not the only one with this problem. It's a growing question on the apple forums. So sad to have to send this one back. It was better in every other way that the last one!
It turns out I'm not the only one with this problem. It's a growing question on the apple forums. So sad to have to send this one back. It was better in every other way that the last one!
I have trained my remote to control my AVR's volume via IR and that works fine, so it doesn't appear to be a general problem.
The scroll wheel is broken. According to Gruber it works exactly like an iPod wheel: you scroll through lists by spinning around in a circle - except you don't. You spin around back and forth in a circle. In no lists does this work at all, not in the main menu, not in the TV app, not in horisontal lists like the settings app. I'm baffled, it's completely unintuitive. Is there a setting I am missing?
And yes, I get the activating scrub controls by pausing, then holding on the circle until the circle scrub icon comes up - again COMPLETELY UNINTUITIVE. This should be DEFAULT behaviour, both for scrolling lists and scrubbing. What's the point of having a touch wheel if it doesn't work like a touch wheel?
And yes, I get the activating scrub controls by pausing, then holding on the circle until the circle scrub icon comes up - again COMPLETELY UNINTUITIVE. This should be DEFAULT behaviour, both for scrolling lists and scrubbing. What's the point of having a touch wheel if it doesn't work like a touch wheel?
Volume control is spotty. It seems the IR blaster isn't as strong as the older model. It lags when increasing or decreasing volume control on my soundbar. I hope this is a software problem and not a hardware problem, but I'm skeptical. The mute button really doesn't function most of the time.
Ordered just the remote, it lands today. 👍
Apple alongside the second-generation Apple TV 4K debuted a redesigned version of the Siri Remote, which is now available to customers with new Apple TV orders and as a $60 standalone replacement for the original Siri Remote.
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We picked up the updated Siri Remote to see if it's worth picking up if you have an original Apple TV 4K or HD and are tired of the first iteration of the remote, which has several shortcomings.
Apple entirely overhauled the Siri Remote's design. It has an all-aluminum body that does away with the touchpad interface, instead adopting a touch-based clickpad and several additional buttons for control purposes.
The new remote is thicker than the prior version, and Apple has used that thickness change as an explanation for why the Siri Remote 2 doesn't need Find My. It's bigger, thicker, and shouldn't get as easily lost in couch cushions, though whether that's true remains to be seen and will vary from household to household.
Along with no Find My, the new remote does not feature a gyroscope or an accelerometer, so you can't play games with it. Apple now recommends gaming controllers for playing games rather than the standard remote.
The clickpad that Apple added can be used like a standard directional button, and you can also swipe around if you want, but you don't have to. It's much more versatile than the prior touch interface, and it's useful to be able to scroll/scrub through content using a circular swipe gesture.
The buttons are tactile and satisfying to press, and Apple has added dedicated mute and power buttons along with the standard buttons for play/pause, volume control, and more. Siri can be activated through a side button.
Like the prior Siri Remote, you can charge this one using Lightning, and other than the physical changes, it operates the same as the original remote so it should be intuitive for most Apple TV users. If you're fed up with the original Siri Remote, the updated version has the potential to be a good alternative if you don't mind the selling price. Get a new Siri Remote? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Article Link: Hands-On With the Redesigned Apple TV 4K Siri Remote
We have a 4K as main tv and a 4th gen as our second tv.
It’s a toss up if we order a second remote or bump the set down the line, and buy a new set (6th gen) and sell the 4th gen.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but the touch ring acts as an extension of the center touch pad until you long touch the ring to activate the scrub/scroll function.
That’s why the selection/scrubbing goes back and forth erratically, because you’re essentially making circles on the touch pad.
That’s why the selection/scrubbing goes back and forth erratically, because you’re essentially making circles on the touch pad.
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It’s there. Above the play/pause button. Press it for a couple of seconds and bam! You’re on the Home Screen.
I have been using the new remote for a week now. I am probably the only one, but I prefer the old one. I never understood the complaints about it anyways. But everybody is different.