Has Apple just abandoned AppleTV?

nickdalzell1 said:
While it's not entirely bug-free
Click to expand...
This is definitely true.

nickdalzell1 said:
(although the last update to tvOS made it a lot better)
Click to expand...
In my experience, tvOS 14 brought more bugs than it took away. This was also true with tvOS 13. tvOS 12 was the most stable, bug-free OS version of the ATV since before the launch of the ATV4.

I have auto-updates turned off, but the tvOS update prompt pops up in a way that it is too-easy to update the OS without even trying. There was a tvOS 13 bug that would cause the update prompt to pop up every 20 minutes on my ATV4K. I ended up updating to tvOS14 without wanting too.

Like iOS, you cannot roll back an update, and you are stuck with it.

It was even worse for me with tvOS 14.2, as the update wiped all the apps on my ATV4K, not the app data, but the apps themselves. Deleting every app, and attempting to redownload them from the tvOS App Store.

This wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but about 30 games I had installed on my ATV4K were no longer in the App Store, so the update permanently removed perfectly working apps that I can never get back. Some I payed money for.

Since there is no back up option for the ATV4K, there is no recourse for me to recover my lost apps.


So.... Yes, you are correct, tvOS is not entirely bug-free.
 
I stuck with tvOS 12 a long time (you can disable the pop-up update nags at the router. block mesu.apple.com, appldnld.apple.com and softwareupdate.apple.com on your router under block sites, then reboot the ATV. The update nag eventually goes away.)

But tvOS 12 didn't offer theme disables for certain screensavers, it didn't upconvert to 4K/HD properly (so most of my shows looked like pixelated 240p YouTube on my 65" UHD TV) so I thought tvOS 13 would be a possible upgrade. What happened is it kept freezing and not responding to the remote, or the shows started getting 'stuck' buffering endlessly for no reason, also requiring a plug pull, or it looped the same screensaver over and over, or apps just dumped to the home screen. When tvOS 14 came, I switched to beta, downloaded and it's been fine ever since, proper upconverting, no more hangs, no more screensaver loops, and it actually downloads new ones now. I have froze updates once again at the router since I can't fathom any improvement to what I have now. It does everything I want it to.
 
Seriously....What's wrong with the remote?! I never got a straight answer! Sure there's no mute button but I haven't watched live ad-infested TV or streamed from ad-infested services for over a year now (and like adblock on browsers, I can't imagine why anyone tolerates broadcast TV today, where it's 5 minutes of show, 25 minutes of commercials, mostly for drugs, debt collection help, or propaganda) so a mute button isn't even needed now!

If you hate the remote so much, just link a universal remote to it. If you like eating batteries that end up garbage, great. I myself appreciate the remote it came with.
 
I hate Siri, never use it on any of my Apple products. But the "trackpad" on the remote is mainly what I dislike, seems very awkward and glitchy. And I don't care for the cheap plastic feel of the whole thing. I always really liked the aluminum remote from the Apple TV 3, so that's what I use on my Apple TV 4's. I much prefer a "clicker" with cursor buttons.

You can still buy these directly from Apple, FWIW

Apple Remote - Apple

Apple Store Search Results
www.apple.com
 
the bad thing about those older remotes is they eat coin batteries for breakfast. I had an ATV 3 long ago back before they had app store support (which was why I returned it) and the included remote had a dead battery out of the box and I managed to damage the back after attempting to replace the battery and it worked for another week then claimed on the screen of the TV it was low again and then disconnected.

I much prefer the rechargeable option, although I have yet to have to recharge it yet. Got two ATVs, one 4K and one HD and they have worked quite well. I don't use Siri, and until yesterday never knew it had a control center (never could find a use for it on ATVs UI). The only thing I hate is that the UI arbritrarily decides to change the on-screen keyboard style at whim. I hate the 'across the screen one line keyboard' for it taking forever to type with, no matter which remote you use, and prefer the grid style one that Netflix uses, and iTunes used to use until recently.

I have to ask though: How does one know when recharging the ATV remote when it's done? Does it flash an LED or beep or anything? I've never had to recharge them yet but I know it's inevitable. It never shows battery status on screen that I'm aware of, just 'Remote: Connected'

Are we just supposed to let them sit on charge overnight? I don't do that with anything because it seriously shortens lifespan of Li-ion batteries.
 
Last edited:
I've been considering getting a new TV, a 4K one, to replace my 11-12 year old 1080-TV. Since I "only" have the Apple TV HD, I'd need to get a new Apple TV, too, if I upgrade my TV.

Today I went round a few stores to look at a few potential TV models I'm considering, and - at the same time I asked about the Apple TV 4K, to try and get an extra rebate on a "bundle", even if I know a new Apple TV is just around the corner.

No-one had any Apple TVs in, at all, neither in store or centrally to order online. One chain had an expected in date on the central warehouse at Dec. 22, while the local Apple Retailer (we don't have any Apple Stores here) had not received any expected delivery dates from Apple.

This could mean a new Apple TV is just days (?) away. (He said optimistically.)
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
I've been considering getting a new TV, a 4K one, to replace my 11-12 year old 1080-TV. Since I "only" have the Apple TV HD, I'd need to get a new Apple TV, too, if I upgrade my TV.

Today I went round a few stores to look at a few potential TV models I'm considering, and - at the same time I asked about the Apple TV 4K, to try and get an extra rebate on a "bundle", even if I know a new Apple TV is just around the corner.

No-one had any Apple TVs in, at all, neither in store or centrally to order online. One chain had an expected in date on the central warehouse at Dec. 22, while the local Apple Retailer (we don't have any Apple Stores here) had not received any expected delivery dates from Apple.

This could mean a new Apple TV is just days (?) away. (He said optimistically.)
Click to expand...
I hope you're right. Our TVision service is transitioning from the Layer3 set top box to T-Mobile's own TVision hub at the end of the month. The hub is a brand new design and it's Bluetooth. I use an IR Harmony remote to control our entertainment system as we don't like having to use more than one remote. Even if I got the Harmony hub it would be useless as Logitech hasn't yet developed support for the TVision hub. Fortunately, there is a TVision app for the Apple TV so my path is to upgrade from my 3rd gen Apple TV to a newer model so I can download the app. I haven't pulled the trigger yet as I'm waiting to see if a new gen Apple TV shows up in the next few weeks.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
the bad thing about those older remotes is they eat coin batteries for breakfast.
Click to expand...
I've had a total of four of these old remotes and the batteries have always lasted over a year. That's not much of a breakfast! 😂 But I suppose it varies, depending on how much use they get. The batteries are cheap and I keep a bunch on-hand since they're also used in a bunch of other devices at my place.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
the bad thing about those older remotes is they eat coin batteries for breakfast. I had an ATV 3 long ago back before they had app store support (which was why I returned it) and the included remote had a dead battery out of the box and I managed to damage the back after attempting to replace the battery and it worked for another week then claimed on the screen of the TV it was low again and then disconnected.

I much prefer the rechargeable option, although I have yet to have to recharge it yet. Got two ATVs, one 4K and one HD and they have worked quite well. I don't use Siri, and until yesterday never knew it had a control center (never could find a use for it on ATVs UI). The only thing I hate is that the UI arbritrarily decides to change the on-screen keyboard style at whim. I hate the 'across the screen one line keyboard' for it taking forever to type with, no matter which remote you use, and prefer the grid style one that Netflix uses, and iTunes used to use until recently.

I have to ask though: How does one know when recharging the ATV remote when it's done? Does it flash an LED or beep or anything? I've never had to recharge them yet but I know it's inevitable. It never shows battery status on screen that I'm aware of, just 'Remote: Connected'

Are we just supposed to let them sit on charge overnight? I don't do that with anything because it seriously shortens lifespan of Li-ion batteries.
Click to expand...

One hour of charging that thing is at least a month or more of use. That remote is pretty amazing in my mind. If you’re curious to see current charge go to Settings>Remotes and Devices>Remote. That’ll show the current charge. Mine’s at 88% and I can’t remember the last time I charged it.
 
I've had my ATV 4K for almost a year, and my HD only one for half that. Never recharged the remotes. I admit they don't get as much use as my Spectrum one that can switch inputs, turn everything on or off with one button, but I do use play/pause often and the 'tv button' to go home. I never use Siri though so that might have explained the long life. Neither have actually told me in any way the battery is low, just 'remote:connected' if I even catch that on the screen.

Looked under remotes and devices, normally it doesn't show battery status (because it's asleep I guess) but today it does, and it's still showing a full icon. This is my 4K, haven't checked the other one yet. Aside guessing one hour, is there any kind of visual or audible confirmation the battery is full or can be unplugged? I've actually damaged batteries leaving things plugged in too long so I want to make sure I don't damage it. I am also afraid of plugging just any USB-C charger into my Mac because the brick it came with is obviously putting more voltage and amps to the cable, so I don't even use the USB-C charger from my Mac to charge any other device. I really don't understand the point of USB-C other than it being reversable, which Lightning does fine, so it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, and there's no standard since different USB-C chargers have different output voltages so it's a cluster to not plug the wrong cable into the wrong device. Would plugging my Galaxy Tab A 10.1 into my Mac's USB-C cable blow it up?

As for the earlier post about the coin batteries in the older remotes, the one in the remote that came with my short-lived ATV3 was dead out of the box (yes, I removed the film, no luck) and I damaged (bent) the cover getting it apart to replace it, and then a week or so later, the ATV showed a 'low battery' warning on screen when attempting to use the remote, and eventually stopped accepting input. I ended up returning the entire set. I don't like throwing stuff away like batteries so rechargeable is the way I do things today.
 
Last edited:
vertical smile said:
The Apple TV's IR remote learning feature has been around since the first generation ATV, and is really easy to use. You can use just about any IR remote, too. It even works with a iRobot Roomba remote, which I didn't use, but just wanted to see if it would actually work.

A downside to using it with tvOS is that IR remote button presses are not universally built into the OS, at least for apps. The app developer has to include the IR button presses in the app, otherwise, the IR remote doesn't do anything.




Even at 3 years old, it is still a better experience than the competition.



A lot of the competition doesn't use IR remotes at all.



I don't understand this one. What would render it unusable?




That is what a lot of us have been telling you and many other people with threads with a similar topic.

Over the past two years, there has been threads asking when a new ATV4K will be out with people saying that they want an ATV4K, but want to wait for the next ATV.

People saying they will "wait for the (WWDC, iPhone launch, rumored random product launch, etc) event", so the events come and go, and still no ATV. But, there is always another rumor, or another event coming up that people will wait for, and that whole time, they could have been enjoying an ATV.

I always reply to these threads saying if you need one now, get one now.

If you and ATV4k today and three weeks from now Apple launches a new ATV, it isn't like your ATV4K will stop working or be bricked. If the new ATV (if it ever happens) has features that you just have to have, sell your ATV4K and purchase the new one.

In reality, while the ATV4K is more expensive than the competition, it isn't like a $1000+ device, so purchasing one isn't really that big of a financial risk.

I understand that everyone's financial situation is different, so maybe the purchase of an ATV4K would be too much for them. But that is where the much cheaper competition comes in to play.
Click to expand...
Yikes, I didn’t know that the IR button presses where treated differently by individual programs. I’d have assumed the OS handled that, and the program is just getting a generic command from the OS...although I guess the inputs from a or ap remote can’t be exactly the same as from the awful included remote.

I’m worried that would be an issue, some programs just wouldn’t work because they aren’t coded to work right with an Ir remote.

I accidentally deleted the post I was quoting from Boyd01 I think, but I thought the older apple remote didn’t work with these. Those seemed like they’d be solid other than using coin batteries instead of normal AA or AAA batteries.

there just doesn’t seem to be a clear cut obvious choice for me.

google has a deal now for a sort of free chromecast ultra, which I though maybe I could muddle along with until the next Apple TV, only peacock which I’m using a lot doesn’t seem to actually be cast-able from iOS. I’d probably do the deal if it were for a NEW chromecast with GoogleTV instead of the old ultra with no good way to control it.
 
There are other Siri Remote alternatives, such as using a gaming controller or using the iPhone's Remote app.

Wolfpup said:
Yikes, I didn’t know that the IR button presses where treated differently by individual programs.
Click to expand...
Most streaming apps work fine with the IR remotes. Most games don't work at all with them.

Some apps work partially, but the playback buttons (FF, RW, Skip) are not always programmed. FW, RW still work via D-pad though.


But.......

Wolfpup said:
I’m worried that would be an issue, some programs just wouldn’t work because they aren’t coded to work right with an Ir remote.
Click to expand...

IIRC, you never owned an ATV4 or ATV4K, and you are assuming that you will not like the Siri Remote. You may end up loving it, many people do.

The Siri Remote is polarizing, most people either love it or hate it. But, it isn't like an impossible remote to use even if it isn't your favorite.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Siri Remote. Most times, it works great, others not so much. I pick it up from the wrong direction all the time, even after using it for over 5 years now.

When it is already in my hand, it is usually fine depending on the app. Some apps' UI just suck for a Touch Pad, such as YouTube. Others are find with it, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video.

I hate apps that are designed for endless swiping, which seemed to be designed for the Siri Remote, but I just hate the swiping. Apple's Photos app is like this.

Some games were designed to be played with the Siri Remote, and it feels natural and easy to use. Others, mostly ports, not so much, and a controller is a must.

A pro of the Siri Remote would be using Siri, so much faster than using the talking feature on my other streaming devices.

Another pro would be the battery, it lasts for months without charging.

Also, the Siri Remote worked great with every TV and audio receiver/soundbar I have used with it. Turning them on and off with the ATV, and volume control.


So, I wouldn't assume the worse and think that you will hate the Siri Remote and plan on using an IR remote. You may end up loving it, and wonder why there is so much hate for it.
 
vertical smile said:
I hate apps that are designed for endless swiping, which seemed to be designed for the Siri Remote, but I just hate the swiping. Apple's Photos app is like this.
Click to expand...
Where’s the need for endless swiping in the Photos App?
I’m using it now and yeah you can swipe if you wish or you’ve got exactly the same functionality as if you were using a regular IR remote in that you just touch the trackpad in the direction you wish to navigate.
The swiping is one of the most complained about things I see with the Siri remote but for some reason some don’t seem to realise that you don’t need to swipe, just tap 😉
Heck in my book that’s even better than an IR remote as most of those you need to actually press the directional button down.
830C893D-8B79-4B77-A80B-0293B71ED5BF.jpeg
 
-Gonzo- said:
Where’s the need for endless swiping in the Photos App?
Click to expand...
-Gonzo- said:
The swiping is one of the most complained about things I see with the Siri remote but for some reason some don’t seem to realise that you don’t need to swipe, just tap 😉
Click to expand...
Swapping endless for endless tapping isn't really a fix.

The pseudo D-pad on the Touch Pad would work if it behaved like a normal D-pad and had a press and hold feature, I would agree with you, but moving one space at a time isn't going to help scrolling down 20,000 photos.

BTW, I have beaning the pseudo D-pad on the Siri Remote for a long time now, ever since it became a feature a few years back, it makes using the Siri Remote and Touch Pad much more bearable, but it isn't a replacement for an actual D-pad.
 
-Gonzo- said:
Where’s the need for endless swiping in the Photos App?
I’m using it now and yeah you can swipe if you wish or you’ve got exactly the same functionality as if you were using a regular IR remote in that you just touch the trackpad in the direction you wish to navigate.
The swiping is one of the most complained about things I see with the Siri remote but for some reason some don’t seem to realise that you don’t need to swipe, just tap 😉
Heck in my book that’s even better than an IR remote as most of those you need to actually press the directional button down.
View attachment 1692957
Click to expand...

Great! Never knew it did that! Learn something new every day! I must've been 'holding it wrong' the entire time. The swiping was one of my gripes.

I'd love to actually use Siri, if she didn't start every show I ask her to play at season 1, episode 1, every time! This includes shows that I'm well into, such as season 4 of Deep Space Nine, or Season 3 of Babylon 5. So far the only ATV interaction with Siri is me using my Apple Watch to turn the TV and all connected devices (homekit compatible) off.
 
Last edited:
vertical smile said:
The pseudo D-pad on the Touch Pad would work if it behaved like a normal D-pad and had a press and hold feature, I would agree with you, but moving one space at a time isn't going to help scrolling down 20,000 photos.
Click to expand...
Right I’m with you, that’s one thing that never even occurred to me.
There is of course the fast scroll option by swiping up and down on the right hand side of the track pad.
 
Swiping is one of the best and unique features of the remote. You can quickly scan through a whole video, or select a single frame.
 
In my experience, albeit limited, I tend to overscan when trying to use any remorte to 'skip forward or backward'. It's too darned fast. Or too darned slow, no in-between. Today, I just use pause if I have to do anything that makes me miss a particular scene.

Nothing digital can match the precision of scanning a video on an old VCR.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
In my experience, albeit limited, I tend to overscan when trying to use any remorte to 'skip forward or backward'. It's too darned fast. Or too darned slow, no in-between. Today, I just use pause if I have to do anything that makes me miss a particular scene.

Nothing digital can match the precision of scanning a video on an old VCR.
Click to expand...

TiVo did.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
Nothing digital can match the precision of scanning a video on an old VCR.
Click to expand...

Don't follow. VCR scanning had only a couple of speeds. When fast forwarding you had no idea (other than the program counter) where you were. On the Apple TV when I'm fast forwarding videos I can see exactly where I am. You can also scan to the end of a movie in about a second, whereas a VCR could take minutes. DirecTV had single frame advance.
 
-Gonzo- said:
There is of course the fast scroll option by swiping up and down on the right hand side of the track pad.
Click to expand...
I forget when the fast scrolling feature was added, but it was very welcomed by me and I was happy to get it.

Just like the pseudo D-pad on the Siri Remote, fast scrolling can be very helpful in some situations, but still not a replacement for an actual D-pad where you press, hold, and scroll.

There are a few downsides to fast scrolling.

It only works vertically, so with many apps switching to horizontal listings, fast scrolling is useless. Also, it doesn't work on all apps.

Fast scrolling, isn't really scrolling at all, but it is jumping forward, skipping stuff that the user might want to scroll.

For the example of the Photos app, fast scrolling is good for jumping to a particular year, but that is it. It isn't a replacement for scrolling within a year's photos, or a couple years photos trying to find a particular one.

I like the feature, but in reality, it is just a substitute for something missing in the UI. Most scrolling UI in apps has a side bar that allows the user to skip down to a particular section. I would prefer that to using the side of the Touch Pad, as it would be something that a user would deliberately use and then not use, unlike the Touch Pad fast scrolling would is often accidentally used or doesn't turn of quick enough after using.

HDFan said:
Swiping is one of the best and unique features of the remote. You can quickly scan through a whole video, or select a single frame.
Click to expand...
When it works right, this feature is nice. I just don't think that it is work giving up the benefits of an actual D-pad.

nickdalzell1 said:
In my experience, albeit limited, I tend to overscan when trying to use any remorte to 'skip forward or backward'. It's too darned fast. Or too darned slow, no in-between.
Click to expand...
This has been my experience as well. Adjusting the sensitivity hasn't helped. I like the feature, it just doesn't always work as well as I like.

I hate using it in YouTube, and just try to use the skip back or forward feature instead.

YouTube's UI seems to be designed for a D-pad and not the Touch Pad. Using the Touch Pad on YouTube can be frustrating sometimes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top