I seriously dislike the Siri remote.

[Justim]

...and I don't know why!

Apple made the Siri remote seem like a game changer. With the high replacement price tag, I expected more.

Design: Images online make the remote look beautiful. But as soon as I took the remote out of the box, I couldn't take my eyes off the gap between the surface and the back. I was expecting the touch surface to be more like the iPhone or the new trackpad where it is flush against the back. There's a large diving board effect when you click the touch surface. This seems like a company without Apple's resources made it. It feels cheap.

Layout: The remote has an awkward feel to it. I'm not sure why. The buttons on the bottom seem more difficult to press. I don't quite understand the point of the menu and home button combination, when the home button is the functionality of a long press of the menu button. And why call it menu anymore? It's a back button. Also, why are the home and menu buttons located inside the touch surface? Is it purely for looks, or are there sensors located around those buttons? Moving them down and out of that area could have improved many functions of apps.

Responsiveness: I can't seem to get the feel for the touch surface. It's over sensitive in too many ways, even on the lightest setting. Tapping the edges moves the selection. Swiping moves the selection. Accidental touches are read at the highest degree.

Function: Other than the seemingly duplicated function of the menu button, the remote does function well. The best part of the remote are the microphones. Siri, however, has been a pain to deal with, especially on Hulu. For example, I asked "Play the newest episode of Once Upon a Time on Hulu" only to be given a search of titles that include 'Once upon a time'. When you click the title you want, it takes you to the search page and gives options for iTunes, Netflix, and lastly, Hulu. From there you are taken to the Once Upon a Time in the Hulu app where you have to manually select the episode you want. For Netflix, this function works.

This remote seems more of a hassle than a luxury.

 

[perezr10]

Mmm, I dunno. Last night when we were watching a movie and I could just hit the Siri button and say "Go back 20 seconds" and it did. We were all seriously impressed. For me, that overrides everything you just said.

Plus, the touch for me is waaaay faster than a one click/one move for the old remote. I'm learning to adjust the speed and even go diagonal. I'm really digging the new touch swipe and I think it'll prove to be faster as people get more practice.

My biggest gripe is that the glass could shatter. If that happens, I'll be seriously ticked off.

 

[whodatrr]

We have a house full of young kids. With the previous ATVs, we went through about one remote a month. So, I'm a bit worried about this one looking even more delicate that the last version.

The solution...

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/APPLECARE_APPLETV-102591/applecare-protection-plan-for-apple-tv

$29 is expensive, but I figure maybe I can get one plan for multiple TVs? With remotes costing $79 and the likelihood that someone in the house will break one being pretty near 100%, not a and option for us?

My biggest gripe is that the glass could shatter. If that happens, I'll be seriously ticked off.

 

[BergerFan]

You'd think the Siri Remote would be Force Touch enabled, like the Magic Trackpad.
I also find it's too thin as well. I'll be jumping on any cases for it, as soon as they're available, primarily just to bulk it up a bit and to add some grip.

 

[sam3020]

I like it but I feel as though the touch pad isn't as responsive as I would of expected

 

[urkel]

I'm not going to complain because my Harmony remote still works. But I do wish it was better.

Pros:
+ Siri Button
+ Sleep/Power Button
+ Volume Control (finally)
+ Still compatible with Harmony Remotes

Cons:
- Size
- Awkward (for both gaming and using)
- Touchpad responds oddly
- No Force Touch (It would make sense here)
- Button Placement

in the end then these are the products that today's Apple makes. Beautiful ideas on paper, Awkward products in hand.

 

[TrueBlou]

For people who would like a bit of extra grip and protection for their remote, Griffin will be doing this

 

[shk718]

I love the remote - has tons of functionality is a small footprint. 3d touch requires capacitive sensors and a taptic engine. Would you be willing to pay more for that? I don't find using it awkward at all - the smallish size fits comfortably in my had and the buttons are large and easy to find w/o looking at it.

 

[pjarvi]

So far the only problem I've been running into is pressing the Siri button when I wanted to press the Menu button. I wish one of them had a raised dot or something to help locate by touch without needing to look at the remote.

I'm enjoying the fast scrolling and the ability to control the TV volume with the remote.

 

[TrueBlou]

So far the only problem I've been running into is pressing the Siri button when I wanted to press the Menu button. I wish one of them had a raised dot or something to help locate by touch without needing to look at the remote.

I'm enjoying the fast scrolling and the ability to control the TV volume with the remote.

It's subtle but the Siri button is slightly concave, whereas the menu button is completely flat. So you can feel your finger dipping into the Siri button.

 

[virginblue4]

I really like the Siri remote. Touch is perfect and I really like the design. No cons at all from me.

 

[ohio.emt]

I like it a whole lot better the the remote from the ATV3.

 

[Rogifan]

I have no issues with the remote.

 

[mic j]

You can use the aTV3 remote or any other remote (using learning) with the aTV4. Admit you lose Siri functionality but if it that bothersome....

 

[bjdraw]

I believe this remote is revolutionary.

It is so easy for a company to just create another remote and while I appreciated Apple's first living room remote for it's simplicity, I felt that it made too many compromises of functionality (no volume, lots of clicks to go back, not intuitive).

This new remote is easily the best streaming scrubbing (skip fwd, back etc) experience I've ever tried. This is a big deal. For years I haven't understood how so many could ditch their DVR for Netflix, etc. because scrubbing was so much more painful. Being able to click the sides of the track pad for 10 second skip forward and back, easily swipe forward or back anywhere, or just ask Siri to go exactly where you want, can not be understated. Its actually better than a DVR or disc player now.

But while the pluses outweigh the negatives, there are a few things that have me scratching my head.

• The scrolling is backwards from other Apple devices (I keep going in the wrong direction).
• There's no way to tell if the remote is off and I keep trying to control the ATV before I realize it.
• Can't tell the top of the remote from the bottom.
• It still isn't that intuitive.
• No discreet power (see above about not being intuitive) buttons.

Bottom line is that the remote is so good because it is designed with the user interface in mind and makes navigating and watching content easier than any other streaming experience I've ever tried. No way this remote is going in a drawer and now with volume control, the harmony won't even be in arms length during viewing.

 

[RollTide1017]

Plus, the touch for me is waaaay faster than a one click/one move for the old remote.

I think it is faster in every instance except one, very long list.

For example, when I go to the music app and browse my music by album (all 788) or by song (all 19,270) it is very annoying to have to continually swipe down over and over and over again. You can't just swipe down once and hold you finger at the bottom to scroll through a really long list. On the old remote you could just hold the button down and it would scroll through them really fast.

I wish they would change it so that after a swipe, if you don't move your finger and leave it on the touch surface, it would continue to scroll until you move your finger again.

Also, in the music app, I wish they would add away to jump between letters of the alphabet more quickly, like how the row of letters appears in the music app on the iPhone when you start scrolling.

 

[T5BRICK]

The scrolling is backwards from other Apple devices (I keep going in the wrong direction).

This right here. My old MacBook Pro and new rMBP, my iPad 2 and iPad Mini, my iPhone 3Gs, 4s, 5s and 6 all have had what Apple calls "natural scrolling". Now all of he sudden I'm required to swipe in the opposite direction when using the Apple TV. It's just jarring. I wish there was an option to invert this.

I did notice that scrolling inside of certain text fields, it functions like I expect. Maybe this is a conscious decision by Apple.

 

[T5BRICK]

I wish they would change it so that after a swipe, if you don't move your finger and leave it on the touch surface, it would continue to scroll until you move your finger again.

I'm pretty sure it does function that way. I'll have to double check this when I get home tonight.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I don't hate it, but I wish it had a little more size and heft for games that use the accelerometer. It also seems to be balanced in a way that unless I look at it, I naturally pick it up upside down. Never had that issue with any other remote. I do like the functionality of it, though.

 

[patrickdunn]

We have a house full of young kids. With the previous ATVs, we went through about one remote a month. So, I'm a bit worried about this one looking even more delicate that the last version.

The solution...

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/APPLECARE_APPLETV-102591/applecare-protection-plan-for-apple-tv

$29 is expensive, but I figure maybe I can get one plan for multiple TVs? With remotes costing $79 and the likelihood that someone in the house will break one being pretty near 100%, not a and option for us?

Applecare for ATV doesn't cover accidents.

 

[Frankied22]

I believe this remote is revolutionary.

It is so easy for a company to just create another remote and while I appreciated Apple's first living room remote for it's simplicity, I felt that it made too many compromises of functionality (no volume, lots of clicks to go back, not intuitive).

This new remote is easily the best streaming scrubbing (skip fwd, back etc) experience I've ever tried. This is a big deal. For years I haven't understood how so many could ditch their DVR for Netflix, etc. because scrubbing was so much more painful. Being able to click the sides of the track pad for 10 second skip forward and back, easily swipe forward or back anywhere, or just ask Siri to go exactly where you want, can not be understated. Its actually better than a DVR or disc player now.

But while the pluses outweigh the negatives, there are a few things that have me scratching my head.

• The scrolling is backwards from other Apple devices (I keep going in the wrong direction).
• There's no way to tell if the remote is off and I keep trying to control the ATV before I realize it.
• Can't tell the top of the remote from the bottom.
• It still isn't that intuitive.
• No discreet power (see above about not being intuitive) buttons.

Bottom line is that the remote is so good because it is designed with the user interface in mind and makes navigating and watching content easier than any other streaming experience I've ever tried. No way this remote is going in a drawer and now with volume control, the harmony won't even be in arms length during viewing.

While I agree that the trackpad is very nice for scrubbing, I'm just wondering who is constantly scrubbing? I can't even remember the last time I watched something and had to scrub to a segment. Now having to pause and play occasionally I understand.

 

[Rogifan]

I believe this remote is revolutionary.

It is so easy for a company to just create another remote and while I appreciated Apple's first living room remote for it's simplicity, I felt that it made too many compromises of functionality (no volume, lots of clicks to go back, not intuitive).

This new remote is easily the best streaming scrubbing (skip fwd, back etc) experience I've ever tried. This is a big deal. For years I haven't understood how so many could ditch their DVR for Netflix, etc. because scrubbing was so much more painful. Being able to click the sides of the track pad for 10 second skip forward and back, easily swipe forward or back anywhere, or just ask Siri to go exactly where you want, can not be understated. Its actually better than a DVR or disc player now.

But while the pluses outweigh the negatives, there are a few things that have me scratching my head.

• The scrolling is backwards from other Apple devices (I keep going in the wrong direction).
• There's no way to tell if the remote is off and I keep trying to control the ATV before I realize it.
• Can't tell the top of the remote from the bottom.
• It still isn't that intuitive.
• No discreet power (see above about not being intuitive) buttons.

Bottom line is that the remote is so good because it is designed with the user interface in mind and makes navigating and watching content easier than any other streaming experience I've ever tried. No way this remote is going in a drawer and now with volume control, the harmony won't even be in arms length during viewing.

What exactly is not intuitive about the remote. I figured out how to use it in less than a minute.

 

[bjdraw]

I'm just wondering who is constantly scrubbing? I can't even remember the last time I watched something and had to scrub to a segment. Now having to pause and play occasionally I understand.

Every single time I watch a show or movie I scrub passed the credits or intro. Know that the intro to Narcos ends at 2 mins means I never again have to sit through the same music montage -- sure it was cool the first time, but that's it.

 

[bjdraw]

What exactly is not intuitive about the remote. I figured out how to use it in less than a minute.

How do you turn off the Apple TV? What is the difference between the menu and home buttons? There are a few others, but none are a big deal.

 

[6AL5]

The remote is ok with time adjustment can be made but I would prefer tap to click in the dead centre of the touch section rather than physically click as a feature that can be disabled if folk don't like it.