Interesting 🤔. Got a link to this discussion by any chance?
Yeah I get the broader point.
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Is anyone happy with their 2022 AppleTV 4K?
- Thread starter Superman730
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Interesting 🤔. Got a link to this discussion by any chance?
Yeah I get the broader point.
This is a good use case. Thanks for that. I did enjoy the up next feature but that is available in the Apple TV app on the smart TVs as well.
I dont agree that airplay via ones phone is the same as having access to the photos app on the appleTV the box. The Photos app on the AppleTV is far nicer.
Up Next on the Smart TV app only does ATV+ and store purchased content though doesn’t it?
Whereas via the AppleTV up next includes pretty much most other streaming services all bar Netflix.
Last year I was subscribed to StarzPlay for a little while, only watched Doom Patrol and Pennyworth then cancelled it.
Since then it’s been renamed Lionsgate+ and a few weeks back Up Next notified me that the new episode/series of Pennyworth was available on Lionsgate+.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
That's a lot of good counterpoint. If you don't believe you need an AppleTV, don't have one. You asked why and I answered.
However, I will offer a little more to some of your points...
When anyone uses a "I'll just airplay" mentality to cover what apps on a TV can't handle, you are effectively having an airplay-capable alternative stand in for an AppleTV box. Airplay can make most of the unique functionality of an AppleTV redundant. If you are single, living alone, airplay can overcome ecosystem locks and iDevice apps can sub in for AppleTV apps. Essentially, used this way, it is a much more expensive AppleTV that sits in your hand/pocket. If airplaying covers all bases for you, you don't need an AppleTV.
If you are not single though, when you are OUT with your iDevice, this ALT AppleTV is out with you. Those back at home can't enjoy the ALT AppleTV because it's not there. This problem extrapolates out to apps others might want to use on the ALT AppleTV that they can't use... or media stored on the ALT AppleTV because it's not currently at home.
AppleTV was early billed as "an iPod for your television." Generally, they are NOT iDevice-like mobile, often getting parked in one place for up to many years. Anyone at home- whether they have an iDevice (too) or not- can then enjoy Apple ecosystem exclusives/DRM, apps not available in the TV's apps, and media when ALT AppleTV is away.
Surprise! Aunt Mabel is over and wants to see that new baby video. If it has been synched to a computer, AppleTV is ready to play. If it is on an ALT AppleTV out with the person who shot it, Aunt Mabel doesn't get to see it until ALT AppleTV comes home. The rest of the FAM doesn't want to disappoint Aunt Mabel.
For a VERY long time before Apple Music (the service), people purchased songs from iTunes. Those were DRM'd songs, exclusively for Apple playback hardware. I suspect many collections of owned music by iTunes users (including Windows iTunes users) have up to LOTS of songs in them that are still DRM'd. The AppleTV app on TVs doesn't play those. So if you or others at home are NOT subbing in an ALT AppleTV option to throw music to an airplay receiver, there's no way to play those songs without an ongoing Apple Music subscription. However, if you have an AppleTV, you open Computers app, select music and play them just fine (no forever subscription required). It easily works with Apple DRM'd anything, whether an iDevice is at home or away.
ALT AppleTV is probably your phone. If you and others are enjoying a great movie on ALT AppleTV and you get a call that you must take, what happens? EVERYONE must take a break from the movie because you have to use ALT AppleTV for a different purpose. That's no fun. If you have an actual AppleTV, the movie can be enjoyed by all without interruption when an ALT AppleTV needs to be used for something else.
Ahh but that's where the AppleTV app on the TV can stand in, right? In some cases, yes! What if what everyone wants to watch is the home movie shot on your ALT AppleTV? Unless that's up in iCloud, you need to airplay it to show it. With an actual AppleTV, you can sync any such stuff to your computer and then it can play separately from anything you need to do with your iDevice... of if the battery dies on the iDevice, etc.
Multitask: take that call and continue airplaying for the rest??? What if the call needs you to go out for a while? Airplay only stretches to the limits of your wifi. An AppleTV could let you go to another state or country and still finish the home movie for the rest of the FAM.
"Horrendous" (games) is eye of the beholder. Not everyone agrees with your view of them. Else if everyone viewed them as horrendous, there would be no buyers and thus no games. There must be a market willing to buy games (or rent them via Arcade) big enough to justify so many being there and new ones regularly added. It's fine that you see all AppleTV games as horrendous. But the market for AppleTV games is much larger than only you.
And games are not the only apps in the App Store. There's MANY apps that are NOT games and not mainstream streamers. If someone likes some of those apps, they may or may not have access to them in TV app stores. They probably DO have access to them on iDevices and probably can airplay them but that's a very "me, me, me" way to share whatever joy they offer in a >1-person household. Everyone in that household better have the good apps on their iDevices too or when a certain iDevice goes out with its owner, everyone is locked out of using it until they return.
Otherwise, ONE AppleTV can serve them up to all at all times.
And again, it takes just one desirable app, not available on the TV app stores. Example: I live in an Xfinity area and we have 3 smart TVs in the household. One is too old so it doesn't have the xfinity app in its basically-dead store at all (generally all of its apps are no longer getting updated, some for a few years now). The other two are much newer and both have the app but both of their versions exclude HD channels (SD channels only).
AppleTV (and our iDevices) Xfinity apps can play HD channels. Yes, we can ALT AppleTV airplay but I've found that can have issues with select channels, some even blocking the airplay option. Yes, we can share screen airplay but that will get iDevice aspect ratios instead of normal ratios and notifications, etc will appear on TV too. Yes, interruptions like notifications can be dealt with by DND. AppleTV can play Xfinity HD channels. In this example, AppleTV is key to all channels being available in HD without any more complicated workarounds, even on a smart TV with a dead App Store.
For now, $100 or $150 buys a little box that maintains a complete Apple ecosystem playback link PERMANENTLY to household TVs. As TV apps stop being upgraded, popular apps on AppleTV continue to keep up. When AppleTV gets too old for app updates, a new AppleTV is only $100-$200 for "latest & greatest" apps again vs.- say- throw out the whole television because apps I want to use are no longer getting updated/working. Yes, ALT AppleTV via Airplay can work- especially if single, living alone- but it is a much inferior ALT if that "AppleTV" needs to go out with someone and others want AppleTV-like viewing back at home while it is out.
All that shared, there are workarounds. If we sometimes wire our tech to a TV screen, we can bypass any airplay limitations. If we airplay, we can likely show about anything that can be shown via AppleTV. I can't think of any apps on AppleTV that are not available on iDevices too. If we are willing to jump through hoops, we can probably find a way to NOT spend $100-$150 for a simple, "just works", "for dummies" option that is always available, doesn't run out of battery, etc. OR for $100, we can jettison all such hoops. Maybe others in our household are not as tech savvy to know how or to implement workarounds and just wants SIMPLE!
In my household, we could easily jump through hoops to not absolutely need AppleTVs. But we have one hooked to each TV because we enjoy them. Our iDevices can be purely iDevices without impacting/interrupting/denying the show, the music, the home movies, the photos, etc.
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Not just ATV+ and store purchased content. It integrates with the other apps on your smart Tv as well, bar Netflix as you said.
Universal search is an apple feature that works across the platforms as long as the specific app has implemented the feature.
I'm having issues I have never had before , had to restart it as an app wouldn't work , thought it might be a loose cable or an hdcp handshake issue ??
Tbh can't see much of a difference response wise to the previous gen
They claim they're going to update the hardware every year now , don't bother is my advice until you dramatically improve apple arcade and siri , in fact ditch siri and try and find a more reliable and accurate alternative
Tbh can't see much of a difference response wise to the previous gen
They claim they're going to update the hardware every year now , don't bother is my advice until you dramatically improve apple arcade and siri , in fact ditch siri and try and find a more reliable and accurate alternative
I use Siri all the time on my appleTV and have no issues with it.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
If one wants to ditch Siri, the remote that remains is pretty close to a functionally regular remote. There are plenty of remotes that can then take over. AppleTV makes it easy to train another remote to control it.
Personally, I like what is called a universal learn remote. The universal part means it can work with many devices. The learn part means it can:
- learn RF codes from any other remote and assign them to buttons if the new device is not already in its on-board library AND
- store macros I create and then execute them with the click of one button. Instead of leaning on flaky CEC which can be hit or miss with combinations of AV equipment, learn macros let the user do the steps we wish CEC would do.
Switch to some other AV device, click setup, the macro executes for that device and then the remote is ready to control that device as if it is the ONLY device.
This basically delivers the "one remote to rule them all" target at the expense of not having Siri built in. IMO, no big loss (for my AV purposes). If someone still wants some Siri, the AppleTV remote is available in a drawer and can be broken out for such situations... and, of course, there's always virtual AppleTV remote for iDevices too.
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What I like in an interface may be totally different than your preferences. I'm comparing to Shield TV which I use a lot and Roku which I rarely use. Shield TV running Plex is very flaky. Freezes, gets out of sync, etc. Have had to do a lot of reboots. Never had that issue with my Apple TVs. Only familiar with LG's TV interface which is a nightmare. Probably assuming incorrectly that other TV interfaces are just as bad.
Here's the post discussing when LG finally caved in. Actually the said they were going to do it, then said they weren't as I remember so don't know where this post is on the timeline.
I run Apple TV app on my iMac as a server. Every movie/TV show I get is on there (also run thru Plex as well).
Movies/TV bought on iTumes would be downloaded and accessible from Apple TV app. Though that has recently changed so new programs (last few months) bought on iTunes no longer will show up on Apple TVs. That's because they are downloading now always in HLS media format and no longer a way to override that. Went back to getting physical discs and ripping them and adding those into Apple TV and streaming to Apple TVs throughout the house (have 6 in various rooms). Very happy with it; except for the damn horizontal movie posters that Apple moved to - really miss the traditional movie posters and not all shows are in horizontal, so it ends up being a bit ugly (this is where Plex looks nicer ). I use Plex app on Apple TV for streaming 4k movies/TV that I buy and rip as Apple TV app cannot play those.
actually, seems to be working fine now. I tried TV app out a couple years ago and it was not streaming 4k well. Tried again today, it seems to work fine. I'll end up adding 4K to that as well. I will keep running Plex because it's so versatile and accessible on more platforms/devices. Going forwards will mostly buy 4k UHD where possible and then rip both 4K and 1080p versions so everything plays well across all platforms.