Recommendation for an ordinary remote

[romanof]

I have several Apple TV boxes that were replaced with Roku devices, in the homes of friends that are not as young as you and me. The reason for the replacements was not that the ATV was bad, but because of the weird Form over Function remote. As neat and nice as it might be for people who were given a trackpad in their cribs, it is almost impossible for a senior citizen to learn. Not only is the muscle memory not there, but old fingers don’t swipe and squeeze automatically like those of millennials.

Can anybody recommend an ordinary off-the-shelf remote (you know. Black, lots of buttons, big and ordinary - like has been around since the beginning of remotes) that will work with the ATV? Or tell me if a generic remote will work with an Apple device at all?

Thanks

 

[dholaday]

Logitech Harmony

 

[casperes1996]

I actually find that a bit surprising. That loads of buttons where you never figure out what half of them do should be easier than the extremely simple Apple TV Remote. - But it supports game controllers really well as an input device if they're nice to use

 

[glenthompson]

Remote app on iPhone or iPad. Can’t get much bigger than that. Keyboard helps with search too.

 

[Juicy Box]

Can anybody recommend an ordinary off-the-shelf remote (you know. Black, lots of buttons, big and ordinary - like has been around since the beginning of remotes) that will work with the ATV? Or tell me if a generic remote will work with an Apple device at all?

Any IR remote will work with the ATV. Every ATV model since the first gen has a feature called 'Remote Learning'. It is crazy easy to use.

It will learn the button presses of any IR remote. So, as long as the IR remote has a D-pad, or something that could be used as one, something that can be used as a select button, and something that can be used as a back button (or menu), it can be used.

There are optional playback button learning too, for things like FF, RW, Stop, Play, Pause, Skip, etc.

The easiest thing to do is use the remote for the TV that the ATV is connected to. As long as there are buttons that can be used without interfering with some function of the TV, you can just have one remote for both the ATV and TV.

I would keep the Siri Remote around, but once you set up a IR remote, you pretty much don't need the Siri Remote anymore for the huge majority of apps.
[automerge]1594550073[/automerge]

Remote app on iPhone or iPad. Can’t get much bigger than that.

I might be the only one, but I really do not like the Remote app as an alternative for the Siri Remote.

IMO, the worst part about the Siri Remote is the endless swiping with the trackpad and lack of buttons such as a D-pad. The Remote app, doesn't fix any of those issues and basically double-downs on it with having touch-everything.

Keyboard helps with search too.

This is by far the best thing about the remote app, but wouldn't really be that necessary if the UI was designed better for text input.

 

[Edd70]

It’ll be interesting to see if Apple caves to the remote haters on the next gen box. It’s a differentiator and Apple likes that.

I usually chime in on these threads to say that I love the remote personally. Small, simple, and a charge lasts forever. Charging it with a lightning cable instead of batteries is awesome.

Agreed that the remote app is the way to go for searching if you don’t like voice. I don’t think the UI can get much better for that. All boxes are clunky that way.

I used a Harmony Logitech for years and can recommend it. I’d go for the cheapest one you can find. So many damn buttons compared to the ATV remote though.

 

[Rigby]

The ideal ATV remote for people who prefer traditional buttons is this one:

Remote control

remote control, Salt TV, Apple TV

fiber.salt.ch

It's not officially sold in the US, but you can find them on eBay (unfortunately for much higher prices). I think it would be a good idea for Apple to carry this or a similar remote in their store for people who can't get used to the original remote.

 

[romanof]

Any IR remote will work with the ATV. Every ATV model since the first gen has a feature called 'Remote Learning'. It is crazy easy to use.

Ok, Thanks. Somewhere in the basement I probably have a dozen plain jane remotes from over the years, assuming that I didn't leave the batteries in and they are now piles of corrosion. I don't have an ATV. My video comes from a Mac Mini and I have a wireless keyboard and trackpad for use from the couch. As someone has said, a keyboard is vastly superior to trying to mouse back and forth and up and down over a virtual image.
[automerge]1594567722[/automerge]

I actually find that a bit surprising. That loads of buttons where you never figure out what half of them do should be easier than the extremely simple Apple TV Remote. - But it supports game controllers really well as an input device if they're nice to use

Actually, the 'lots of buttons' is just a description. Only the arrows, OK, and volume keys would ever be used in the homes that I described. But, I haven't seen a simple remote with just those keys for decades. And, unless the Apple remote supports bingo, gaming isn't even a minor factor for these folks.