I noticed today (not sure when this started) that the Remote App no longer works to control and Apple TV over Bluetooth.
As an example, on iOS 16 I could bring my Apple TV with me to a hotel, plug in the Apple TV (with no physical remote involved) and happily use my the Remote App on my iPhone to navigate the menus to connect my Apple TV to the hotel WiFi for streaming. The Apple TV and my iPhone spoke perfectly fine both before and after either device were connected to WiFi (so I assume they must have used Bluetooth).
On iOS 17 (Apple TV is still TVOS 16) this does not work. If iPhone is not on WiFi, a message appears in the Remote App to turn WiFi on to use. The remote app will not see or control the Apple TV without both devices being connected to WiFi (and the same subnet, which doesn’t work in many hotels). This means I now need to bring a physical Apple TV remote with me or hope that the TV I’m connecting to has CEC and/or I’ve learned a remote with the same remote codes.
EDIT: I should also note that handoff type features continue to work fine over Bluetooth - I can still use my phone to authenticate the WiFi, for example, prior to being on WiFi. Only Bluetooth is needed for this.
As an example, on iOS 16 I could bring my Apple TV with me to a hotel, plug in the Apple TV (with no physical remote involved) and happily use my the Remote App on my iPhone to navigate the menus to connect my Apple TV to the hotel WiFi for streaming. The Apple TV and my iPhone spoke perfectly fine both before and after either device were connected to WiFi (so I assume they must have used Bluetooth).
On iOS 17 (Apple TV is still TVOS 16) this does not work. If iPhone is not on WiFi, a message appears in the Remote App to turn WiFi on to use. The remote app will not see or control the Apple TV without both devices being connected to WiFi (and the same subnet, which doesn’t work in many hotels). This means I now need to bring a physical Apple TV remote with me or hope that the TV I’m connecting to has CEC and/or I’ve learned a remote with the same remote codes.
EDIT: I should also note that handoff type features continue to work fine over Bluetooth - I can still use my phone to authenticate the WiFi, for example, prior to being on WiFi. Only Bluetooth is needed for this.
