Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

So i want to keep my Apple TV 3 Connected to my home theatre system along with my new Apple TV 4

Benz63amg

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
4,532
1,032
Hey guys, i need help, i got my apple tv 4 2 days ago, excellent device but i want to keep my Apple TV 3 Connected to my home theatre system along with my new Apple TV 4, my problem is that i want to make it so that the original aluminum remote will be the ONLY remote that will control the old Apple TV 3, i noticed that the new SIRI remote that comes with the apple tv 4 only controls the apple tv 4 which is fantastic, however im using a harmony one universal remote and when i click any button on the remote both the apple tv 4 and apple tv 3 respond, how can i make it so that the APPLE TV 3 will NOT respond to the logitech harmony and only respond to the simple Aluminum remote that comes originally with the apple tv 3?
 
You can pair a remote to a appletv as noted here

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201254

Though I'm not certain how well that would work with the harmony, give it a go though. Possibly after pairing you might need to relearn the remote into he harmony to capture the codes again if it's altered in some way by the pairing process.

Another option would be to cover the ATV4 IR receiver. Since the Siri remote is Bluetooth it's not being used in your circumstance so that would also work.
 
mattDC5R said:
You can pair a remote to a appletv as noted here

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201254

Though I'm not certain how well that would work with the harmony, give it a go though. Possibly after pairing you might need to relearn the remote into he harmony to capture the codes again if it's altered in some way by the pairing process.

Another option would be to cover the ATV4 IR receiver. Since the Siri remote is Bluetooth it's not being used in your circumstance so that would also work.
Click to expand...

Well if i covered the IR receiver of the ATV4 i wont be able to use the harmony one with the new apple tv 4 which i plan on using daily (the harmony one is an IR universal Remote)

i do NOT want to use the harmony one with the Apple TV 3, i want the original aluminum apple tv 3 remote control to be the ONLY remote in the home that can control the Apple TV 3, is that possible to do?
 
I don't think you can from my experience. When my aTV4 arrived I just stuck it on top of my aTV3 and connected the cables from the Blu-ray player (which is never used). I noticed straight away that both remotes controlled both devices, and whilst I didn't spend long trying to resolve couldn't see an obvious solution. I guess you could just use the aTV3 with the iOS remote app, but not with a physical remote, even a learning one as the codes and IR output would be the same.

Once Plex came out for the aTV4 my aTV3 was boxed so it's no longer a problem :D
 
I'm in the same situation and there is no solution to this. I ended up just unplugging the ATV3. I wanted to keep using it for YouTube as I do a lot of searching using a keyboard and the ATV4 data entry method is horrible.

No matter what you do, pairing, unpairing etc. the AT3 remote always controls the AT4. Covering the IR on the AT4 is not an option as it would prevent the Harmony remote from working. Again, there is no solution to this.
 
seadragon said:
I'm in the same situation and there is no solution to this. I ended up just unplugging the ATV3. I wanted to keep using it for YouTube as I do a lot of searching using a keyboard and the ATV4 data entry method is horrible.

No matter what you do, pairing, unpairing etc. the AT3 remote always controls the AT4. Covering the IR on the AT4 is not an option as it would prevent the Harmony remote from working. Again, there is no solution to this.
Click to expand...

Damn, thats not what i was expecting to hear :(

Is there a way to make it so that none of the remotes in the house will work with the apple tv 3 and ill just use the remote app on the iphone to control the Apple TV 3?
 
  • Like
Reactions: seadragon
lamonsas said:
Damn, thats not what i was expecting to hear :(

Is there a way to make it so that none of the remotes in the house will work with the apple tv 3 and ill just use the remote app on the iphone to control the Apple TV 3?
Click to expand...

Actually, you have a great idea there...

You can use the Remote app on the iPhone to control the ATV3 and it will not send any IR signals to the ATV4. That will work fine because the Remote app doesn't use IR to control the unit.

Then all you need to do is pair the original ATV3 remote with the ATV3 and this will lock that remote to the ATV3. The ATV3 will not listen to any other IR devices including the Harmony remote. This will allow you to use the Harmony remote to control the ATV4 without affecting the ATV3.

The end result is that the Harmony and ATV4 remotes will control just the ATV4 and the Remote app on the iPhone will control just the ATV3.

I just tested this and it works! Plus, you can still use the bluetooth keyboard with the ATV3. Brilliant idea lamonsas!
 
Last edited:
TheAppleFairy said:
I am curious, what does your ATV3 do that the ATV4 doesn't do?
Click to expand...

In my case, I like to sit with my bluetooth keyboard on my lap and search/watch all kinds of YouTube content. With the ATV4, you cannot use a keyboard so you are limited to the "hunt and peck" method of data entry. That's okay for entering one time passwords, but for searching in presents a real problem.
 
seadragon said:
Actually, you have a great idea there...

You can use the Remote app on the iPhone to control the ATV3 and it will not send any IR signals to the ATV4. That will work fine because the Remote app doesn't use IR to control the unit.

Then all you need to do is pair the original ATV3 remote with the ATV3 and this will lock that remote to the ATV3. The ATV3 will not listen to any other IR devices including the Harmony remote. This will allow you to use the Harmony remote to control the ATV4 without affecting the ATV3.

The end result is that the Harmony and ATV4 remotes will control just the ATV4 and the Remote app on the iPhone will control just the ATV3.

I just tested this and it works! Plus, you can still use the bluetooth keyboard with the ATV3. Brilliant idea lamonsas!
Click to expand...

Thanks mate i guess that is the only solution we have, One question is, does the apple tv 3 completely ignore the harmony one after doing this method or does the light on the apple tv 3 still flash when the harmony one starts the "Watch Apple TV" activity for example ? (Turn on apple tv , Turn on TV, Turn on AV Reciever, Set proper inputs etc)

i wont be able to try out the method till later on in the evening when im back home.

and just to confirm, no matter what we do, the ATV3 remote always controls the AT4 even if i pair the ATV 3 remote to the ATV 3 right? meaning there is no workaround to this other than the idea i had above of using the remote app to control the apple tv 3 right? meaning we can't use an actual physical remote with the apple tv 3 as that remote will also control the apple tv 4 right?

and one more question, did Logitech update the Harmony remote database with new Apple TV 4 command set or is it the same Apple TV 3 command set? im asking because if they updated the command list ill re setup the harmony remote with the harmony software.
 
Last edited:
seadragon said:
In my case, I like to sit with my bluetooth keyboard on my lap and search/watch all kinds of YouTube content. With the ATV4, you cannot use a keyboard so you are limited to the "hunt and peck" method of data entry. That's okay for entering one time passwords, but for searching in presents a real problem.
Click to expand...


Gotcha, my biggest gripe about my ATV4 is that I can't use the remote app, or my watch to navigate it.
 
lamonsas said:
Thanks mate i guess that is the only solution we have, One question is, does the apple tv 3 completely ignore the harmony one after doing this method or does the light on the apple tv 3 still flash when the harmony one starts the "Watch Apple TV" activity for example ? (Turn on apple tv , Turn on TV, Turn on AV Reciever, Set proper inputs etc)

i wont be able to try out the method till later on in the evening when im back home.

and just to confirm, no matter what we do, the ATV3 remote always controls the AT4 even if i pair the ATV 3 remote to the ATV 3 right? meaning there is no workaround to this other than the idea i had above of using the remote app to control the apple tv 3 right? meaning we can't use an actual physical remote with the apple tv 3 as that remote will also control the apple tv 4 right?
Click to expand...

Yes, the light on the front of the ATV3 does still blink when the Harmony is used, but it does not respond to any of the commands. For example, if I press the direction pad buttons on the Harmony, the lights on both the ATV3 and ATV4 blink with each press. But the ATV3 does not actually move the selection on the screen. It does nothing. The only remote that it will respond to is the ATV3 remote (assuming it has been paired). If unpaired, then the ATV3 responds to any remote sending an IR signal to it.

And yes, no matter what we do, the ATV3 remote will always cause the ATV4 to respond. The only way it won't is if the IR receiver is covered, but that of course isn't a great solution as then it doesn't respond to ANY IR remotes which includes the Harmony.
 
TheAppleFairy said:
Gotcha, my biggest gripe about my ATV4 is that I can't use the remote app, or my watch to navigate it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the problem. Apple has locked down the ATV4 (at least for now) so that you are forced to use the included remote or a game controller (Steelseries Nimbus) only. A lot of us are hoping they will reinstate bluetooth keyboards and/or give us an updated Remote app to use with the new ATV.
 
seadragon said:
Yes, the light on the front of the ATV3 does still blink when the Harmony is used, but it does not respond to any of the commands. For example, if I press the direction pad buttons on the Harmony, the lights on both the ATV3 and ATV4 blink with each press. But the ATV3 does not actually move the selection on the screen. It does nothing. The only remote that it will respond to is the ATV3 remote (assuming it has been paired). If unpaired, then the ATV3 responds to any remote sending an IR signal to it.

And yes, no matter what we do, the ATV3 remote will always cause the ATV4 to respond. The only way it won't is if the IR receiver is covered, but that of course isn't a great solution as then it doesn't respond to ANY IR remotes which includes the Harmony.
Click to expand...

So the apple tv 3 does that double light flashing when using the harmony with every key press correct? but you're saying it completely ignores the harmony as in these key presses don't do anything on the apple tv 3, which is good.

the question though is, so lets say this, i get home and i go to my home theatre system after a day of work, the apple tv 3 and the apple tv 4 are both sleeping as they should be as i have it set for both apple tv's to go to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, and i want to watch my apple tv 4, i start the watch apple tv activity on my harmony, as you said both the light on the apple tv 3 and apple tv 4 will flash but the apple tv 3 ignores the harmony, at that point my apple tv 4 should be awake from sleep and i can start watching stuff on my apple tv 4 but, i obviously do NOT want the apple tv 3 to be awaken from sleep, does the apple tv 3 stay in sleep or is it awaken by the harmony?
 
lamonsas said:
and one more question, did Logitech update the Harmony remote database with new Apple TV 4 command set or is it the same Apple TV 3 command set? im asking because if they updated the command list ill re setup the harmony remote with the harmony software.
Click to expand...

Just saw this last question. It doesn't appear that Logitech has done anything special for the new Apple TV yet. I keep checking their forums for updates on the remotes. Here's a link to their forums:

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmony-Universal-Remotes/ct-p/harmony_remote_controls
 
lamonsas said:
So the apple tv 3 does that double light flashing when using the harmony with every key press correct? but you're saying it completely ignores the harmony as in these key presses don't do anything on the apple tv 3, which is good.

the question though is, so lets say this, i get home and i go to my home theatre system after a day of work, the apple tv 3 and the apple tv 4 are both sleeping as they should be as i have it set for both apple tv's to go to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, and i want to watch my apple tv 4, i start the watch apple tv activity on my harmony, as you said both the light on the apple tv 3 and apple tv 4 will flash but the apple tv 3 ignores the harmony, at that point my apple tv 4 should be awake from sleep and i can start watching stuff on my apple tv 4 but, i obviously do NOT want the apple tv 3 to be awaken from sleep, does the apple tv 3 stay in sleep or is it awaken by the harmony?
Click to expand...

Ahh... I understand what you're asking now.

If both units are asleep and I select Watch Apple TV on my Harmony Ultimate, the ATV4 wakes up and the ATV3 blinks 2 or 3 times quickly but stays asleep (light off).

If the ATV3 is awake, then the light does blink with each button press of the Harmony but it simply doesn't act on the commands.
 
I see, interesting. That's good that the atv3 stays asleep. So in order to wake up the Apple TV 3 I'll need to use the remote app on my iPhone right?

seadragon said:
Ahh... I understand what you're asking now.

If both units are asleep and I select Watch Apple TV on my Harmony Ultimate, the ATV4 wakes up and the ATV3 blinks 2 or 3 times quickly but stays asleep (light off).

If the ATV3 is awake, then the light does blink with each button press of the Harmony but it simply doesn't act on the commands.
Click to expand...
 
lamonsas said:
I see, interesting. That's good that the atv3 stays asleep. So in order to wake up the Apple TV 3 I'll need to use the remote app on my iPhone right?
Click to expand...

Yes, that or the ATV3 remote. But, the ATV3 remote will probably wake up the ATV4. LOL.
 
seadragon said:
Yes, that or the ATV3 remote. But, the ATV3 remote will probably wake up the ATV4. LOL.
Click to expand...

and you sure you tried all possible combinations of unpairing the Apple TV 3 remote from the Apple TV 4? So bizarre the Apple TV 3 remote still controls the Apple TV 4 even after being unpaired from the Apple TV 4.
 
Last edited:
lamonsas said:
Will the Apple TV 4 still respond to a harmony universal remote after doing these steps?
Click to expand...
No, since it's now paired with the ATV3 remote before the ID change. And unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to use the Menu+Right trick to pair a universal remote with the ATV4 either (at least I couldn't get it to work with my Logitech remote). For some reason this only seems to work with Apple remotes.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back