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What do you love about your ATV4?

profmjh

profmjh

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 7, 2015
1,734
1,800
UK
Time for some positivity . . .

I still use my Amazon Fire TV because it has features the ATV4 doesn't yet have. But when I'm watching something on the Fire TV I now find myself frustrated because I can't ask Siri to skip back or forward. That feature works incredibly well on the ATV.

And, despite my cynical sneering about the keynote overhyping Crossy Road, which the Fire TV already had, it is much better on the ATV. The game seems better (is it my imagination?) and the Apple controller is better to play it with than the Fire TV controller.
 
Apple TV 4 is great. Having said that it's not as good as Apple hyped it up to be, but no doubt it will get there soon enough. I think Apple rushed it to grab some holiday sales, but that's OK as long as the updates keep coming.
 
matrix07 said:
One remote for all.

Now I just grab SIRI remote and doesn't bother with TV remote at all.
Click to expand...
This, it's nice just hitting the Home button, watching the ATV and TV turn on, and being able to control the volume with the Siri remote. Then when putting it to sleep it turns off the TV when done.
 
I love the speed and reliability of Home Sharing for my archive of family home movies stored on a remote notebook. Used to be that the ATV2 would choke on the large 1080p files over wi-fi and clock for almost a minute in some cases, now they launch immediately.

BJ
 
matrix07 said:
One remote for all.

Now I just grab SIRI remote and doesn't bother with TV remote at all.
Click to expand...

^This, I press the Siri remote and on comes Apple TV, receiver and TV. Changing volume on the receiver via HDMI means I don't need anything else.

Also love that I can keep apps for the different iTunes regions on my home screen and switch iTunes accounts quickly and easily.
 
Using Siri to find programs across all the different channel possibilities. If I can't remember the name of a show I'm looking for, there's no need to go hunting on the Internet; I can just ask Siri to find everything with a particular actor in it. It's been working great from Day 1!
 
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matrix07 said:
One remote for all.

Now I just grab SIRI remote and doesn't bother with TV remote at all.
Click to expand...

I have a Harmony Touch remote and wonder if I can replace it with the ATV remote. I have 5 devices total. ATV, TV, BR player, cable box and AV Receiver.
Not sure the ATV can control it all and have dedicate settings to turn certain devices at a time.
 
Plex

I have used it a few times over the years, and it never really stuck around for very long. Now on the ATV it runs pretty damn good. Plus the iOS apps are extremely fast and functional. I have all of my bit-for-bit BD rips of my favorite movies ready to play without having to get up to put the disc in and deal with all of that crap just to watch a movie. It really augments my iTunes library nicely.

FFW & RRW

clicking either side of the touchpad to 10 second fast forward or rewind is pretty nice too. Helps for getting through the commercials on F1 on the NBC Sports Live Extra app.

(still waiting for iOS remote support ;) )
 
I love the interface, the speed, the Siri remote and that we finally have an AppStore.
And now that we have an AppStore and proper apps, rather selfishly, that I get to play my game on the big screen natively.
 
Had friends over last night. I loved having Apple Music station smooth jazz on while the Art Channel cycled through masterpieces.
 
Here is my list of favorites:

1) advanced remote with gyroscope, touch, voice, controlling TV power/volume.
2) most importantly, Apps. tvOS is opened up for new features with apps and games. it only gets better with time.
3) bluetooth headphones. To many, this is a feature that is used more frequently than keyboard or remote apps.
4) voice command. for example, "turn on subtitle"
5) global voice search. this is big compared to competitor: google TV can't search netflix.
6) fast-forwarding and navigating with touch is a smooth and pleasure experience. traditional navigation/FF buttons now feels old, slow and clumsy.
7) app switcher (nice touch)
8) overall UI is smooth and more modern compared with ATV 3.
9) app organized with folder in the future. ATV3 is cluttered and spammed with apps. ATV3 os can't support folder
 
Games. I turn on my Steam monster for serious gaming, but I like having small bite games at any moment's notice.

The home screen grid (and grid management) I like better than my old Roku's.

The overall experience using it, enjoying it more than I thought.
 
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normanfox said:
Here is my list of favorites:
4) voice command. for example, "turn on subtitle"
5) global voice search. this is big compared to competitor: google TV can't search netflix.
6) fast-forwarding and navigating with touch is a smooth and pleasure experience. traditional navigation/FF buttons now feels old, slow and clumsy.
Click to expand...

Oh, I forgot to mention voice commands, it's just second nature already I didn't even think of it.
But I especially do like using Siri to skip forward to an exact point in whatever I'm watching. It's great for getting past credit sequences to the exact second. I'd be lost without that now :D



chiwaw said:
Games. I turn on my Steam monster for serious gaming, but I like having small bite games at any moment's notice.

The home screen grid (and grid management) I like much better than my old Roku's.

The overall experience using it, liked it much better than I thought.
Click to expand...

I'm actually enjoying gaming on the Apple TV even more than I thought I would. Probably in part because it new, but I've genuinely been enjoying some of the games regardless. I've played it more than my other consoles over the past few months. (Months, because I got a dev kit. I know there wasn't an App Store but I was playing my game and emulators.)
 
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TrueBlou said:
I'm actually enjoying gaming on the Apple TV even more than I thought I would. Probably in part because it new, but I've genuinely been enjoying some of the games regardless. I've played it more than my other consoles over the past few months. (Months, because I got a dev kit. I know there wasn't an App Store but I was playing my game and emulators.)
Click to expand...

I had not worked on my iOS hobby projects at home for a few months. Having the Apple TV to test on to make TV/console versions totally jolted me back in it. :)
 
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There is nothing that I truly "love" but probably the nicest addition is being able to run an app like Plex to easily access the movies and videos that aren't stored in or compatible with iTunes. Also in the "nice" category is the voice control, which would be even better if it supported more commands and better results with the search feature.
 
I love that I only have to use the Siri Remote to control everything. The elegant design of the remote even makes my Logitech Harmony Touch look old and outdated.
 
Right now I'd say the excellent use of Siri, the remote allowing me to only use it for EVERYTHING in my living room, and the fact that Asphalt 8 is as good as any console game I've played in a while.

Siri does have its issues, but what doesn't? I get annoyed that I tell it "play the latest Real Time with Bill Maher" and it tells me it can't do music. But I tell it "play the latest Real Time" and it loads the show from HBO. This feature will save me all the time in the world educating my parents when it makes its way to ESPN.

The remote controlling everything is more than I expected. If there were some way to adjust things like brightness on the TV through the remote, that would make it just 100 percent perfect. But that's about the only thing I need my TV remote for. I only need my a/v remote if I play a game system and need to switch to it. But for most stuff, I just need the Siri remote.

So far most of the games are underwhelming, which is to be expected since you're not going to find anything that can't be played without the ATV remote. But I had already purchased Asphalt 8 a while ago. DAMN. It's as good as I remember some PS2 racing game (Gran Turismo 3) being except obviously updated to look like something I would at least see on an Xbox 360 or PS3. I gave the Skylanders game a try and wow it's crap using the thing you can control with the remote. If the game is as good with a decent game controller and Bluetooth portal as the one I had before was on Wii U, Nintendo might be in trouble outside of the first-party games. Whenever the remote requirement gets relaxed, I would expect some top notch sports games to come in. The full Skylanders game is an IAP for $40, so it would be nice to see for others a free game mode where you can try things out before buying an IAP to unlock everything.
 
I like:
-Continious play of TV shows (similar to Netflix)
-Rechargeable remote
-Trackpad
-App Store
-ATV remote can control limited TV features without configure thanks to HDMI. Turn on ATV after work, TV comes on.
-Bluetooth setup by holding iOS device close.

Dislike:
-iCloud Photo Library not active. It's still the old Photostream?
-Remote hard to orient without looking; often hit the wrong buttons.
-Siri can't search local computers. Many things I want to watch are on my home-shared local Mac, aka iTunes Library on my computer.
-AirPlay seems clunky from iPad and iPhone.
-iOS Remote app not compatible; entering text still stinks. Why not use Siri, dictation?
-Netflx stinks; no related actors, directors, similar titles, etc. Just their jump-screen suggestions. I enjoyed the quasi-tree branch selection of the older models.

Overall, I do feel it's a step up, but not as much as the 2nd and 3rd gen were. But, it does have potential with updates. But the iOS remote app and Netflix apps - two of my favorite features of the last gen - feel like a letdown with this app. Navigating Netflix on this app is harder, even with Siri. But, I do think this is temporary. I just hope I don't have to buy another box 9 months from now to confirm it.
 
Michael CM1 said:
I gave the Skylanders game a try and wow it's crap using the thing you can control with the remote. If the game is as good with a decent game controller and Bluetooth portal as the one I had before was on Wii U, Nintendo might be in trouble outside of the first-party games. Whenever the remote requirement gets relaxed, I would expect some top notch sports games to come in. The full Skylanders game is an IAP for $40, so it would be nice to see for others a free game mode where you can try things out before buying an IAP to unlock everything.
Click to expand...

Do you happen to know if the Bluetooth controller that comes with the skylanders iPad starter pack will work on the ATV 4?

My assumption is yes, since it's Bluetooth
 
2 things. The one touch on the Siri remote to instantly change the Source from regular broadcast TV right to the Apple TV is awesome & the ability to go back into an app right where you left off is the tits. My ATV3 is now in my bedroom & I HATE how I have to navigate back to where I was in an app that I previously exited out of.
 
The single remote for everything. My TV remote is stilling in a drawer now (sound bar, TV, and ATV are all controlled with the ATV remote).
 
It's a weird little thing. As people are sayin', it's easy to take for granted how nice a Bluetooth remote is. It feels a little wishful to say it's a game console in the traditional sense, but it's nice that's all there.

I think I mainly love it because (way back since the earlier models) it's really is best at a few simple things I do regularly: watch Netflix, play stuff stored in my iTunes library, and easily let people mirror their device's screens for showing each other things.
 
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