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What's your favorite new Apple TV feature?

grantlovesapple

grantlovesapple

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 3, 2015
2
3
Hey guys. I was wondering what your favorite new Apple TV feature is. Mine is definitely the Siri remote. On a day to day basis, I don't find myself using many of the new features. Maybe your input can guide me in the right direction to discovering all the great things the new Apple TV can do. Thanks!
P.S. Check out my unboxing of the 4th Gen Apple TV!
 
From A Buick 8 said:
Really, how does that work. I have it set up to control volume. But not sure how to make it turn the TV off.
Click to expand...

I had to go in the setting menu of my tv and enable CEC.

Unfortunately different manufactures have various names for CEC. My Samsung plasma calls it Anynet+

Google your tv model and HDMI CEC to see what comes up.
 
HDMI-CEC is probably my favorite feature. Siri is a close second. A lot of people have complaints about it, but I've been finding it super useful.
 
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HDMI-CEC is nice, don't know where my TV remote is, though :)
 
2010mini said:
HDMI CEC control. Now I can just use the ATV remote to control volume and on/off of my tv and a/v equipment.
Click to expand...

I love this feature too.
I can get rid of the TV's remote now and is really convenient to adjust the volume with the new remote.
I'd say my favourite feature is App Store though, that's the only reason I bought ATV4 to replace ATV3
 
I haven't been too enamoured of my ATV4 and had decided to return it. I plugged my ATV3 back in last night - it seemed quite slow, old fashioned and clunky compared to the ATV4.

The remote is cool and yes it is fab that it can control your TV too but as to replacing your tv remote... I don't see how? As it stands, at least in the UK, you couldn't really use the ATV4 as your primary device as the apps just aren't there yet. You can obv sit and watch iTunes movies all night but for typical family viewing you're going to be flipping back to your tv / Sky / whatever remote all night.

Anyhoo, back on topic, flipping between the two models I'd say my favourite thing is the overall smoothness of operation. Personally I find the other raved-about stuff pretty meh - screensavers are cool for 20 minutes, apps are missing in action and the games, for me, are pretty juvenile. For my purposes the 4 doesn't actually do anything more than my 3.

I think it'll get better but we are still some way from using an ATV as our only box connected to a tv. Maybe the ATV 5 or 6...
 
recoil80 said:
I love this feature too.
I can get rid of the TV's remote now and is really convenient to adjust the volume with the new remote.
I'd say my favourite feature is App Store though, that's the only reason I bought ATV4 to replace ATV3
Click to expand...
I have to say, this is my fav right now as well (only hooked up the ATV4 last night). All we have at the house is ATV, Netflix and movies/TV shows in iTunes so for us the one remote will do 99% of what we need. I do have an antenna on the roof that I use for local news in the morning.
 
I am loving the "Siri what did he say" feature. It works flawlessly for me thus far.
 
I've never owned an extra streaming device so the apple tv 4 ist my first one. When I read through the forums I read only negative comments about almost every aspect on the new apple tv so I just bought a fire tv for comparison and I am clearly not satisfied with this thing. The siri remote of the apple tv is the best remote what I can imagine especially because the built in touch pad. On the fire tv you have to click these ****** buttons to go back or forward in a video and with the siri remote either you say something like 'Siri 30 seconds back' or you can use precisely the touchpad navigating through the video timeline. I love it !
 
The new remote. No, the AppStore. No, the new interface. No, the.

Honestly, for me it's the AppStore. There's a few apps I like just now but most importantly it's the potential that's finally been added to the Apple TV.

The AppStore opens up a whole new world of possibilities and in time, just as it did on iOS, the AppStore will be what shows us what the Apple TV can really do.
 
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size06 said:
I've never owned an extra streaming device so the apple tv 4 ist my first one. When I read through the forums I read only negative comments about almost every aspect on the new apple tv so I just bought a fire tv for comparison and I am clearly not satisfied with this thing. The siri remote of the apple tv is the best remote what I can imagine especially because the built in touch pad. On the fire tv you have to click these ****** buttons to go back or forward in a video and with the siri remote either you say something like 'Siri 30 seconds back' or you can use precisely the touchpad navigating through the video timeline. I love it !
Click to expand...
Yeah but.... The Fire is £35? Is the ATV 4 worth 4 or 5 times as much? I don't have a Fire - genuine question...
 
From A Buick 8 said:
I have to say, this is my fav right now as well (only hooked up the ATV4 last night). All we have at the house is ATV, Netflix and movies/TV shows in iTunes so for us the one remote will do 99% of what we need. I do have an antenna on the roof that I use for local news in the morning.
Click to expand...

Hopefully Tablo or Silicondust will make an ATV4 app for their OTA tuners so everything for you will come through the your ATV
 
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le.bouch said:
Yeah but.... The Fire is £35? Is the ATV 4 worth 4 or 5 times as much? I don't have a Fire - genuine question...
Click to expand...

I actually bought the Fire tv and not the stick which is about 100$. Is the new apple tv worth the money? In the current state of the ATV 4 i would definitely say NO but I think it has an awesome base to work on and it only can get better.
 
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For me, it's the App Store and the Apple Music integration. I know the apps are currently lagging, but I see a lot of potential in the future. That's the main reason why I upgraded from the ATV3.
 
1) app store
2) Siri remote (surprised favorite since I was planning to put it in a box like all factory remotes)
3) Apple HDMI CEC (apple uses existing tech and enhance it further. HDMI CEC alone is not reliable and does not work with old TV. Apple enhanced it with learning and direct IR)
 
I like that it works works with legacy IR remotes. Don't get me wrong the Siri remote is good, buy I love my harmony smart hub remote since it works with everything. I leave my Siri remote off to the side and use it occasionally.
For the record, HDMI CEC doesn't work well for many moderately complex setups routing through a receiver and breaks the harmony sync up to your devices.
 
For those that say the Siri remote is the only one that they use now, how do you get it to change channels on the tv? It works the volume fine on my receiver, but I can't figure out how you change channels? Or do I actually have to use multiple remotes? Boo, if so.
 
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