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Who else is tired of waiting for a much better Apple TV? A remote that can be found...

M

mtnbikerva1

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2007
82
8
We are sooo tired of our Apple TVs locking up and freezing or just not working right! Also the remote leaves a lot to be desired! it is way too easy to lose and too hard to find!!! Is android, Amazon fire and Roku all better now, other than not having access to iTunes photos and podcasts?
Thank you.
 
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Maybe I have been inordinately lucky because my AppleTV 4K seems fine. Third-party apps however are another thing at times. Fix to that is to periodically delete them and reinstall them when they start misbehaving.

And of course... remembering to charge the remote... because I often forget that it needs to be charged from time to time.
 
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I've had a really good experience with my AppleTV. The only app I've really had issues with is the AT&T TV app. The interface is horrible and sometimes when you change channels it just sits there spinning. AT&T isn't exactly known for writing stable apps/firmware though.
 
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My only issue with our Apple TV's (we have multiple in the house as we don't have cable) is the remote. We thankfully have not experienced any issues with any of our units. But an improved remote would certainly be welcome.

As we're all in on the Apple ecosystem in our house, so Amazon FireTV Stick, Roku, etc. really weren't considered.
 
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mtnbikerva1 said:
We are sooo tired of our Apple TVs locking up and freezing or just not working right! Also the remote leaves a lot to be desired! it is way too easy to lose and too hard to find!!! Is android, Amazon fire and Roku all better now, other than not having access to iTunes photos and podcasts?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Photos and podcasts are two main things I use the Apple tv for, Amazon has Photos but there is no real good alternative for Apple podcasts that I know of on Fire Tv and Roku is junk, Fire TV UI is garbage also
 
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I have the current Apple TV and largely enjoy it--remote notwithstanding--but I'd be hard impressed to recommend anyone buy it. I have a couple Roku Streaming Stick+ units which now even have AirPlay! You can disable a lot of the fluff, but Roku is still going to try to sell you stuff (their business model). Still, I'd completely endorse them. People really seem to like the Amazon Fire devices as well, but I have no experience with them.
 
I really don’t care about the remote, I just want audio bitstream and 24.000hz support and I hope it comes with the new 2021 hardware. I want to use the ATV so bad over the Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019 because of the UI, more optimised apps, better handling of match frame rate (at least 23.976) and better subtitles layout....but I think the Shield does better the things that the ATV lacks. Now I just use the ATV for ATV+ and iTunes, for everything else the Shield.
 
I prefer the UI of my Samsung Blu Ray player. It's a shame they dropped it. As no more streaming apps are made for the newer services. Not are bugs fixed in existing ones.

It's just so simple. Only displaying the apps I use and nothing else. That's all I want from a streaming device. Simple and to the point. With no apps on the home screen I don't want or use. No ads, nothing.

I've got an old Roku. I've never cared for the UI and hate the non programmable ad buttons for select services. I've got the firestick too but hate the bloat. I've used the Apple TV but again there's bloat.
 
Artakamoose said:
I've had a really good experience with my AppleTV. The only app I've really had issues with is the AT&T TV app. The interface is horrible and sometimes when you change channels it just sits there spinning. AT&T isn't exactly known for writing stable apps/firmware though.
Click to expand...
I have your experience exactly. AT&T TV app is hot garbage. The service, with my grandfathered in price at least, is useful for signing into other apps, but the core app is useless half the time.
 
I recently got a proper Apple TV remote. I bought a used Apple TV HD from a friend a year ago and have been using an old white Apple remote from 2007 or using my iPhone since. I bought a used Siri remote for $30 on eBay. Besides the awkward button placement (could just be that I haven't memorized the button layout yet), why do people dislike it? This remote seems to be everyone's least favorite part of the Apple TV. The touch gesture seems pretty cool. I will admit that I only use my Apple TV several times a month to watch YouTube or NBC News (when I miss the 6:30 network news)

I tried playing Asphalt 8 on Apple TV using the remote, and it didn't work out so well. I wish I could use my iPhone as a controller. It's awkward holding the remote in landscape and trying to steer.
 
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ouimetnick said:
I recently got a proper Apple TV remote. I bought a used Apple TV HD from a friend a year ago and have been using an old white Apple remote from 2007 or using my iPhone since. I bought a used Siri remote for $30 on eBay. Besides the awkward button placement (could just be that I haven't memorized the button layout yet), why do people dislike it? This remote seems to be everyone's least favorite part of the Apple TV. The touch gesture seems pretty cool. I will admit that I only use my Apple TV several times a month to watch YouTube or NBC News (when I miss the 6:30 network news)

I tried playing Asphalt 8 on Apple TV using the remote, and it didn't work out so well. I wish I could use my iPhone as a controller. It's awkward holding the remote in landscape and trying to steer.
Click to expand...
My two main issues with it are

1) it’s easy to lose in the couch cushions

2) if you grab it and don’t look it’s easy to grab it upside down and then you try swiping on the glass bottom instead

I also wish it had at least one more programmable button: my TV supports CEC but my stereo doesnt, so while the TV turns on and off appropriately with the aTV and I can program the volume buttons and control the stereo volume with the remote I can’t turn on and off the receiver with it. And I’m not replacing a perfectly good stereo receiver just to get CEC.

Overall I do really like the trackpad like surface though, I just wish it was a bit more ergonomic and maybe had another programmable button or two.
 
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Just go a new TV yesterday, a 4K TV from LG, and - for the moment - hooked it up to my old Apple TV 4, outputting 1080p. The TV scales up the picture very well, and the quality - based on yesterday's evening viewing - is excellent.

But, I still would like a new 4K enabled Apple TV. I "refuse" to buy the current one, with 3+ year old tech, so Apple needs to release an updated version soon.

In the mean time I've set up WebOS on the LG TV today, and are currently conducting an experiment on whether I actually _need_ a new Apple TV, or if the built in apps are good enough. The longer it takes, the stronger the chance that I get used to WebOS, and don't miss the Apple TV enough to justify a purchase. (Or - on the other hand - frustration might build up, and I'll but the next version at any price... ;))
 
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I love the remote for Apple TV and the 4 Apple TVs that we have at home. For the remote to line up the ride side up, I have a case on it that helps with that and helps with kids dropping the remote and cracking the glass touchpad.
The 10sec skip/rewind is my favorite feature, but is hard to master for many.

We also bought a OLED LG TV recently and got an Apple TV 4K to pair with it. Very happy with the result. I believe the Apple TV 4K streamer would be good enough for a few years and will not slow down or bog down for the streaming function that I would use it for.

Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Just go a new TV yesterday, a 4K TV from LG, and - for the moment - hooked it up to my old Apple TV 4, outputting 1080p. The TV scales up the picture very well, and the quality - based on yesterday's evening viewing - is excellent.

But, I still would like a new 4K enabled Apple TV. I "refuse" to buy the current one, with 3+ year old tech, so Apple needs to release an updated version soon.

In the mean time I've set up WebOS on the LG TV today, and are currently conducting an experiment on whether I actually _need_ a new Apple TV, or if the built in apps are good enough. The longer it takes, the stronger the chance that I get used to WebOS, and don't miss the Apple TV enough to justify a purchase. (Or - on the other hand - frustration might build up, and I'll but the next version at any price... ;))
Click to expand...
 
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spacemnspiff said:
I love the remote for Apple TV and the 4 Apple TVs that we have at home. For the remote to line up the ride side up, I have a case on it that helps with that and helps with kids dropping the remote and cracking the glass touchpad.
The 10sec skip/rewind is my favorite feature, but is hard to master for many.

We also bought a OLED LG TV recently and got an Apple TV 4K to pair with it. Very happy with the result. I believe the Apple TV 4K streamer would be good enough for a few years and will not slow down or bog down for the streaming function that I would use it for.
Click to expand...
I love the skip feature, but it doesn't always work well. Anecdotally, it works better in some apps than others, which makes me think it's a software problem with how each app is written.
 
ouimetnick said:
I tried playing Asphalt 8 on Apple TV using the remote, and it didn't work out so well. I wish I could use my iPhone as a controller. It's awkward holding the remote in landscape and trying to steer.
Click to expand...

I'm ready for a new Apple-TV . More horse-power might be nice for games and I guess 4K (although our current Home Theater amp and projector is only 1080p). Native Bitstreaming DTS-Master-Audio and Dolby True-HD (in all apps) would be nice (but Multi-Channel PCM is still pretty good and fine for now).

We love our current Apple-TV Gen4 (Apple-TV HD I guess it's called now).

We mostly use it for Asphalt-8, Amazon-Prime-Video, Plex and YouTube. Oh, and AirPlay from our iPhones and iPads.

I don't understand all the hate on the Siri-Remote. It works fine for us for watching shows and especially perfect for driving cars on Asphalt-8 with gyro in landscape. Hopefully, one day we will get Asphalt-9 for Apple-TV (tvOS) ?
 
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spacemnspiff said:
I love the remote for Apple TV and the 4 Apple TVs that we have at home. For the remote to line up the ride side up, I have a case on it that helps with that and helps with kids dropping the remote and cracking the glass touchpad.
The 10sec skip/rewind is my favorite feature, but is hard to master for many.

We also bought a OLED LG TV recently and got an Apple TV 4K to pair with it. Very happy with the result. I believe the Apple TV 4K streamer would be good enough for a few years and will not slow down or bog down for the streaming function that I would use it for.
Click to expand...
Well, that is the 3rd possible outcome, if I don't get familiar with WebOS (and - talking about remotes - that LG remote with the pointer is s***), and if I just cannot wait for Apple to release a new ATV, I might go for the current, almost obsolete-feeling-out-of-the-box Apple TV 4K (32GB), just for now... :)
 
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I’m tired of waiting for a new one but wait I will. Not buying the current version either. Our 4th gen is working perfectly and we love the remote.

The minute they release a new box I’ll buy it. We used ours for 100% of our TV viewing (trust me, it’s a lot) for 4 years at least. I’ve been really impressed and I’m very familiar with Rokus. We just prefer ATV.
 
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I'm waiting for the new ATV too. I have an HD version in my kitchen but want a 4K version for my LG OLED in the lounge. But there's no way I'm buying 2017 tech even if, to be honest, it would likely be fine for me as I'm not a heavy gamer which is likely to be the USP of the new unit, if it's ever released.

I love LG's WebOS and their pointer remote is just fine for what you need it for. All the streaming services I use are built in to the TV (Netflix, BritBox, BBC iPlayer and Prime Video). It's only lacking Apple TV+ (with no obvious reason why LG/Apple can't release an app for it as they have for the 2019 and 2020 sets). An additional STB would literally be only for ATV+. I'm considering a FireTV stick as it's cheap(ish) and would do 4K/HDR for ATV+, but it seems a bit silly to buy anything for watching just one streaming service.

When they eventually do release a new ATV it really needs to support the HLG format of HDR - another reason why I wouldn't buy the current version.
 
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