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

[Blair Paulsen]

Marantz, and other CE companies, like incremental upgrades to speed replacement cycles. You want 48gb/s - buy a new box. IMO, the HDMI spec has been slow rolled for years to shorten upgrade cycles.

More to the point, when displays capable of 12 bit color become available - I'd rather not have to replace expensive electronics just to get over the 40gb/s cap.

IAC, if the next ATV can support HDMI 2.1 @40gb/s it won't be obsolete for many years. My concern is that they will go with HDMI 2.0b @18gb/s, leaving us with sub-sampled color and more limited frame rates. Unless they plan to drop the price to $99, that's a fail IMHO.

 

[danny842003]

No issues with any of my Apple TV’s. The remote isn’t an issue for me either it’s fine as is and normally I just use my phone anyway.

 

[Sikh]

Ive never had issues with any of my Apple TVs. I currently have the Apple TV 4th Gen (the one before 4k) and its been running great over the 4(?) years ive had it. We rely on all the streaming apps and I havent had a single issue with it ever freezing or anything. Funny thing is, this Apple TV is even enrolled into Public beta's and I still dont have issues.

What Im most surprised about is people actually use the remote :O. While I personally like the remote and have no problem with it, I use my phone to interact with my Apple TV and love it. I wish more set top boxes / streaming sticks had reliably apps. I have a Roku 4k stick and the latest gen Fire Stick and both have unrealizable remote apps that were designed by a 2 yr old.

Just a question for those that use the physical remote, why dont you use the App / Control Center remote?

 

[Loge]

Just a question for those that use the physical remote, why dont you use the App / Control Center remote?

Because it's right there. My phone might be in another room or if it is nearby I still have to open it and find the app.

 

[getrealbro]

Just a question for those that use the physical remote, why dont you use the App / Control Center remote?

So my wife and I are streaming video on our Apple TV and using my brand spaking new iPhone 12 as the remote. What could possibly go wrong??? Oh yeah... what if I go to the kitchen to get a beer and my phone rings. My wife answers it and it's my mistress!

Seriously using an $800+ iPhone to control a $200 Apple TV seems a bit backwards.

GetRealBro

 

[nickdalzell1]

The only issues I have with my 4K ATV is that it has some sort of awful memory leak or other random bug where after you open say 3 streaming apps things start to glitch out--previous purchases being forgotten so you get a price instead of a watch button, or the TV app gets the episode/season wrong or won't autoplay the next episode sometimes, or you get a Black Screen of Death when you wake it up requiring a plug pull.

I never understood the complaints about the remote, though. I don't use mine that much (I paired up a Spectrum remote that controls devices that the ATV can't control) but it's a nice remote.

The ATV is the only device that doesn't rebuffer or lose the wifi (which is an issue with a LG Blu-Ray player--losing wifi, or the Vizio smart TV, it buffers a ton with apps built into it) or randomly switch to some potato level quality picture for live TV from PlutoTV or my Spectrum app.

I have no need for HDMI 2.1, sorry, but I hate HDCP enough! Also don't like USB-C--it's a total gimmick and change for the sake of change (and MicroUSB was not broken). Last I need is more frustration with ever-changing standards. Just leave things be! Stop changing everything! That's why we keep having bugs! Remember when Apple rarely changed yet everything 'just worked?' yeah.

 

[GiantKiwi]

Remember when Apple rarely changed yet everything 'just worked?' yeah.

Never?

 

[slotcarbob]

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.

Use the "Remote" app to operate the Apple TV.

That said, I have never lost, not for a second, any of my 3 controls for 3 units. I place them in one place when watching. One place when done. There is no way one can lose them if one adheres to this type of procedure. Do you lose your underwear?

 

[Boyd01]

I currently have the Apple TV 4th Gen (the one before 4k) and its been running great over the 4(?) years ive had it. We rely on all the streaming apps and I havent had a single issue with it ever freezing or anything.

Just a question for those that use the physical remote, why dont you use the App / Control Center remote?

I had two Apple TV 3's for a number of years and they were always rock solid, but I just used them with a large local library of ripped DVD's and iTunes purchaes since I couldn't get anything better than sub-megabit DSL in my rural location. I was finally able to get fast FIOS and last year I signed up for Sling, which isn't supported on the Apple TV 3. Sling really isn't usable with airplay, so I got a pair of Apple TV 4's.

These are not nearly as robust as the old Apple TV 3, I have to reboot them every few days to get Sling to work - which could very well be an issue with the app instead of the ATV, although I also have problems with Prime at times. I also really preferred the consistently dark and simple Apple TV 3 interface. No interest in games or other apps, don't need 4k or fancy audio. I just want a basic box that works and also connects to my large iTunes library.

Really hate the new remote, I don't use it at all. But I also hate Siri and have it disabled everywhere. Fortunately the old silver Apple TV remotes still work well, so that's what I use. Have tried the Apple TV remote on my phone a few times and just didn't like it (although handy for text entry). For me, the issue is that I want physical buttons on a remote, so I can just click without looking. That big touchpad area in the remote app seems weird to me.

 

[Sikh]

Because it's right there. My phone might be in another room or if it is nearby I still have to open it and find the app.

dont have to "open" your phone, its accessible via control center

So my wife and I are streaming video on our Apple TV and using my brand spaking new iPhone 12 as the remote. What could possibly go wrong??? Oh yeah... what if I go to the kitchen to get a beer and my phone rings. My wife answers it and it's my mistress!

Seriously using an $800+ iPhone to control a $200 Apple TV seems a bit backwards.

GetRealBro

You dont make sense. How are apps backwards? Your phone is normally always with you. Its why more and more TVs and Streaming sticks are building remote apps. Remotes are old and analog. They are prone to being lost, breaking and running out of batteries ALL the time. Your phone is better kept / taken care of than a normal remote control.

I dont see how a remote app is "going backwards" but to each their own

 

[nickdalzell1]

Never?

Actually, when OS X was still what they called macOS, back when Steve ran it, things didn't change nearly as often as they do today. He knew when to stop. The mindset was 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' and he also didn't think anyone needed more than 3.5 inches on a phone (now they're becoming tablets. gah!)

Human interface being usable was more important than change for the sake of change. Things progressed a bit more slowly than they do now, where muscle memory is a thing of the past to most developers.

As for using your iPhone (or Apple Watch) as a remote, how many times does it disconnect, fail to respond, or claim the ATV 'is not available' or forces you to re-pair it up? Maybe the last few updates broke mine but that's become so common that I stopped using that feature. It was nice and convenient while it lasted.

I've started using the ATV app on my PlayStation 4 and Xbox one, hoping it will bug out less. Time will tell, I suppose. Still wish I could get rid of the redundant 'TV+' tab up top (it's not only unnecessary, but little things like that bother me), but at least I don't have that annoying and also-useless Health app anymore.

 

[Boyd01]

Actually, when OS X was still what they called macOS, back when Steve ran it

You might have your timeline a bit confused there. The original operating system was just called "System" until System 7 came along and they called it "Mac OS" for awhile. Then they moved to "Mac OS X" with Cheetah, followed by just "OS X" with Mountain Lion. Anyway, they didn't start using the name "MacOS" until Sierra in 2016. It's all very confusing!

Mac operating systems - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[an-other]

Spent a few bucks buying a silicon cover for the remote. Solves the lost issue. You can even get glow in the dark versions...

 

[pmiles]

Spent a few bucks buying a silicon cover for the remote. Solves the lost issue. You can even get glow in the dark versions...

Does it solve the cat knocking it behind the couch trying to turn the TV on in the middle of the night because it wants to be fed?

 

[richman555]

I set up an Apple TV for my 60 year old parents and found they simply cannot use the remote.

If Apple truly wants to widen their audience, they really need a better remote control.

 

[Bustermd]

The Apple TV remote is annoying, I agree with that. But, my two Apple TVs (4k and 4 HD) are the most reliable Apple products I own. Never had an issue with either over 4 years. And, you can use most if not all universal remotes to control your Apple TV.

Also, you have to look at Apple TVs in light of their competition. In my experience its head and shoulders the best. I've tried Chromecast: "casting" is unreliable at the best of times, buffering is horrible. Android and LG TV Built in apps: Horrible buffering problems, unreliable WiFi connection. Android TV crashes every day with sound bar attached. Tried using my PS5 for streaming as well: clearly worse picture quality even at ostensibly the same resolution in Netflix. DAZN streaming so choppy and jerky sports were unwatchable. Apple TV app on PS5 lost connection half way through every movie we tried to watch on it. Only competitor that I found remotely comparable to Apple TV is Roku.

 

[getrealbro]

You dont make sense. How are apps backwards? Your phone is normally always with you. Its why more and more TVs and Streaming sticks are building remote apps. Remotes are old and analog. They are prone to being lost, breaking and running out of batteries ALL the time. Your phone is better kept / taken care of than a normal remote control.

I dont see how a remote app is "going backwards" but to each their own

Oh I get it. So everyone that uses our Apple TV needs to have always with them, their very own $800 iPhone, so they won’t need to use the poorly designed remote that came with their $200 Apple TV. FWIW. that’s what I meant as seeming “a bit backwards”.

GetRealBro

 

[George Dawes]

I love my 4k appletv but the remote drives me nuts , it’s abysmal

I just hope they give us a new decent one

 

[SaxPlayer]

So I gave up waiting for a new Apple TV and purchased a 4K Fire TV stick from Amazon because they had it on offer £15 off. What a mistake that was...!

Don't get me wrong, the interface is fine (if a bit promoting of Amazon's services) and it's a speedy device - faster than the Apple TV HD I have in my kitchen. However, the problem for me was with audio sync. It was terrible! The Fire TV has an option to adjust the sync in the settings, however it's not consistent between apps making that setting useless. The intertubes suggestion was to change audio format from "Best available" (i.e. Dolby) to "Stereo" and that did, indeed improve things. (Mostly, unless you scrub through a YouTube video when it still goes out of sync). However I didn't spend mega money on a Sonos Arc and a couple of satellite surrounds to listen to the audio from a streaming device in stereo. Even if it's a cheap one.

So I've returned it to Amazon and will continue to wait for the new ATV to ship. Rumours are that the replacement will be the same box at the current (very old) version but with a spec bump and a new remote so I should probably just buy the current version and lump it... This feels like the time I waited 8 years for a new Mac Pro to come out. Why do you do this to us Apple?

 

[TVreporter]

I set up an Apple TV for my 60 year old parents and found they simply cannot use the remote.

If Apple truly wants to widen their audience, they really need a better remote control.

What is their issue? Scroll to a show, hit play, put it down.

You can adjust the sensitivity of it as well if it’s scrolling too quickly.

Buy a Fintie case if they find the remote slippery to hold.

 

[The Oak]

It was my understanding that the A10X in the 4k benchmarked on par than the A12 (normal) due to the extra cores on the A10X.

So the A10X is no slouch for those worried about getting "old" tech.

For me, because my TV is a 4k 2016/17 generation (LG E6), getting a newer AppleTV, will do nothing for me.

In fact, the reason why I got an AppleTV was to modernize my current TV. My current TV does not have all of the streaming apps available to it and its updates are far and few between for the apps that it does have.

(I will add I am "just an app streamer". Hence, a streaming app already exists. I don't rip content or game.)

 

[Sikh]

Oh I get it. So everyone that uses our Apple TV needs to have always with them, their very own $800 iPhone, so they won’t need to use the poorly designed remote that came with their $200 Apple TV. FWIW. that’s what I meant as seeming “a bit backwards”.

GetRealBro

Wouldn't it be "so they won't need to use the poorly designed remote that came with OUR $200 Apple TV"? Since you are talking about OTHERs using your Apple TV when apparently you arent home or with said people?

Also you keep pointing out the price of an iPhone, technically its $399 since you keep throwing around $800+.

Again, I dont think the remote is poorly design, some people think it is. There are plenty of solutions. The remote app, Logitech Harmony Remote, Other universal remotes, etc. Every device has its own remote and not everyone likes the one that comes with the device, there have been other solutions for years now, pick one they exist for the AppleTV too.

 

[pmiles]

I'd like to point out that most of us have about 3-4 remotes sitting in a drawer somewhere... you know, the one that came with the TV, the one that came with the cable box, the one that came with the DVD player... perhaps one for the entertainment center... streaming box... yada yada.

We all have figured out how to use another device to drive all the other devices... it is 2021 after all. We live in a world in which our phones literally can be a remote if we wanted it to be.

This debate is like saying... my remote's batteries are dead so I refuse to get up and change the channel manually because that is the remote's job. Fine, blame the remote. The TV doesn't care what channel it's on.

 

[satcomer]

So my wife and I are streaming video on our Apple TV and using my brand spaking new iPhone 12 as the remote. What could possibly go wrong??? Oh yeah... what if I go to the kitchen to get a beer and my phone rings. My wife answers it and it's my mistress!

Seriously using an $800+ iPhone to control a $200 Apple TV seems a bit backwards.

GetRealBro

I despise you cheaters

 

[-Gonzo-]

Just a question for those that use the physical remote, why dont you use the App / Control Center remote?

I do sometimes and occasionally I’ll use my Apple Watch, but IMO (for me at least) the process is a couple of extra unnecessary steps.
iPhone:
Pick up phone, swipe down, select the remote from control centre, select the correct ATV on the network if it’s not already on it.

Watch:
Click Crown, locate remote app, select the correct ATV on the network.


Siri Remote:
Pick up remote.