You Can Now Use Your iPhone to Find a Lost Siri Remote in tvOS 17 and iOS 17

[MacRumors]

Apple yesterday released new firmware for the second and third-generation Siri Remotes, and the update appears to enable the tvOS 17 feature that is designed to allow an iPhone to locate a misplaced Apple TV remote.

With the new firmware, tvOS 17, and iOS 17, if a Siri Remote becomes lost, the Apple TV remote control available in the Control Center on an iPhone can be used to locate the missing remote.

Users will see a Find My-like interface that guides them toward the remote, with the size of the onscreen circle increasing to guide movement in the correct direction.

Find My for the Siri Remote is available on the second and third-generation Siri Remotes. The updated firmware is necessary, and there is no established method for getting the Siri Remote to update. The Apple TV will need to be up to date, on, and connected to the Siri Remote to initiate, but there is no way to force the new firmware to download.

Prior to the launch of the latest Apple TV 4K, there were rumors that Apple would build Find My functionality into the Siri Remote. That didn't happen, but this new tvOS 17 option is essentially the same thing. The new Siri Remote feature has not been available previously as it required new firmware to function.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1701734124321480779

Locating the remote through the Control Center is possible because of deeper integration between the iPhone and the iPad with the tvOS 17 and iOS 17 updates. Locating the Siri Remote is a feature that is limited to the Apple TV 4K models released in 2021 and 2022.

Article Link: You Can Now Use Your iPhone to Find a Lost Siri Remote in tvOS 17 and iOS 17

 

[dugbug]

OH THANK GOD

 

[ignatius345]

OK, I found this confusing and had to look it up. The article could really have been clearer about this.

The name "Siri Remote" applies to both the weird and awful touchpad version of the ATV remote (version 1), and to the current chunkier metal one with the wheel (versions 2 and 3). So, any remote that looks like this will now have Find My integration.

 

[Rychiar]

How? There’s a hidden U1?

 

[fwmireault]

It's a great start, but I think it would be more useful if we had a UWB in the remote for precision finding, and/or a small speaker to emit a noise. Saying that my remote is 'near' is not that helpful

 

[fwmireault]

How? There’s a hidden U1?

It's most likely detecting the Bluetooth signal strength, but it's not as precise as it would be with a UWB chip. It can't say the precise distance or the direction of the remote, just if you're getting closer or not

 

[Rychiar]

It's a great start, but I think it would be more useful if we had a UWB in the remote for precision finding, and/or a small speaker to emit a noise. Saying that my remote is 'near' is not that helpful

I guess its for in case you lose it in the woods.. and other logical situations

 

[Lakersfan74]

Good now I can take my AirTag off my remote

 

[ignatius345]

I guess its for in case you lose it in the woods.. and other logical situations

Yeah, honestly it should probably just throw up a screen that says "It's in the couch again. Keep digging."

 

[jonnysods]

I very much appreciate this as my remote seems to have legs due to the children in our home!

 

[ams1117]

finally something to be excited about

 

[Justjay27]

Works pretty good locating the remote via iPhone

 

[tcgjeukens]

Did we tell you? We have this great new green button. It reminds you to feed the dog.

 

[Fraserpatty]

Aw shucks, I don’t have a 4K Apple TV. But then, I don’t have a 4K TV. 1080 P is good enough for me. So I’ll have to try harder to locate my Apple TV remote. The kids and grandkids have long been mandated not to take a remote out of the room where the TV it belongs to is located. That’s one of our household Commandments or else I’d be looking for it for a year and never find it.

 

[Solver]

I like how the Find My remote feature gives you a distinct faster physical pulse on your iPhone the nearer you are to your remote.

 

[treyjustice]

Thank god, I lose mine all the time.

 

[walnuts]

Is this limited to certain phones?

 

[Solver]

To update the remote I essentially turned on the Apple TV with the remote, placed the recently charged remote on top of the box and waited half an hour.

 

[Tommy Hewitt]

Your Siri remote must be updated to Firmware 0x83 in order for Find My to work...

Mine's on 0x33, find my remote works fine.

 

[Peepo]

Could I use my Siri Remote as a big airtag now?

 

[GuruZac]

Just tried it. Very handy! Can’t tell you how many times one of my daughters has misplaced the remote.

 

[Shanghaichica]

It's a great start, but I think it would be more useful if we had a UWB in the remote for precision finding, and/or a small speaker to emit a noise. Saying that my remote is 'near' is not that helpful

Yes whilst this is useful, having an AirTag attached to my remotes is still a better solution.

 

[NCPine]

You could already use your iPhone to find any remote by gluing an AirTag to it, as I've done.

 

[compwiz1202]

How? There’s a hidden U1?

Exactly, how?

 

[compwiz1202]

Here we go again with praying to the Apple gods and sacrificing our Androids to hope the firmware updates