Use iPhone As A Remote
Youre not just limited to using AirPlay to Mirror your Screen, you can also easily control the Apple TV with an iPhone through the Control Centers Remote Feature.
- For iOS 12 or later models and iPadOS 13 or later, the Apple TV controls get activated automatically if it detects that youve established the connections.
- If you dont see the Remote icon in your iOS devices Control Center, youll have to manually add the Apple TV controls to the Control Center by going to Settings > Control Center.
- Under the Customize Control menu, click the + button next to the Apple TV to activate the Apple TV controls on the Control Center.
- Once added, you can swipe up to open the Control Center and click on the remote icon to open up the Apple TV Remote.
- Turn on the Apple TV and connect it to the Internet using an Ethernet Cable.
- You can now configure your Wi-Fi by going to Settings > Network > Wi-Fi and selecting your Wi-Fi network from it.
- Follow the instructions to initialize the setup and enter the four-digit PIN onto your iPhone or iPad to complete the process.
Learning The Buttons On A Siri Remote
To make the most of your Siri Remote, you need to learn what each of the buttons does.
There are six buttons on the Siri Remote:
- Menu
- Volume Up
- Volume Down
The top section of the Siri Remote is also a touch surface that you can swipe across or click in different places for even more actions.
Heres a breakdown of how to use each and every button on the Siri Remote, starting with the touch surface.
How To Connect Airpods To Apple TV
No matter how fancy your home theater setup may be, one day you’ll probably find yourself in need of an audio experience that’s a little bit more… intimate. Maybe you need to catch up on a few episodes of your favorite show or smash out some YouTube yoga without disturbing the other people you live with; maybe the people you live with are disturbing you, and you just want to watch your stories without having to blast it over the sound of violin practice or hammering on the other side of the wall.
If you have an Apple TV and a pair of AirPods, you’re in luck: they’re no exception to Apple’s philosophy of seamless cross-device connection, and it’s super easy to pair your AirPods to an Apple TV for private listening.
And if your AirPods are of the Pro persuasion , you’ll also benefit from not only their active noise cancelling, but also from Apple’s immersive Spatial Audio feature when you’re watching movies and TV not just when you’re listening to music.
One handy thing to know is that if your Apple TV is associated with the same Apple ID as your AirPods, they should connect automatically. But in case that’s not happening for you, or if the Apple TV in your setup is linked to someone else’s account, here’s how to pair your AirPods with your Apple TV.
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How To Use Any Remote Control With Your Apple TV
One of the cool things about the new fourth-generation Apple TV is that it supports HDMI-CEC, so that you can control your TV or your speaker system using the remote control that came in the box along with it, automatically switching everything to the right input, controlling volume, and turning everything off at once when youre done.
But like the fourth-gen Apple TV, the second- and third-gen models have another, often overlooked trick up their utterly non-existent sleeves: they can be controlled from any other remote control.
Doing this wont mean your TV automatically switches to the correct input, say, and of course it wouldnt allow you to use Siri on the new Apple TV, since the third-party remote youll be using wouldnt have a mic or Siri support. But what it does mean is that you can either deliberately or accidentally loose the little white or silver remote that you had been using with your Apple TV and just use the big remote that came with your TV. Or indeed, you can use this trick with multiple remotes, so you need never be unable to control your Apple TV again.
The trick here is to pick one of the modes of your remote control and then teach the Apple TV to understand the commands its issuing. This latter process sounds complicatedas anyone whos learned a foreign language will attestbut the Apple TV makes it easy.
Control Your Apple TVand TV
Now that youve taught your Apple TV to interpret the commands your TV remote issues when its set to, say, VCR mode, you can safely lose the fiddly silver or white remote and just use your TVs remote control instead. Note that if you want to switch back to controlling your TV, youll need to toggle back to the TV mode of your remote.
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Use A Bluetooth Keyboard
You can control Apple TV from a Bluetooth keyboard .
Pairing of the keyboard to your Apple TV is the same as what youd do to pair a Bluetooth accessory with your Mac or iPad.
To unpair the keyboard just go to Bluetooth menu on your Apple TV and press Forget on the device name.
How To Connect A New Siri Remote To Apple TV
Once the Siri Remote has been paired, you’ll see a message on the screen your Apple TV is connected to. And your old Siri Remote is automatically unpaired, too.
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How Do I Change The Battery In My Apple TV Remote
Apple didn’t design the batteries inside the first- and second-generation Siri Remotes with replacement in mind. Once you reach a point where the device no longer holds a charge, the easiest option is to buy a replacement.
However, earlier iterations of the Apple TV Remote use a replaceable CR 2032 button-cell battery you can swap out when it dies. However, the remote itself is not rechargeable.
Continue Setup With Your Ios Device Or Set Up Manually
To automatically add your Apple ID and Wi-Fi settings to your Apple TV, choose Set Up with Device. Then unlock your iOS device, hold it next to your Apple TV, and follow the onscreen steps on your iOS device and Apple TV.
If you don’t want to set up your Apple TV with your iOS device, choose Set Up Manually. Then follow the onscreen steps on your Apple TV to connect to your home Wi-Fi network and sign in with your Apple ID.
If you don’t have an Apple ID, you can create one. If you forgot your Apple ID, learn what to do.
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If You Face Issues Setting Up Apple TV Remote On Your Ios Device Try The Following:
- Ensure that your Apple TV is turned on and connected to your television and Wi-Fi network.
- Ensure that your iPhone or iPad and Apple TV are on the same Wi-Fi network.
- To check on iPhone, go to Settings Wi-Fi.
- To check on Apple TV, go to Settings Network.
How Do I Know If My Apple TV Remote Is Charging
The Siri Remote doesn’t have a physical indicator to show it’s charging, but you’ll receive another notification on your TV that it’s connected to power. To check the status and current battery level, look in the menus on the Apple TV.
Open the System app on your Apple TV’s home screen.
Select Remote and Devices.
Click Remote.
If your Siri Remote is charging, the icon to the right of Remote will have a lightning bolt in it. If not, a bar inside the battery symbol will show its relative charge level.
The Battery Level item on this screen shows the exact charge percentage of your Apple TV remote.
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Control Apple TV From Your Mac
If you do have Mac you can connect to Apple TV without native remote at all. The only things you need are USB-C or Micro-USB cable that supports data transfer, high-speed Internet connection and little bit patience. Here is what you should do:
/Screenshot from the Apple TV summary page in iTunes/
- CiderTV for OSX
- Ezzi Keyboard
- 1Keyboard
- Type2Phone
Lets say you have 3rd or 4th gen Apple TVs and a Macbook Pro. And you just want to be able to navigate the Apple TV menus from your Mac and do things like launch Netflix. Extended version of CiderTV for Mac with built-in keyboard will be available only for $3.99 from Mac Apple Store in nearest 2 weeks).
/Screenshot from CiderTV for Mac /
Adding Apple TV To Your Harmony Setup
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Teach Your Apple TV Your Remotes Language
Now, as prompted by the Apple TV, press and hold the indicated buttons on your TVs control remote. Of course you could use any button at all to represent up, so if your remote is too old to have direction arrows you could use 2 for up, 8 for down, and so on. But it makes sense to use buttons on your remote that most closely represent the software functions on the Apple TV.
How Do I Unpair My Apple TV From A Remote
You can use any Apple Remote to unpair Apple TV from a remote. If you lose the Apple Remote that you paired with Apple TV, a replacement remote wont work until you unpair Apple TV from the lost remote. If your Apple TV status light blinks 3 times in quick succession when you press keys on the remote but fails to respond on-screen, try these steps to unpair your remote:
- On an aluminum Apple Remote, press and hold the Menu and Left buttons for 6 seconds.
- On an earlier, white Apple Remote, press and hold the Menu and Previous/Rewind buttons for 6 seconds.
You can also use these steps:
When youve successfully unpaired a remote, Apple TV displays a broken chainlink symbol above an icon of a remote. You can now pair Apple TV with a different remote.
Reference:;http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1555
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Flip Open Your Airpods Case
Opening the case lid should trigger your AirPods to appear in the list of available devices select them with your Remote and pop them into your ears, where they should make the good-to-go noise. A handy volume bar will also appear so you can check yourself before you wreck yourself with the HBO static noise at deafening levels.
Then, hit back on your remote to head to the app picker home screen, and binge away on delicious content only you can hear.
If your AirPods still aren’t connecting to your device, you can try resetting them here’s how. And if that doesn’t work, it might be time to catch up with your friends at Apple Support or the Genius Bar.
Tips & Tricks If You Get Stuck During Set Up
- You can use this trick any time your remote won’t respond, or youre having trouble connecting; walk;closer to your Apple TV with the remote or hold;down the Menu and Volume Up buttons for two seconds.
- If you get lost or feel you’ve made a mistake, just press the Menu button to return to the previous screen and get your bearings.;
- If your Apple TV freezes;unplug it from the power source, wait a few seconds, then plug it back in.;
- Remember that contacting Apple Support is always an option if things just aren’t working the way they’re supposed to.
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How To Connect A New Apple TV Remote To Your Apple TV
Say you got a brand new Apple TV remote, like the 2021 Siri Remote, that you need to connect to your Apple TV. How do you get them connected? Its actually pretty straight forward, but Im going to walk you through it anyway.
1: Turn on the Apple TV and make sure you can see the Home screen on the TV.
2: As soon as you press a button on the remote, the Apple TV can detect that, and will throw a prompt in the top right hand corner of the screen asking you to bring the remote closer to the screen for it to connect.
3: You can then tap the Remote on or leave it next to the Apple TV box, and within a few seconds the Remote will start working.
Use A Standard TV Remote To Control The Apple TV
To use a standard TV remote to control the Apple TV, take the following steps:
- Find a standard TV remote that has got directional buttons on it.
- Connect the Ethernet cable to your Apple TV.
- Go to Settings > General > Remotes on the Apple TV using the Remote Feature on your iPhones Control Center.
- Choose Learn Remote and take the basic steps to teach Apple TV your standard TV remote.
- After that, disconnect the ethernet cable and enable the Wi-Fi for your Apple TV through General -> Network -> Configure Wi-Fi using the standard TV remote.
Once the Apple TV is connected to the new Wi-Fi network, you can continue to use this standard TV remote to control the Apple TV and navigate its interface.
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How To Pair The New Siri Remote With An Older Apple TV
To pair your new Siri Remote with your Apple TV, follow these steps:
Sometimes, you may be asked to place the remote on top of the Apple TV while pairing, but the process is otherwise automatic. If your Apple TV isnt detecting the remote, try charging the remote for a few minutes and try again.
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Reprogram An Old TV Or Dvd Infrared Remote
A very popular way to manage without native remote is to program an infrared remote. This video shows in details how to do it.
The idea is that you need to use Remote app on your iPhone to open the corresponding menu on Apple TV and then program 6 buttons on your hardware remote, following easy on-screen instructions.
So just select the most suitable for you option. Hope you will help this article helpful.
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Some Of My Devices Power Off When Ending My Apple TV Activity
Apple TV generation 4 uses a feature called HDMI CEC which can turn on or off compatible TVs and change their inputs automatically. This may conflict with the way Harmony controls your devices, so we recommend it be disabled.
From the Apple TV generation 4, access the main menu and select Settings > Remotes and devices > Control TVs and Receivers, ensure this option is set to Off.