Filip Brož Apple has released a new Apple TV Remote app for iPhone, which it announced back in June during WWDC. With the new application, you can control not only the latest fourth-generation Apple TV, but also older ones, with the fact that the application works exactly the same as a physical controller. In particular, it remains original the Remote application, with which you can also control iTunes on Mac in addition to Apple TV.
When you turn on the Apple TV Remote for the first time, you need to pair the new app with the set-top box - a four-digit code appears on the screen, which you enter into the app on your iPhone. Subsequently, an absolutely identical environment that users know from the physical Siri Remote will appear in front of you. In the upper half, there is a touch surface that you can use to swipe in all directions and scroll through the content. Classic tap to select also works. Use the Menu button to go back one or more steps.
However, the biggest advantage of the new application is undoubtedly the keyboard. As soon as you find yourself in a place where you need to enter some text, for example passwords, usernames or searches, the native keyboard will automatically appear in the application. In the Czech environment, unfortunately, it still applies that you cannot use Siri for searching.
You can also conveniently play, pause or advance movies and music using the Remote application. If you use Apple Music, you will always see the album cover and other playback options. The application also has a quick home button, which is used to turn off applications and redirect to the main menu.
The application, like the controller, also has gyroscope and accelerometer support. Thanks to this, the iPhone can also be used as a game controller. For games, you can also use an imaginary virtual controller, when the application turns to landscape, creating a larger area for control along with two action buttons. In practice, however, it's quite a pain in the ass, and it took me a while to get used to the usual Chameleon Run jumper.
Still, the fact remains that the classic SteelSeries Nimbus wireless gaming controller is no substitute if you're serious about gaming. The fact that the application cannot be used as a second controller for multiplayer is also disappointing.
The Apple TV Remote app requires at least iOS 9.3.2 or later and is compatible with the current version of tvOS 9.2.2. However, it is also possible to use it with the second and third generation Apple TV. The app is free for the iPhone, not optimized for the iPad, but can also be downloaded for it.
[appbox app store 1096834193]
It kills me how easily reviewers can forgive this new and beautifully polished app that Apple has quietly ripped one of its most important features out of it. Past app along with Apple TV 3 gen. she was able to easily control the music library - choosing albums, artists, playlists and playing music in the living room was very easy, without having to turn on the TV every time. Now the Remote application is just a banal replacement for the touch controller, which is a shame...
We mention this fact right at the beginning. The new Apple TV Remote application is a completely new application, the original one remains and, unfortunately for many, also includes the functionality to control iTunes.
Wait, you're wrong. I'm not talking about being able to control iTunes on a Mac, if that's what anyone ever wanted. I'm writing about the fact that the old and, unfortunately, the new Remote application has completely lost the ability to control iTunes libraries (either local or Apple Music) on the new/current Apple TV! And that seems to me like a terrible voser, driven away from Apple's "user experience". Especially when it worked standard and beneficial for many years.
I completely agree, is it me too? If I want to play songs, I have to pick up the remote again. That app is useless
I was just going to ask this here. If you can control the new Apple TV without having to turn on the TV, in my case plasma. So if this doesn't work here, as you write here, and it worked in the previous version, then it's useless. Damage.