Apple Remote app for Apple Watch, iOS now compatible with Apple TV tvOS 9.1

AppleInsider

Tuesday's release of tvOS 9.1 added support for Apple's official Remote app both on iOS devices as well as the Apple Watch, offering alternative Apple TV input methods from the Siri Remote.

Upon updating a fourth-generation Apple TV to tVOS 9.1, users will be able to discover their set-top box via the Apple Remote app. Once connected, users can swipe on their iPhone or Apple Watch display to navigate the new Apple TV.

The tvOS 9.1 update also brings support for virtual keyboard input on an iPhone or iPad. This makes text entry when doing activities, like searching the App Store, much easier.

When a text field has been opened on the Apple TV, the Remote app on an iPhone will display an empty field and virtual keyboard for typing. The currently-open app is also named at the top of the screen.

Users can hide the virtual keyboard if they wish to navigate. If a keyboard entry option remains, a small keyboard icon will be displayed in the upper left corner of the app.

Users discovered the new Apple TV was incompatible with Apple's own Remote app for iOS and watchOS when the fourth-generation set-top box launched in late October. Previously, users could rely on the Remote app to control the second- and third-generation Apple TV.

anantksundaram

Yea!

rogifan_old

anantksundaram said:

Yea!

Yea indeed. But they need to update the iPad app which still sports a pre-iOS 7 design.

orange3324

They really need a second screen support like you see with Plex and Microsoft Smartglass. The ability to click what you want to open on your iPad is way more valuable than swiping around..

cali

The fact people want to avoid using the packed in remote is not good. I hope a better remote is being developed. Accessibility, convenience and ease of use are important for any items packed in with a device.

sog35 said:

Now all the concerned trolls need to think of something else.....

But, but, but, no Remote App....
But, but, but, no AppleMusic Siri control......
but, but, but, no 4k.....Thats right!  No 4k!  A technology that won't be mainstream for at least another 5 years!!!

Almost all Apple tech isn't mainstream for 5 years.
Had Apple added 4K you'd be hollering "Apple always pushing technology forward!!!!!"

sacto joe

At last! [the singing of various joyous carols commences, a mug of hot buttered rum in one mittened hand]

wood1208

Isn't this Remote App support reduces need for(lack of) bluetooth keyboard support for TVOS ? I would care for 4K once enough TV contents are offered in 4K. I remembered buying $5200 large Toshiba HD projection TV and by the time some HD contents(mainly games) started coming on TV, the TV died 5 years of service. Same is true for 4K. Not enough contents and will take 5 years to be plenty. I will wait to buy 4K 75" OLED TV 3 years down the road and than look forward Apple to have 4K in AppleTV.

edited December 2015

daven

I never tested on older Apple TVs but if you go to Netflix and go to search then press the microphone button you can dictate your search string.

rogifan_old

sog35 said:

Now all the concerned trolls need to think of something else.....

But, but, but, no Remote App....
But, but, but, no AppleMusic Siri control......
but, but, but, no 4k.....Thats right!  No 4k!  A technology that won't be mainstream for at least another 5 years!!!

They've still got the iPhone battery case to complain about.

mac_128

I wonder if Apple intends to support Siri from the the iOS devices? Considering the iPhone is not that different from the dedicated ATV Remote, and Siri is already built-in to iOS. The Watch makes this particularly important since there is no means to input text, other than via Siri.

macpro

After all the fuss, I find haven't needed it since the first ten minutes I owned an Apple TV mk4.  However, new buyers will appreciate it for their first ten minutes I am sure.

edited December 2015

rezwits

4K won't be mainstream for another 5 years, TRUE, but they should definitely try and get in the sooner the better, and maybe BE THE content provider, where there is NONE. It's a huge opening and an opportunity they shouldn't waste and should dominate....

sandor

It is about time.

I really do not understand why this wasn't working at release,

nolamacguy

cali said:

The fact people want to avoid using the packed in remote is not good. 

what fact? whiners on tech blogs aren't most people. I assure you my parents have no idea what the remote app is. they use the metal remote. 

nolamacguy

I wonder if all the complainers who pretended to return theirs over the lack of Remote are now going to pretend to buy them again?

boltsfan17

rezwits said:

4K won't be mainstream for another 5 years, TRUE, but they should definitely try and get in the sooner the better, and maybe BE THE content provider, where there is NONE. It's a huge opening and an opportunity they shouldn't waste and should dominate....

Not sure when 4k becomes mainstream, but there will be a ton of new content in 2016. Directv is launching a 4k channel lineup early next year. There is a pretty high adoption rate of 4k TV's. At the current rate of adoption, 40% of consumers in the U.S. will have a 4K TV by the end of 2016. 

tallest skil

Apple’s adoption of 2160p content is contingent on hardware decoding of H.265.

Intel needs to step it up.

anantksundaram

boltsfan17 said:

Not sure when 4k becomes mainstream, but there will be a ton of new content in 2016. Directv is launching a 4k channel lineup early next year. There is a pretty high adoption rate of 4k TV's. At the current rate of adoption, 40% of consumers in the U.S. will have a 4K TV by the end of 2016. 

That sounds like a very optimistic prediction. Cite?

blaster

We should gather up the posts from all the people who argued that Apple will not/should not add support for Remote app.

edited December 2015

zimmie

daven said:

I never tested on older Apple TVs but if you go to Netflix and go to search then press the microphone button you can dictate your search string.

Enjoy dictating your passwords. That's the big deal for me. I quite like the remote in general, but any time I have to type a password, it's irritating.

As for the new ApplyTV not supporting 4K, I don't think there's a single real 4K TV on the market, just this 3840x2160 nonsense. 4K projectors all cost eleventy billion dollars. The HDMI standard didn't even allow real 4K at any frame rate other than 24 per second until HDMI 2.0. That was announced on September 4, 2013. The first HDMI 2.0 sink chip didn't hit the market until nearly a year later, on August 7, 2014. The TV market is very small since their replacement lifetime is so long. I don't think anybody has a source chip that Apple could buy in a large enough quantity.

crowley

sog35 said:

but, but, but, no 4k.....Thats right!  No 4k!  A technology that won't be mainstream for at least another 5 years!!!

Skate to where the puck is going to be.