The Google TV remote, part of the US$50 deal of Chromecast, can control volume, on/off and other functions of hundreds of brands of AV and TV. Can Apple TV remote do it?
From the review: "The other new button is a small power button that lives in the upper right corner of the remote, and can turn your Apple TV and the rest of your entire entertainment center on and off when set up correctly."
When your remote is more expensive than a competitors product .....
I could buy 2 fire sticks for this.
Anybody want to justify the price? Most remotes are <$10. I have an Apple TV and I don't really like the old remote, but this is insanely priced.
Edit:
Glad someone found this informative. It was more of an opinion really. But thanks!
I have two, no, three responses to that:
1) It looks awesome and I want it.
2) It's about as close to perfection for its purpose as you can get, aesthetically and functionally. In an imperfect world, especially one that has been getting more imperfect and chaotic by the minute, having something that is close to being objectively perfect brings me brief moments of peace (of mind), which are otherwise rare and elusive. In a world where unchecked subjectivity is leading people to the extremes of abstracted, vapid convictions, it's cathartic to know that there are some things out there that have objective meaning and purpose.
3) A good analogy to explain how these things are meaningful is architecture, particularly the failure of American Moderinist architecture, which believed that humans only need a bare minimum of functionality for their environment. Notoriously, architects would even go into homes that they already built and sold in order to remove "unnecessary" decorations placed there by the owners. This is, of course, antithetical to human nature. Yes, for purely pragmatic purposes, all we need for a work or living space is a 7' cube. But, we are not pragmatic beings. We are imbued with an innate urge to seek out forms that are intuitive and ascribe to universal traits of beauty. The simplicity and symmetry of the remote helps us better organize the controls in our mind and puts our mind more at ease. The contrast of the black buttons against the bright aluminum has a similar effect. The heft, and the use of a strong substance such as aluminum gives a sense of substance and durability. Even the Ancient Greeks, 2,500 years ago, knew these things about human nature, which is why the added refinements to their temples, such as entasis (a slight bulge, nearly imperceptible, in the middle of a column, which satisfies our intuitive expectation that the columns are truly carrying the immense weight of the cornices above them). Just like with architecture, and just like with most things in life, these traits mostly skip over our conscious awareness; but, we still sense them. We experience a certain feeling when using an Apple product, just like we experience a certain feeling when we enter a well-designed building.
These are the reasons why I love, rather than merely like, Apple products. And I'm incredibly grateful that there is a company out there that not only has the ability, but also the willingness, to make products like this, even if it costs a bit more.
That's a weird response. Is this remote really as close to to "perfection for its purpose as I would want"? Or was the other one.
When I criticised the previous Siri remote I would get attacked by the kind of poster than thinks Apple products brook no criticism. If anything the old remote was "modernist" in your description there.
So which remote is a perfect example of Apple making us "experience a certain feeling when using an Apple product, just like we experience a certain feeling when we enter a well-designed building.". Because this one corrects the minimalism of the one I am using right now, and don't like.
And I didn't critique the new remote, I am sure it is great, I criticised the price. The other remote I have, the one for the TV and cable, cost 5€, This is 65€. Not going to buy it. Would I buy it at a premium? Sure. 25€ or so. Not this.
I was excited to see this announced and ordered one right away. After using it for a couple weeks I really don't like it. The new trackpad has a more limiting area than the old one. The scroll ring doesn't work whatsoever. The ring buttons aren't very useful. I only really used the next/back buttons, and those were in the old trackpad. The new design is nice so I can tell which direction I'm holding the remote and I like the size and weight better, but that's really the best feature. The one thing that really kills it for me is that they put a mute button where the old play/pause button used to be. I'm constantly hitting mute instead of Pause. A dedicated mute button really isn't needed anyway. I would have preferred to see the volume buttons on the left side of the remote, and the power button on the right side, like with the iPhone. I would have liked to see Siri activate by holding down another button, like the power button, no need for a dedicated button on something I rarely use. That would have reduced the number of buttons on the front and made it much easier to use without looking. I'll be returning mine and going back to the old one.
After 10 days with the new Apple TV and remote I’m returning it. I prefer the old Siri remote. Don’t like this new remote at all. Why?
Heavy and uncomfortable in the hand it’s with sharp edges (this was really bothering me)
CONSTANTLY activating Siri accidentally when I pick it up. Like… 50% of the time.
Power button and D Pad are no use to me as I only use it for Apple TV (not using it to control anything else)
Swiping on the D Pad isn’t nearly as nice as swiping on the previous remote
The 10 second skip is much more reliable than touching and pressing the edges of the old remote. I did like that. But otherwise I prefer the old remote. And the scrubbing is cool but it barely works anywhere other than the TV app.
After 10 days with the new Apple TV and remote I’m returning it. I prefer the old Siri remote. Don’t like this new remote at all.
The 10 second skip is much more reliable than touching and pressing the edges of the old remote. I did like that. But otherwise I prefer the old remote. And the scrubbing is cool but it barely works anywhere other than the TV app.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. After using this now for a few weeks I’m just not in love with the new remote. Still not used to it and prefer the older one as well. I prefer the larger trackpad on the older. And I still hate where the mute is and play/ pause, should be switched. I wonder how someone brand new would like this remote? I still have an older ATV in basement maybe if they both had the new remote I’d be more used to it? You know but it’s just aggravating.
Too bad the power button doesn't use the IR to turn off the receiver that is not HDMI power control capable.
Seriously? It can't do that?
Wow. This thing is worse in almost every way than the old one.
Things I like about this one: It's lighter color, so it doesn't get lost as easily on my sheets. I have to remember to turn the remote upside down so the aluminum shows if I put it down on the bed. It's bigger. The old one is too small.
Things I hate about the new one: Everything else.
Sorry, the larger touchpad surface absolutely kicks ass, it's massively better than this thing. I don't want a click wheel.
And entering text? Who does that with the remote? I've got a keyboard paired with the TV that I can usse, or I can just use my phone. If you're using the remote to enter text, you're doing it wrong, stop it.
I do find the different views rather amusing as it just shows that everyone likes something different, but even more apparent no-one actually likes change!
Personally, I find the new remote to be the best for me and my use case of all of the previous ones. I have no issue with getting the click wheel scrolling working, I like the new button placement, I can use it in the dark, the touch pad doesn’t randomly activate when I pick the remote up, and it’s much harder to lose in-between the sofa cushions. But that is for me.
My partner doesn’t have an opinion on the matter, but finds the new scroller better than the old swipe and the even older click, but at the end of the day says the touch based remote was “fine”, and they don’t really have an opinion on which one they would prefer.
My kids don’t care at all. After about 30 seconds they got used to it and just do not care in the slightest so long as they can watch what they want to watch. Perhaps it’s an age thing that makes us anti-change?
This is definitely true of my father who is a bit of a Victor Meldrew character (look it up if you don’t get the inference!) the older he gets. He hated the Siri remote with a passion, doesn’t like the new one, and still uses the original remote with the direction key selector and two buttons. He just cannot deal with any change beyond that remote from almost a decade ago. If that remote ever stops working the AppleTV will never be used again by him I’m sure of it.
The simple response is that we each have our preferences. Mine is the new one, the partner and kids don’t care at all, and my father prefers the remote from the Gen3 and earlier days.
If you don’t like it, return it; if you do like it then you probably won’t share your opinion on the matter in these forums because I’m sure the vast majority of AppleTV buyers just want a device that is simple to use and actually works 99.999% of the time. Many will just manage with the remote that’s in the box when they bought it anyway. A minority of consumers will invest further than that off their own back.
Comments
So, yes.
When I criticised the previous Siri remote I would get attacked by the kind of poster than thinks Apple products brook no criticism. If anything the old remote was "modernist" in your description there.
So which remote is a perfect example of Apple making us "experience a certain feeling when using an Apple product, just like we experience a certain feeling when we enter a well-designed building.". Because this one corrects the minimalism of the one I am using right now, and don't like.
And I didn't critique the new remote, I am sure it is great, I criticised the price. The other remote I have, the one for the TV and cable, cost 5€, This is 65€. Not going to buy it. Would I buy it at a premium? Sure. 25€ or so. Not this.
Personally, I find the new remote to be the best for me and my use case of all of the previous ones. I have no issue with getting the click wheel scrolling working, I like the new button placement, I can use it in the dark, the touch pad doesn’t randomly activate when I pick the remote up, and it’s much harder to lose in-between the sofa cushions. But that is for me.
My partner doesn’t have an opinion on the matter, but finds the new scroller better than the old swipe and the even older click, but at the end of the day says the touch based remote was “fine”, and they don’t really have an opinion on which one they would prefer.
My kids don’t care at all. After about 30 seconds they got used to it and just do not care in the slightest so long as they can watch what they want to watch. Perhaps it’s an age thing that makes us anti-change?
This is definitely true of my father who is a bit of a Victor Meldrew character (look it up if you don’t get the inference!) the older he gets. He hated the Siri remote with a passion, doesn’t like the new one, and still uses the original remote with the direction key selector and two buttons. He just cannot deal with any change beyond that remote from almost a decade ago. If that remote ever stops working the AppleTV will never be used again by him I’m sure of it.
The simple response is that we each have our preferences. Mine is the new one, the partner and kids don’t care at all, and my father prefers the remote from the Gen3 and earlier days.
If you don’t like it, return it; if you do like it then you probably won’t share your opinion on the matter in these forums because I’m sure the vast majority of AppleTV buyers just want a device that is simple to use and actually works 99.999% of the time. Many will just manage with the remote that’s in the box when they bought it anyway. A minority of consumers will
invest further than that off their own back.