iOS 10 tips: Rich notifications enable tvOS text entry from iPhone's lock screen

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
With rich notifications in iOS 10, users can now view and interact with alerts from a variety of apps directly from the lock screen. One of the more useful implementations is the Apple TV Remote app, which lets users bypass the clunky tvOS keyboard and enter text with their iPhone.









Apple TV Remote gains greater utility in iOS 10 and tvOS 10 thanks to rich notifications. Instead of relying solely on Siri Remote and the clunky tvOS keyboard interface, rich notifications let users quickly enter text directly from the iOS lock screen. Notably, the system works even while browsing tvOS with Siri Remote.



As seen in the screenshots above, tvOS sends a push notification to a connected iPhone whenever the onscreen cursor hits a text entry box. For example, navigating to the search bar in YouTube's tvOS app will trigger a push notification on iOS.



Interacting with the rich notification through a 3D Touch press on iPhone 6 and 7 series devices summons a text entry box with familiar iOS keyboard. After entering text and tapping "Go," control is returned to Siri Remote.



Rich notifications appear in the lock screen and as banners or alerts when iPhone is unlocked. As a true push notification, the interactive alerts show up even when Apple TV Remote isn't running in the background.



The feature is enabled by default and can be configured in the iOS Settings app under Notifications > Apple TV Remote Keyboard. From here, users can opt to allow notifications, show alerts in notifications center, enable sounds, activate lock screen access and select their desired alert style.



When Apple launched its fourth-generation Apple TV with Siri Remote and tvOS, many users found the set-top's hunt-and-peck style alphanumeric keyboard an ungainly solution.



Previous generation Apple TV onscreen keyboards arranged letters in an alphabetized 6-by-6 digit square, with extra rows accommodating numbers and special characters. By contrast, tvOS strings the grid into long rows, one each for letters, numbers and special characters, and text entry options. The new system is a less than ideal solution for the included touchpad-based Siri Remote.



Making the situation worse, Apple's legacy Remote app -- the text entry mode of choice -- was incompatible with fourth-generation hardware.



In August, some nine months after fourth-gen Apple TVs hit store shelves, Apple released a dedicated Apple TV Remote app for iOS. Beyond mimicking the functionality of the physical Siri Remote, Apple's Remote app once again enables text entry via the iOS QWERTY soft keyboard.



Apple TV Remote is a free download from the iOS App Store.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    This happens for me every time. Caught me off guard the first few times I saw it pop up. Very cool feature and makes typing a sinch. The more I use my ATV4 and the more apps/features that get added just make me happy I pulled the trigger on this purchase. Already in the process of replacing all my ATV3s for 4. 2 down, 2 more to go.
    williamlondonlollivercalidavendoozydozen
  • Reply 2 of 29
    Here are my questions/issues with the "new" Notification Center: 1. I can't "mark as complete" on a Reminder from the notification anymore. 2. I can't group my notifications by app anymore. Anyone have any solutions??
    mike1
  • Reply 3 of 29
    Here are my questions/issues with the "new" Notification Center: 1. I can't "mark as complete" on a Reminder from the notification anymore. 2. I can't group my notifications by app anymore. Anyone have any solutions??
    adapt.. :-)
    edited October 2016 lolliverapplepieguy
  • Reply 4 of 29
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    The Apple TV Remote app on iPhone works infinitely better than the physical Apple Remote.
    The  Watch version of the plain old Remote app is also infinitely better than the physical Apple Remote.
    But no.  Any typing at all is a clunky and terrible experience with any TV interface.
    edited October 2016 doozydozenapplepieguy
  • Reply 5 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I don't see the option in Notifications on my iOS device.
    rezwits
  • Reply 6 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    supadav03 said:
    This happens for me every time. Caught me off guard the first few times I saw it pop up. Very cool feature and makes typing a sinch. The more I use my ATV4 and the more apps/features that get added just make me happy I pulled the trigger on this purchase. Already in the process of replacing all my ATV3s for 4. 2 down, 2 more to go.
    I just wish Netflix knew how to make an app. The old Apple TV is so much better for Netflix.
    calilolliverdoozydozenapplepieguynolamacguy
  • Reply 7 of 29
    ireland said:
    supadav03 said:
    This happens for me every time. Caught me off guard the first few times I saw it pop up. Very cool feature and makes typing a sinch. The more I use my ATV4 and the more apps/features that get added just make me happy I pulled the trigger on this purchase. Already in the process of replacing all my ATV3s for 4. 2 down, 2 more to go.
    I just wish Netflix knew how to make an app. The old Apple TV is so much better for Netflix.

    I just wish there was a place to select genre/categories, like on the old ATV app and on iOS. I don't care much for the whole "because you watched" thing. 
    calilolliverr00fus1
  • Reply 8 of 29
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    ireland said:
    supadav03 said:
    This happens for me every time. Caught me off guard the first few times I saw it pop up. Very cool feature and makes typing a sinch. The more I use my ATV4 and the more apps/features that get added just make me happy I pulled the trigger on this purchase. Already in the process of replacing all my ATV3s for 4. 2 down, 2 more to go.
    I just wish Netflix knew how to make an app. The old Apple TV is so much better for Netflix.
    Yep. The interface is with so much wasted space. Can't believe you can't browse in any logic manner.
    lolliverdoozydozenireland
  • Reply 9 of 29
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    I have no way to test this ATM, but if it does work this way, would be very cool. Very . 
  • Reply 10 of 29
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    ireland said:
    I don't see the option in Notifications on my iOS device.
    When I first looked, I didn't have the option. When I turned on my ATV4 and tested it by searching in movies, the notification popped up. After it popped up, I went back into settings and Apple TV Remote was there.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 11 of 29
    My iOS 10 Settings don't have anything like that described in the article.  There is no AppleTV Remote Keyboard option in my Notifications settings on my iPhone.  It is a 7, running iOS 10, with the Apple TV Remote app installed.  Is there some trick I'm missing?
    doozydozen
  • Reply 12 of 29
    I'll be even happier when I can take my TV with me to a hotel room and sign in to their wifi. Even if Apple gives us access to a browser for only this functionality, that would make the thing infinitely more useful!
    doozydozen
  • Reply 13 of 29
    sirozhasirozha Posts: 801member
    hamconsoh said:
    My iOS 10 Settings don't have anything like that described in the article.  There is no AppleTV Remote Keyboard option in my Notifications settings on my iPhone.  It is a 7, running iOS 10, with the Apple TV Remote app installed.  Is there some trick I'm missing?
    Same here. iPhone 7 running latest iOS 10 with the Apple TV Remote app installed. No Apple TV Remote Keyboard option in Settings > Notifications. Rebooted the iPhone, made sure Apple TV 4 is running the latest tvOS. Tried to do the search on Apple TV 4 with Siri Remote And noticed that the Apple TV Remote app now reacts to the selection of the search option by Siri Remote and the app now presents the keyboard mode, but this only happens when the app is active on the iPhone. As soon as I lock the phone, there is no more iPhone awareness of what's happening on the Apple TV. So, the keyboard notifications are not working. 

    -----

    iPhone 6s: the Apple TV Remote Keyboard option is present in Settings > Notifications even without the Apple TV Remote app installed. Once I installed the Apple TV Remote app, I confirmed the behavior described in this article. Everything is working as described. The notifications only arrive when the phone screen is on, but they are visible in the lock screen, and using ForceTouch one can use the keyboard to enter characters in the Apple TV search field without unlocking the iPhone. 

    ------

    Therefore, this seems to be an iPhone 7 issue. 
    edited October 2016 doozydozen
  • Reply 14 of 29
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    ireland said:
    supadav03 said:
    This happens for me every time. Caught me off guard the first few times I saw it pop up. Very cool feature and makes typing a sinch. The more I use my ATV4 and the more apps/features that get added just make me happy I pulled the trigger on this purchase. Already in the process of replacing all my ATV3s for 4. 2 down, 2 more to go.
    I just wish Netflix knew how to make an app. The old Apple TV is so much better for Netflix.
    Hulu is worse. They won't support apples innovations and I could become frustrating. For example searching on Hulu won't trigger the iPhone keyboard to pop up. 
  • Reply 15 of 29
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    Yeah where is this...
  • Reply 16 of 29
    lolliverlolliver Posts: 493member
    Here are my questions/issues with the "new" Notification Center: 1. I can't "mark as complete" on a Reminder from the notification anymore. 2. I can't group my notifications by app anymore. Anyone have any solutions??

    I know from the lock screen if you select "view" for the reminder notification it will then bring up the option to mark as complete without needing to open the reminders app. Haven't tried it with the phone unlocked.
  • Reply 17 of 29
    davendaven Posts: 696member
    In was thinking it would be neat if Apple made a VR headset and allowed you to use the current Apple TV Remote for the headset remote.
  • Reply 18 of 29
    rattlhedrattlhed Posts: 155member
    So after a bunch of trouble shooting I finally got this to work.

    First, you need the Apple TV remote app from the App Store.  Download that and then pair it with your Apple TV.  This took me several attempts to make it finally pair.  I restarted my Apple TV 3 times, and deleted and re-downloaded the app twice.  But they finally hooked up and I could control my Apple TV with my phone (that's pretty cool all on its own).

    Go into any search field on the Apple TV. If you're in the Apple TV remote app on your phone, it should automatically take you into a text box where you can start typing and the typing will appear on the Apple TV.  If you're not in the app, you'll get a push notification on your phone that the Apple TV is prompting for a text input.  When I got the notification on my phone when not in the app, it loads up a dialog box that lets you type right there.  

    Too bad this took so many attempts to finally make work.  But once I got it up and running it's really slick and will make typing a whole lot easier (although before this I was getting pretty good with Siri navigation).  Hope that helps some of you.
  • Reply 19 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    ireland said:
    I don't see the option in Notifications on my iOS device.
    When I first looked, I didn't have the option. When I turned on my ATV4 and tested it by searching in movies, the notification popped up. After it popped up, I went back into settings and Apple TV Remote was there.
    Interesting. It's revealed via bonjour or some Apple sauce. I'm on ATV3. I prefer Netflix on it that much.
  • Reply 20 of 29
    uphone 6+ and now black 7+.
    never an issue on either as it worked perfectly from the start. 1 shot to pair and it all worked great.
    Thanks  you rock!
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