Siri Remote

Here’s why Siri on Apple TV only supports eight countries so far

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 4, 2015

The new Apple TV ships with the same remote everywhere but Siri on the set-top box is only supported in these eight languages and countries: English (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, German (Germany), French (France), Spanish (Spain) and Japanese (Japan).

Why is that? After all, Siri on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad support the most basic features in a total of 29 countries, as per Apple's iOS Feature Availability webpage.

Based on an interview that the German-language blog MacPrime conducted with several Apple TV project managers, it's all about the differences in the pronunciation of actor names, films and directors in various countries. But rest assured, Apple is already hard at work on training the Apple TV's Siri for additional countries.

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How to control your TV or receiver volume using the Apple TV remote

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2023

In addition to using your Siri Remote to navigate the tvOS user interface and play games on the fourth-generation Apple TV, you can program it to control power and adjust volume levels of your television set or home theater receiver.

That's because your Apple TV and the Siri Remote that came with it are compatible with HDMI-CEC and outfitted with a built-in infrared receiver and blaster.

This means owners of the new Apple TV can adjust the volume of their TVs and home theater receivers via the HDMI cable or line of sight, using just their Siri Remote.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to program your Siri Remote and configure it to work with your home entertainment equipment.

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How to force-quit apps on Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 20, 2022
Apps on Apple TV screen with Apple TV box and remote in front of the screen

Although Apple TV is designed to just work, there are instances when a misbehaving app needs to be purged from the memory. And with the device's ability to download third-party apps and games, more things can now go wrong than ever before.

Like your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac, your Apple TV also lets you easily close a running app to free up system resources. In this brief tutorial, we show you how you can force quit an app on the Apple TV HD, 4K, or older models using your Siri Remote.

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How to restart or put your Apple TV into sleep or standby mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2023

By now, you have learned how to use the new Apple TV's task switcher, rearrange and delete apps on the set-top box, take screenshots, disable password prompts for free and paid downloads and more.

Our coverage of the device continues with this tutorial which will teach you how to restart your Apple TV or put it into sleep or standby mode using either its remote or by selecting an option in the Settings menu.

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How to rearrange apps on your Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 7, 2023
Rearranging apps on Apple TV

Rearranging apps on the Apple TV works much as it does on iPhone or iPad. First, you enter into "jiggle mode," and then you move the user-installed apps to your preferred location. This written tutorial, along with a video, shows you how to change the position of installed apps on your Apple TV Home Screen.

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Here’s why you shouldn’t buy an extra Siri Remote at this time

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 26, 2015

The new Apple TV went on sale today, and Apple is pushing several accessories to go along with the launch. We outlined some of the more interesting accessories in this post, but I wanted to talk a bit more about the Siri Remote.

The Siri Remote is, of course, bundled with all new Apple TVs. When you buy a new Apple TV, you get everything that you need to get started in the box.

Yet, Apple is selling the Siri Remote as a separate purchase as well.

This intrigued me for several reasons—first, the Siri Remote is actually more expensive than a base configuration Apple TV itself. The Siri remote is $79. The new Apple TV with 32GB of storage is $149 and includes a Siri Remote. Simple math says that without the Siri Remote, the new Apple TV is $70. Obviously, the pricing semantics aren't that simple, but you get what I'm trying to say here.

But far more important than price, is the fact that you cannot connect more than one Siri Remote at a time. That's right, only one Siri Remote may be connected to an Apple TV at any given time. That means no multiplayer games using multiple Siri Remotes, or anything else of the sort. For this reason, you should skip the extra Siri Remote purchase at this time.

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New Apple TV accessories: which ones should you order?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Along with being able to order the new Apple TV, you can also order several new accessories to go along with your shiny new set top box. There aren't a ton of accessories immediately available for the new Apple TV, but some of the ones that are available may be worthy of your consideration.

There are a few key accessories that Apple is promoting on its online store during the new Apple TV checkout process: the Siri Remote, Remote Loop, and the SteelSeries Nimbus Wireless Controller. Should you consider buying any of these in addition to your new Apple TV?

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Teardown: new Apple TV + Siri Remote

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2015

Following the teardown analysis of Apple's fourth-generation iPad mini, repair wizards over at iFixit have torn apart the new Apple TV and its Bluetooth-based Siri Remote with touch trackpad.

The new box has a high repairability score thanks to a fairly modular design and just a few major components, which simplifies repair. It's also a half-inch taller and more than fifty percent heavier than the third-generation model.

On the inside, it features a beefier heatsink and power supply to support the speed monster that is the dual-core A8 microchip with 2GB of RAM, clocked at 1.8GHz.

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More details on the new Apple TV revealed

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 18, 2015

Apple TV dev kits are trickling into developers who participated in the dev kit lottery last week. Apple is providing some developers with an early look at the new Apple TV hardware by giving away full blown developer kit models, which come complete with a new Apple TV, Siri remote, and all of the other accessories necessary to use the next-gen set top box.

Although the verbiage surrounding the dev kits made it seem as if developers should be extra hush-hush about the kit, many new details have started to leak out about the 4th generation Apple TV. What can we expect from Apple's upcoming streaming and gaming device?

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Why requiring games to support the Apple TV remote is the right decision

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 15, 2015

As first brought to our attention by MacRumors' Juli Clover, Apple is requiring that games created for the Apple TV must support the Apple TV remote. This means that developers cannot create games that require an external Bluetooth controller to play, although games can use Bluetooth controllers as an alternative means of control.

While this may sound a bit harsh on the part of Apple, seeing that some games feature control schemes that are more ideal for a traditional controller, I think that it's the right direction. How frustrating would it be for a user to download a game, only to find out that they can't play the game due to not having the necessary hardware? And how frustrating would it be to browse the App Store, and see tons of games that have prerequisites for a piece of hardware that didn't come bundled with the Apple TV?

This might not sit well with some developers and some gamers, but it's the right decision for the greater good.

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