tvOS 9.1 Enables Remote App
For me, the Apple TV was recognized by the Remote app on my iPhone 6 and I was able to use direction, menu, play/pause, and —most important of all— the iPhone’s virtual keyboard. This does not cover the full range of features that the Siri Remote can handle, and there are interface bits that the 4th generation Apple TV does not support (the options element does nothing).
There was no update at all to the Remote app.
Presumably this is because of customer feedback because Apple previously said that there were no plans to support the Remote app. Then there’s the announcement of a new remote app coming by June 2016, a year after the Apple TV 4’s announcement:.
That is a horse of a different color. Was this never part of the plan for the full product? If it was part of the plan, why was it never mentioned before now? Why mention it half a year from the release of the app instead of at the unveiling?
So much about this product seems confused.
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There's also a new Remote app for iOS. I know some people were using the older one with the newer tvOS update. I don't know if Remote 4.2.3 adds anything new. It doesn't appear to.
I'm glad they did this, but whomever was in charge of the Apple TV release just poorly thought out some issues. I think it's a fantastic product with some brain dead choices for release. The Remote app should be able to pass Siri voice to the aTV at minimum. Bluetooth keyboards should be supported. They should have made it so I could download apps and review them from iTunes. That way we'd get actual reviews rather than just stars as well as be able to share links.
It's so frustrating as so much about the product is fantastic and then there are these little things that are small, easy to fix, but distract so much from the product.