Copyright © 2022, Quiller Media, Inc.
AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.
You've broken, lost, or don't like the Siri Remote that came with your Apple TV, and Apple is in the process of killing the iOS app. Here's what you can do to replace it, or even give everyone their own remote.
Stop throwing that Apple TV remote to whoever wants it next. You may not be a fan, but that just makes it even harder to pay out sixty bucks for a replacement if you break it.
Everyone does get on that Siri Remote's back, but it's not quite up there with the hockey puck mouse in terms of poor Apple design. Apart from how you always pick it up the wrong way around, the problem is just that it's so small you keep losing it.
Fortunately, there are alternatives. They range from straight-out replacing it with a more regular kind of chunky TV remote, to using Apple's software versions.
If you do get an alternative remote, or a replacement Siri one, you then have to connect it to your Apple TV. Depending on the remote, you may have to go through a sequence of training it to work with your Apple TV too.
None of which is exactly a pain, but it was a lot easier when you could just download the official Apple TV Remote app to your iPhone. That was never exactly Apple's top-priority app, going through 13 updates in 4 years, with 10 of those to do with bug fixes and stability improvements.
Still, now that it's gone, we can miss it. The Apple TV Remote app did have an advantage over its replacement, the Remote section of Control Center on iOS.
If you had it before, you've got it still and can redownload the app whenever you want. The first time you go to use it now, though, you will now get a notification that you can use the Control Center version instead.
That's now got the Apple TV Remote into Control Center. You can rearrange where it appears by dragging in that Settings, Control Center section.
On occasion, especially after any iOS or tvOS updates, you may be prompted to enter a passcode again. But in general, you are now connected and controlling your Apple TV is a matter of opening Control Center and tapping on the button.
Since you can't even remember the last time your iPhone wasn't right there with you, this does seem like a better solution than searching the couch for the Siri remote. It is, too, except for a couple of issues — including one that the old Apple TV Remote app didn't have.
The old app was fractionally more convenient because you could leave it as the current app. When your iPhone locks, you can just unlock and the TV Remote is right there.
What's more — while this may vary by version of the app, or of iOS — Apple's TV Remote app stops the iPhone locking. That's got to be better than unlocking, swiping to bring down Control Center, and then tapping the remote button.
This also varies, though. Under iOS 14, you can open Remote in Control Center and then let your iPhone autolock itself. Tap on the screen to wake up the iPhone and instead of being presented with the lock screen, you'll be right back in Remote part of Control Center.
What can make a difference is whether you've received any messages or other notifications since the phone locked.
Of course you get none of these issues if you just have a regular, physical TV remote. And those also give you something that neither the app nor Control Center has — the ability to change the volume on our TV sets.
The range of alternative remotes for your Apple TV is not enormous, but it's big enough, and it ranges enough in price, to make you think about it. Apple's $60 is a lot when you can pick up a budget TV remote for $20.
On the other hand, you can go all the way up to $250 for a Logitech Harmony 950. There are other options along the way and what you get for each price point is the ability to control more devices.
If you just want to control your Apple TV and maybe, please, your TV set, that $60 Siri Remote suddenly doesn't seem all that unreasonable.
Whether you buy that, an alternative, or several alternatives, there is one thing you have to do. You have to connect it to your Apple TV, and the way you do that differs depending on the type of remote.
As well as the Siri Remote, which is a special case, you can use what's called a universal remote, or what Apple calls a network-based remote. The former typically uses infrared and so must be line-of-sight of the Apple TV box, while the latter connects to your Wi-Fi network
Once the Siri Remote has been paired, you'll see a message on the screen your Apple TV is connected to. And your old Siri Remote is automatically unpaired, too.
You'll then be prompted through pressing certain buttons on your remote to correspond with certain Apple TV actions. The way you do this depends on the model of remote you've got, but it isn't a long process.
Again, you'll be prompted through setting up the remote and the process may vary slightly depending on the make and model.
Just like any other HomeKit accessory, you can choose to assign the TV remote to a certain "room" in your house. By itself, that's not especially useful as you can still wander around your entire home using it to control the Apple TV.
However, you can give this new remote a name and then it's possible to control it via Siri and typical HomeKit commands.
There's nothing to stop you having both an infrared and a network-based remote. There's nothing at all to stop you having several, except that this way lies a little maddening confusion.
Plus multiple Apple TV remotes controlling one single Apple TV is a likely to end in a bigger and more repeated family rows than who's going to pay for breaking the Siri Remote.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
The prestigious annual Edinburgh Television Festival has given its Best International Drama award to Apple TV+ hit "Pachinko."
Bring gaming on your iPhone or Apple TV closer to the console experience, by using one of these game controllers with your Apple devices.
For a very limited time, GrubHub is offering $10 off orders for National Waffle Day in a promotion for Apple Original series "Severance."
MSI's Creator Z17 notebook is billed as a productivity workhorse with a sleek design. On paper, it's even capable of taking on Apple's creative powerhouse, the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Here's how they compare.
The iPad Pro and the MacBook Air are powerful and reasonably-priced ways to work. Here's what to consider when trying to choose one over the other.
We have both M2 Macs here in our testing studio. We're comparing the M2 MacBook Air against the M2 MacBook Pro to see how they stack up and how much of a difference the thermal limitations make.
Master & Dynamic's MW75 are high-quality headphones offering ANC features, directly competing against Apple's AirPods Max. Here's how the premium personal audio accessories compare.
The new Surface Laptop Go 2 is a thin and light Windows notebook at a low cost, and has been positioned by Microsoft to be a competitor to Apple's latest M2 MacBook Air. Here's how the ultra-portable notebooks compare.
Apple's CSAM detection system may not be perfect, but it is inevitable
US DOJ prepping antitrust case against Apple
Apple releases fourth macOS Ventura public beta
TSMC's 3nm chips won't be ready in time for 2022 MacBook Pros, Kuo says
How to downgrade from iOS 16 to iOS 15 without losing data
How to manage Apple Mail previous recipients on iOS 15
Elon Musk and T-Mobile try beating Apple with satellite vaporware
This M1 Max MacBook Pro 14-inch with 32GB RAM is $354 off, plus $60 off AppleCare
The prestigious annual Edinburgh Television Festival has given its Best International Drama award to Apple TV+ hit "Pachinko."
Bring gaming on your iPhone or Apple TV closer to the console experience, by using one of these game controllers with your Apple devices.
For a very limited time, GrubHub is offering $10 off orders for National Waffle Day in a promotion for Apple Original series "Severance."
Bring gaming on your iPhone or Apple TV closer to the console experience, by using one of these game controllers with your Apple devices.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max are expected to be announced during Apple's September 7 event. Here's what we know about the new models, and what we expect that they will look like.
Apple will announce the iPhone 14 Pro lineup during an event on September 7. Here's what the rumor mill has to say, and what we think it looks like.
It's been a rocky road to the iOS 16 launch. Here are the high-profile features that aren't going to debut in the initial release of Apple's upcoming operating system.
Google is gunning for the AirPods Pro by adding active noise cancellation to the Pixel Buds Pro. Here's how those Pixel Buds Pro fare compared to Apple's current generation AirPods lineup.
Keep tabs on the air quality of your home — including potentially deadly radon levels — with the Airthings View Plus.
Apple didn't make a Magic Keyboard for iPad mini 6, and Lululook's Magnetic Keyboard perhaps acts as a testament to why.
As a recent addition to the Serena Shades by Lutron lineup, the new architectural honeycomb shades are an essential part of any HomeKit smart home.
Casetify's new "Toy Story" collection is full of nostalgia for Pixar fans with cases, watch bands, batteries, and more. We took a look at a few of the new case designs for iPhone 13 Pro.
The Das Keyboard MacTigr is a full-sized mechanical keyboard for Mac with a minimalist design and no flashy features.
AppleInsider is one of the few truly independent online publications left. If you love what we do, please consider a small donation to help us keep the lights on.
If you love AppleInsider and want to support independent publications, please consider a small donation.