I am planning on getting an Apple TV, but it will be located with our other audiovisual equipment which is in a separate room of the house from the TV itself (we have a universal remote which controls the receiver, DVD player, etc.) I know the Remote app is available on the iPhone and it can control functions of the Apple TV. My question is - can that app be used to basically replace the Apple Remote? Or will I be missing some functionality by using the app instead of the regular remote?
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Can I use Remote iPhone app to replace remote for Apple TV?
- Thread starter medgirl2001
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I've been using my iPhone as a remote for quite some time and the ONLY complaint I have is the length of time it takes to connect to my wifi network after I unlock my phone and open the Remote app... but I my router is 4+ years old and regularly disconnects wifi signals so I suspect that might play a role.
I think, though can't confirm, that there's no way to hold down the menu + down buttons to reset the AppleTV when using the app but I would think that's a minor issue, if at all.
I know that there are ways to select chapters using the original remote (holding down menu I think?) or to mark things as watched or unwatched, but there's actually a separate button in the Remote app to do that, so if anything (at least to me) you've gained functionality.
Perhaps someone knows better, but I haven't missed the original remote.
The app can mostly replace the Apple Remote - mostly. For instance, you can't give the restart command (menu + -).
You can add the Apple Remote command set to your universal remote, too, but again you'll probably miss the "restart" command. (I have it added as a device to my Logitech Harmony 550 remote.)
That all said, I mostly use either the iPhone Apple Remote app, or the Harmony. With the app, I usually don't use the remote replacement functions, but rather the playlist, album, etc., interface. Many times, I'll be listening to tracks with the TV off and it works great (no need to run the TV when I'm listening to music).
You can add the Apple Remote command set to your universal remote, too, but again you'll probably miss the "restart" command. (I have it added as a device to my Logitech Harmony 550 remote.)
That all said, I mostly use either the iPhone Apple Remote app, or the Harmony. With the app, I usually don't use the remote replacement functions, but rather the playlist, album, etc., interface. Many times, I'll be listening to tracks with the TV off and it works great (no need to run the TV when I'm listening to music).
That's great. Thanks for the information! Although it's in theory possible, I would like to avoid having to program my universal remote to do Apple TV, because I think it's going to be a pain. If the iPhone app works just as well, that would be a much better setup.
Interesting. I guess I'm going to have to play around with it and see what works the best. I have a Universal Remote MX-810, but I haven't found much yet as to whether or not it will work with Apple TV. I do know it's a pain to program. I will need to have it set up at least to get the receiver channel set, turn off the other stuff (DVD, satellite, etc.), but I think I can do all of that without programming it to the Apple Remote. That will be another endeavor. That's why the app would be a much simpler solution. It seems like "Restart" wouldn't come up too often, if that's the main thing that would be lacking.
The iPhone App rocks if only for the ability to jump right to whatever songs and movies you want by clicking on the letter to the right of the list. Using either the stock remote, or my Logitech, I either do endless scrolling or use the search command and hunt-and-peck in the 'keyboard' to spell out the song title.
The App allows much easier and quicker access to your media.
The App allows much easier and quicker access to your media.