Category Archives: Apple TV

Apple TV, Watch

Controlling Apple TV with Your Apple Watch

Image Leave a comment

Controlling your Apple TV with your Apple Smart Watch. Chances are, if you clicked on this article purposely, you already have both of these items, but if you happened to accidentally click this article, but became intrigued, feel free to stay and;

You can buy Apple TV here

You can buy Apple Watch here

I’m going to make this as simple as I possibly can for you readers, and give you a step by step instruction on how to control your Apple TV with your Apple Watch.

So, the Apple Watch has a Remote app to control your Apple TV (After it has been linked).

Once you have linked your Apple Watch to your Apple TV, following the prompts, use your Apple Watch to turn on your Apple TV. You can even choose to watch Netflix through your Apple Watch. As well as other features such as pause/resume music and content, as well as head to your Menu. Don’t forget your Apple Music libraries are there for you as well.

Let’s Get Started

First things first, grab your Apple Watch.

  1. Press the Digital Crown to pull up your Home screen.
  2. Tap the Remote app.
  3. Tap Add Device, and you’ll see that you’ll have to note a password. Remember it.
  4. Grab your Apple Siri Remote.

Now, let’s move to the Apple TV.

  1. If you’re not already on the Apple TV Home screen, use the Siri Remote to press and depress the Menu button.
  2. Select Settings – General – Remotes.
  3. Click on Select to Add, which should now bring up your Apple Watches name.
  4. Remember that password I told you to note? Grab that password and enter it on the Apple TV.



Now, BACK to the Apple Watch (We’re almost done)

Click Done – An Apple TV icon should appear on your remote app on your Apple Watch. (If this doesn’t occur, try rebooting your Apple Watch) – If that doesn’t work, force restart your Apple TV.

Alright, we’re pretty much done. But you’re probably wondering where to go from here? How does this work? So, in a nutshell;

  • To access the Remote app, press the Digital Crown.
  • All of your apps will be right here.
  • Tap the Remote app, then you should see an Apple TV icon
  • Tap on that icon to access Apple TV
  • DONE – You can now control your Apple TV with your Apple Watch. Happy swiping and tapping!

Removing Apple TV From Your Apple Watch

If you every need to remove Apple TV from your Apple Watch, like other apps, press and hold on the Remote app icon, tap Edit, then hit the X button.

To remove the Apple Watch from your Apple TV, hit Settings > General > Remotes, click the name of your Apple Watch and finally, hit Remove.

Apple TV

Philosophy of Steve Jobs evident in latest Apple TV subscription service

Image Leave a comment

Steve Jobs remains a visible presence in the Apple 1 Infinite Loop office literally as even now, 4 years after his death, the company celebrates his birthday and his office remains exactly as it was when he was alive. In a recent interview with chief executive of Apple, Tim Cooks, the legacy of Jobs was to train everyone at Apple to reject a limited mindset. It was this “big idea” philosophy that drove the company to succeed as well as it did and today, this same philosophy is evident in new products or changes in Apple.

The Apple TV Service

Apple is rumored to be on the edge of offering a TV service as company executives have hinted at being in talks with programmers about a bundle offer with different networks to be launched sometime in the fall. What this means is that with the Apple TV service, customers have more choices including abandoning the TV altogether with streaming!

espn-apple-tv

Currently, there are the following services: Sling TV ($20/month), CBS ($6/month), Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix. With the rumors of Apple cutting a partnership deal with Comcast, chances are high that Apple could be the key to online video finally making it big.

Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple is currently negotiating with major TV networks to come up with a bundled 25 channel package to be launched in September. However, as early as April, HBO Now will be available to all Apple users for a minimal charge of $15/month.

All the talk about the Apple TV service has led to a rash of activities as large networks are said to be considering changing the terms of their agreements with cable companies. Also, stocks of some top cable companies have dropped following the news of Apple’s plans for streaming.

This whole scenario appears to mimic the time when Steve Jobs launched the iPod and iTune in 2001. It caused the music industry to work even harder against music piracy and get involved with the retail of digital music.

apple-tv-stations

Of course, the problem with Apple today is that their loyal customers have a very high expectation unlike in 2001 when the iPod was launched. Cook has addressed this concern by saying that Apple develops new products but is also very serious about reinventing what is available like the TV and the watch. History shows and will continue to show that Apple never gives up. It will keep plodding on to improve because that is what Steve Job did and did well.

Apple TV

5 changes to Apple TV that could improve your experience

Image Leave a comment

Apple TV is another one of Apple’s great and innovative products. And like all Apple products, the Apple TV also get regular updates. The latest update for Apple TV was recently sent out, just last week. The update was the 7.0 update for third generation Apple TVs only. However, the highly anticipated update fell flat with many Apple TV users. With the new update, the new features that Apple TV users got were new icons, a new Beats Music Channel, and a Family Sharing feature. Even though the new icons were esthetically pleasing, they still didn’t add anything new to the Apple TV in terms of usability. Many users stated that the new update did nothing to improve the Apple TV experience. So, below are 5 suggestions to Apple to improve its Apple update and make the next update a better one.

Safari plug-in for queueing videos

Many people watch YouTube videos on their computer, iPhones, or iPad by simply typing in the web address in their browser and watching videos. However, the experience of watching YouTube videos through the Apple TV is not always so streamlined or a pleasant experience. Surfing through the YouTube channel with the remote has been described as “clunky”, and trying to send a video from your iPhone or iPad using AirPlay can be a long wait and can only be done one video at a time. One suggestion for the Apple TV was to be able to surf around with Safari and right-click videos around the web to add them to a “watch later” list that’s synced through iCloud to my Apple TV.” It’s a much easier and streamlined process to be able to watch videos online or on your phone instead of through Apple TV. However, the experience of watching online videos would be much better through the television.

Universal Search

Instead of sifting through each channel and their myriad of choices, Apple TV users should be able to search for content across all channels at one time, in order to find what they are looking for. This is a lot to ask, but when other streaming products like Roku and Kindle Fire are making strides to provide this feature, it’s time for Apple to get a leg up on them.

roku-3-player
Roku – One of Apple TV’s major competitors
Siri

We are all familiar with the voice activated program on Apple iPhones called Siri, Having Siri be available on Apple TV would be a great feature in the next update. (Kindle TV has a microphone already built into the remote.) The ideal scenario would be that someone speaks directly into their Apple TV remote saying, “I’d like to watch Whoppi Goldberb films on my Apple TV”, and these films will come right up.

One Login

There are a number of channels available on Apple TV. Some of these channels are paid for by the user. However, for each pay TV channel, the Apple TV user is required to log in in for each and every time they want to view the channel. This is because those channels don’t all support the same provider.  Each time you want to watch the channel, you have to search around for the login screen and login every time you want to watch a new channel. The best way to solve this problem is to create only one place for the user to log in just one time. Also, a notification of when there’s an update through the Apple TV, perhaps through email once the user logs in, would work as well. This streamlined approach makes it much easier to use.

Open SDK and a channel store

Apple TV competitors like Fire TV and Roku allow for their users to leisurely look through the Channel Store and choose whatever channel they want. Apple TV places channels on the lineup without you choosing them, so they just sit on your user page even if you don’t want that particular channel. Apple should create a better way for their users to pick the channels they want to watch or sign up for, and reject the channels they do not want. It’s recommended that Apple should, “greatly expand the channel offerings through an open SDK without users becoming overwhelmed by screen after screen of icons.”

There are sure to be more suggestions that Apple TV users have for the company before the next update. Can you think of a few?