If you’ve recently upgraded or purchased your first Apple TV, you may be wondering how to make the most of its features and functions. The Apple TV remote, also known as the Siri remote, is packed with gesture-based controls that can help you navigate through TV OS. In this post, we’ll cover some of our favorite Apple TV remote tips and tricks to make using your device even easier.
Quickly Switch Between Open Apps
If you want to switch between open apps or close an application on your Apple TV, simply double tap the home button to access your already opened applications. From here, you can swipe around using the touch surface of the remote. If you want to close an app, simply swipe up on the remote.
Restart or Sleep Your Apple TV
If you’re having issues with your Apple TV or you want to give it a quick reboot, hold down the menu and home buttons at the same time for approximately 6 seconds. Your Apple TV will then begin the restart process. If you want to put your Apple TV to sleep, hold down the home button until the sleep option appears on your screen.
Activate Your Screen Saver
To activate your screen saver, simply double tap the Menu button from the home screen.
Customize Your Home Button
If you don’t like Apple’s TV app and want to press the home button to return to the home screen, go into settings, remotes, and devices, and select the home button. From here, you can change whether you’d like to press the home button to return to the TV app or straight to the home screen.
Organize Your Apps
To move an application, long press on the touch surface of the remote until the app starts wiggling around. From here, you can swipe around on the remote to move the app or hover the app on top of another app to create a folder. You can also create folders or delete apps by long pressing on an app until the menu appears.
Access More Information While Watching Content
When watching content on your Apple TV, you can access a small menu of items that contain more information, the ability to enable subtitles, and various audio settings. To access this menu, swipe down on the touch surface.
Typing Made Easier
Typing using the remote can be a bit cumbersome, but if you need to delete a character quickly, you don’t actually have to swipe all the way to the end where the Delete key is located. Simply long press on the touch surface until the alternate character menu pops up, and from here, you can swipe left to delete the previous letter. You can also switch between upper and lower case letters easily by pressing the play pause button on the remote.
Change the Output Device
One of the more hidden options with the Apple TV remote is the ability to change the output device right from your home screen. Hold down on the play pause button on the Apple TV remote, and in the menu that comes up on the screen, select the device you want to link by clicking the remote’s touch surface.
These are just a few tips and tricks for making the most of your Apple TV remote. If there are more tips that we’ve missed, let us know in the comments.