Channel Master Remote Apple TV Replacement

Channels Apple TV
#1

Anybody try this remote? Very similar to the Function 101 but it has the Home button and it's less expensive.

https://amazon.com/Channel-Master-Simple-CM-7000XRC-Compatible/dp/B08SZ5KZQ4/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=apple+tv+replacement+remote&qid=1615464885&sr=8-10

How to implement Apple TV home/tv button. Sofabaton vs channel master
#2

I have not tried it, but the One for All Streamer is about the same price and works great. The 4 buttons at the bottom I haven't found a real useful purpose for, but I have two of the buttons configured for Guide and Live. (I did need to use the TV remote and CEC to get them programmed)

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/one-for-all-streamer-remote-black/6337295.p?skuId=6337295

#3

I just bought one, don't love it, but really I'm just being picky.

  • I'm not sure why there's not a skip-to-next-chapter and skip-to-last-chapter button on the remote. It's built for Apple TV, and ATV lets you map those functions to physical buttons. (I don't think I miss them with Channels though.)

  • Not sure what the Channel up and Channel down buttons are for. I don't think ATV can use them? (There's no option to map channel buttons in the ATV, but I don't know, maybe some apps can use them somehow?) If I could, I would map them to the chapter skip functionality, but ATV won't let me.

  • The button stroke on the arrow buttons isn't great on the directional pad -- it's too deep. If you're doing a lot of clicks, say typing something with onscreen keyboard, it's unpleasant.

  • Also, the d pad gives no tactile feedback, making it harder to find the arrows without looking. It's entirely smooth except for the separated OK button in the middle.

  • I use the skip fwd / skip back buttons the most, and they're in the hardest / most awkward position to hit when you're using it with one hand. I'd move all the buttons around on the remote if I could.

It was interesting that it worked out of the box, without having to set up a remote in the ATV settings. Not sure how they did that, but it worked.

#4

The channel up and down on Function 101 remote you can change the the channels like regular tv on the channels DVR app and you should be able to put to sleep the Apple TV with the home.
The tactile thing I agree I find myself with the Function 101 hitting the wrong buttons.

#5

The channel up and down also work on the One for All, and it has pretty good tactile feedback on all the buttons.

#6

I do have that one also but I don't use it.

#7

Yeah, you're 100% right about the channel up / down buttons. I see now that they actually do everything I want/would expect (except the one tiny edge case I had tried).

So anyone reading my original comment, totally ignore that part.

Or to put it more clearly: In the Channels ATV app, the channel up/down buttons on this remote:

  • Let you navigate through channels of live TV.
  • Let you page screen-by-screen through the TV guide
  • Act as the skip-next / skip-back buttons when you're watching recorded TV.

(The edge case I had tried was using channel up/down to page through screens of DVR recordings. Didn't work, but that must be an implementation thing, nothing to do with the buttons themselves.)

#8

I just got the Channel Master Simple Remote CM-7000XRC and all buttons work same as the Function 101 with the added Home button makes it perfect. Still not a Bluetooth remote and no Siri but I hardly use Siri. For $25 it's worth it and it's easy to program to the TV the Apple TV part works out of the box.

#9

That's good to know. I should have ordered one of these and tried it before ordering a couple more All for One Streamers. Looking at the picture though, I would be short a couple of functions vs. the One for All. I have a button for Guide and one for Last Channel, in addition to Home and Menu so I'll just stick with these. And I use those a lot with Channels.

#10

I got the Channel Master Remote and like it better than the standard Apple TV remote because I can change channels while watching live TV. Here are some of the pros and cons.

Pros:

  • can change the channel while watching live tv
  • has a home button which can do the app switcher or to go to the home screen
  • Power button can be programed to turn off the tv (the Apple TV remote can put the TV to sleep but my TV would never turn off)
  • the channel button can page down on the guide
  • no touch surface (no accidental touching or holding the remote upside down)
  • much larger than the Apple TV remote so you don't lose it
  • doesn't shatter if you accidentally drop it like the Apple TV remote

Cons

  • Does not have Siri button
  • Is IR and not bluetooth so you have to have a clear line of sight to the Apple TV
  • harder to quickly scrub compared to the Apple TV remote (you have to fast forward 3x)
  • mute button doesn't work with tv
  • has extra buttons at the bottom such as play, stop, and skip that are redundant
#11

If the volume works the mute should also. I have a Samsung (newer), old Samung (10 years old) and a 5 year old Panasonic and all can use volume and mute. Might need to re program to the tv again. I might be using the CEC from the HDMI and that is not controlling the mute. What brand tv you have? I had to program the Panasonic but not the Samsung's since they support it out of the box.

#12

I have LG which seems to have very little CEC support. Also, I have a tuner connected to the TV. That may be why the mute doesn’t work. So the remote might be able to mute under normal situations.

#13

I've been using the Salt Remote (https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Alternative-Replacement-Original/dp/B087WSXQ92/) for a few months now. I first heard about it on the atp.fm podcast. It's much better than the Apple TV remote, but that's not a hard claim to make. I've tried other replacement remotes, but so far I like this one the best.

#14

The Salt, Chanel master and theFunction 101 have same footprint and must be made by the same company. The only diference is the Channel Master has the home button but they all program the same way.

#15

One way to get around this is to use CEC. I use the One for All Streamer remote which I think is similar to the one you are using. My Apple TV is tucked in a corner on the left side of the TV and if I'm sitting on the far right side of the room in our love seat, I have to lean way over to get line of site. I just retrained the OfA remote from my TV remote to use all the CEC buttons instead of the direct Apple TV buttons and now I can just point at the TV which is a much bigger target and not obstructed from anything in the room. There isn't any noticeable difference in response time. This was a game changer for me and alleviated one of my biggest issues in our family room.

#16

Does the home button still work?

#17

That is a good idea but wouldn’t work for my case because CEC support is limited on my LG tv. I think only the four colors buttons work on CEC and that is it. That’s why the all in one remote wouldn’t work for me. The Channel Master remote was designed to work with Apple TV and can change the channels.

#18

The home button works on the Channel Master remote. One press to go home and two presses for the app switcher.

#19

If so, then that button is bluetooth, not IR, and would work without requiring line of sight. It is the only button on the Siri remote that is bluetooth.... totally ridiculous design to have a mixture of technologies like that.

#20

Not Bluetooth still IR you need line of sight.