I sold my Elite and got the Companion, and am much, much happier with it. I use it for a lot more than just controlling the AppleTV though. If it was just for the AppleTV, it would be total overkill.
Yes me too I have the companion working very well and they fixed the channel numbers on the guide. So all is good.
This is a great find, thanks for sharing. I use the ATV-Bluetooth set up with the Companion, so already have the Home button there. But with my IR-based Harmony 650, it's not there and I just assumed it'd never be. So I just purchased the Channel Master for the sole purpose of teaching this command 
Thanks again!
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Hey Fofer,
We’re you ever able to get the 650 to learn the channel master home button? After having the harmony 650 learn the channel master home button, I can’t seem to get the long press or the double click working.
Did you ever get the app switcher and control panel working on the Apple TV via the harmony 650 after learning the magic Ir code on the channel master?
Much thanks in advance!
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Yes, I just got it yesterday and I was able to program my 650, but not with "double press" or "triple press" commands, at least not yet. So far I have able to teach two new commands from this Channel Master home button: short press, and long press, which I assigned to two buttons on the 650. Button 1 acts like the TV/Home button, and it allows me to interact with the Picture in Picture window. And Button 2 pulls up the tvOS Control Center. Both of these were commands I couldn't previously achieve with the Infrared-only 650. I haven't yet figured out how to teach the command (or emit the signal) for showing the app switcher though, if it's even possible. I don't require that often though, and when I do the AppleTV remote is never too far away.
Anyone else with a Channel Master teach their Harmony 650 these commands yet?
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Ok. So I played around with this some more and got it to work. It took a bunch of trial and error and bumbling around, but eventually I figured out a repeatable process that makes sense to me. I’m using PIP through hdmi using one of the red/green/yellow/blue assigned to my home theater receiver, which sends these to the Apple TV, so my use case is different then yours. However see below if you want to explore the app switcher.
In my use case....
1: I left the default IR Apple TV “home” code on the harmony. It has always worked, but just couldn’t achieve a proper double click to invoke the app switcher or and long press to invoke the control panel.
2: I then added two new commands to my Apple TV activity on the harmony 650 called App Switcher, and Control panel.
I used the fix button or add a new command menu on the Logitech harmony app.
3: then I just learned an actual double click from the “magic remote” into the harmony remote into the “app switcher” command
4: then I learned an actual long press from the “magic remote” into the harmony remote into the “control panel” command.
Note: you may have to practice and remember the timing on the “magic remote” with your Apple TV so that you can learn the timing of a double click and the timing of a long press before teaching your harmony or other universal remote.
5: then assigned these commands to dedicated new unused buttons.
The key as not trying to learn the magic home IR command, but to learn the timing of the sequences from the “magic remote”
At least on the harmony, the response between key presses if you try to do it that way does not work reliably or at all, at least on my setup.
So I’ve now got this working on both a 650 and a 665.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Let me know how it goes. Hope it works for ya!
Thanks for the inspiration, I got it working! At first I tried to achieve the double-press command as a "sequence" but I couldn't get the timing quite right.
So instead I did as you said, and after some rehearsing to nail the timing consistenly, I was able to teach the actual double press, holding the two remotes close to each other while doing so. This command is now on my Harmony's 650 as "App Switcher" and it's working fine. Thanks again!
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I didn't do anything complicated. I just learned the ChannelMaster TV button to the OFA Streamer. I then pressed, double pressed, and long held it on the OFA Streamer. There wasn't any programming of those secondary functions. The irony was that the OFA Streamer more reliably performed those functions. Go figure.
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I tried doing a sequence too, and it didn’t work (lol)
Two great minds think alike.
Best of luck and happy you can app switch now. I don’t use it often either, but boy it’s handy if channels gets out of sync for some unknown reason so you can shut down channels.
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I have the blue button too to toggle PIP, my TV supports the CEC commands. But the "long press" command from this Channel Master remote's home button, allows different control than that, such as the ability to reposition the PIP window to another corner, and also close the PIP window when I'm elsewhere in tvOS, like on the home screen, or in apps other than Channels.
Once again, two great minds think alike. This morning I replaced the default home command on the harmony with a learned home command from the magic Ir controller. This allows me to get that further control you mentioned.
I actually did it for a different reason. I have had a number of instances where the PIP toggle function gets confused in channels. The reduced picture size always works, but when you toggle the PIP button to maximize, channels tries to maximize and I am observing audio only. If you toggle PIP again channels minimizes like normal and the picture returns in minimized window. Toggle once again, and just audio. Rinse and repeat.
I have found two ways to get out of this stuck mode.
1: toggle pip so there is audio only and change to a different channel using the guide
Or
2: invoke the app switcher and close the app (lol)
Now you can understand why I went to the trouble of getting the app switcher working yesterday lol
Have you ever observed this PIP stickiness?
Perhaps I should start a new topic on it and one of the developers or other users have a fix.
Otherwise things are really robust and fun to use.
Cheers
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I completely forgot that this real TV button brings me back the ability to use PiP on the Apple TV... or should I say "stop" using PiP on the Apple TV. I'm going to give PiP a try again now and see if I can get it Wife friendly.
The PIP works just fine using the Channel Master Remote to program other remotes.
On my ATV 4K (A1842), I can't get it to work. I am having the symptoms described in this review here.
Channel Master has a troubleshooting site where they talk about resetting the remote and Apple TV here but the former didn't work and I'm loath to do the latter unless I know it'll actually fix it.
Has anybody else experienced this jankiness with this remote? I was going to use it to program a bunch of Harmonys per this thread but as is the remote simply does not control the ATV at all. Did the codes change with the 4K or something?
ED: I bit the bullet and reset the ATV, and it works now. Will now do the learning per the discussion here. Thanks!
I just tried this remote....and it only is partial "compatible".
Volume +, -, Mute do NOT work at all.... to control the Apple TV 4K system volume.
The Power button, does not work at all. Does not trigger the Apple TV to sleep or pwr back on.
After further frustrating back and forth with Channel master support, it appears this remotes Volume and Pwr buttons are separate/independent IR control of a TV or soundbar, NOT the Apple TV it self.
If you use a bluetooth audio device, headphones, speakers etc, or AirPlay speakers, then you need system volume control of the Apple TV.
This is how I use the Apple TV, via Bluetooth DAC to speakers.
I also occasionally AirPlay to 2x HomePod minis for late night quite tv watching.
It is not made clear of this limitation and that the Volume and Pwr buttons do not actually work with Apple TV. If they claim it to be a Apple TV replacement remote, then it should do the most basic functions of turning it on/off and adjust volume.
If you do have the "traditional" setup of a TV/sound bar, The way to program the separate IR control of TV is terrible, they literally tell you to press the button "up to or more than 100 times until your TV responds)
EDIT: So, Channel Master actually CALLED me. (you input your phone number when u submit a support request.)
The guy knew exactly what I was trying to do, as he uses AirPlay speakers as well, and confirmed that this remote can not control Pwr or volume via IR to the Apple TV. It is designed as a independent IR control of soundbar/TV.
He stated that they do not even have in their system Pwr or Volume IR codes for the Apple TV direct control to emulate the Apple Remote.
It may be that the Apple TV remote uses its Bluetooth to control those system functions.
Either way, if you use Bluetooth or AirPlay for audio, you will need to use the Apple remote to adjust the volume.
Does anybody else have erratic jump forward results with the Channel Master Simple Remote, where pressing the right-arrow button (the one next to the “OK” button) might jump you forward 30 seconds (or whatever you've set in Channels’ settings), or it might jump you ahead for a split second, and then right back to where you were?
I am seeing this with two Apple TVs (one of which I did a complete reset on), with two separate remotes.
My wife is a recent Channels convert, thanks to the Function 101 remote, but I wanted an equally simple remote but with the Home button to handle PIP. The Channel Master checks the boxes, except for the glitchy jumping forward.
(I found this old post, which I think is the same issue.)
It appears the issue here is user (me) stupidity 
. I assumed the Channel Master buttons would be mapped the same as the Function101 buttons, aside from the Home button, but that isn’t the case. The Function101 uses the arrow buttons to the left and right of the “OK” button to jump forward and back the preset number of seconds. On the Channel Master, though, you need to use the bottommost left and right arrow buttons (the ones to the left and right of the stop button) for that function.
So . . . Nothing to see here.