Any thoughts on channels using Siri shortcuts or integrating with the Shortcuts app?
Is the api something that could be used with Shortcuts?
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Lots of thoughts! But we haven’t meddled with it yet.
I know there are limitations with Apple TV Siri integration, which is why Channels is not currently able to take advantage of Siri on the Apple TV remote. But @infiniteloop does have a good question - Is it in the realm of possibilities that Channels could integrate with the new Siri Shortcuts iOS feature? (Even if it is not something that is on your radar at the moment)
The iOS 12 Shortcuts app should work very nicely with the Channels API. I created my own "remote" for Channels using the Workflow app (which is what Apple aquired and made into "Shortcuts"):
So on iOS 12, this should still be possible, but with the added bonus of being able to use Siri to trigger an action, e.g. "Hey Siri, watch BBC One".
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Can you share your recipes?
Sure, here you go: https://workflow.is/workflows/1d8c1d11b86e4767b7efeb263031ae71
It’s pretty simple, just update the IP address to that of your own Apple TV’s, then you can duplicate the workflow and adjust each URL to perform your desired action, from the list here: https://getchannels.com/api/
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The API only works while the Channels app is active on your Apple TV.
I thought this was great - especially for the skip forward which seems to fail miserably on our Apple TV remote. I also put together a workflow to allow you to pick a channel from your list of favourites - link below if anyone else wants to try it out:
As with the other workflow, just edit to put the IP address of your Apple TV in the workflow.
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I’m having fun playing around with the siri shortcuts. I have two Apple TVs (living room and bedroom), and I’m able to include both in the channel selection shortcut, but it prompts me to select which Apple TV by pushing a button on the iPhone, and I would like to be able to do it without physically interacting with the phone.
Is there a way to create a shortcut where you speak which Apple TV you want to change channels on? I guess I could create separate shortcuts for each Apple TV and channel ( “Turn on ESPN in living room” and “Turn on ESPN in bedroom”), but I’m wondering if there is way to do it with one shortcut?
Also it would be nice to add a shortcut to return to the previous channel (double tap play/pause button on the remote), but I can’t seem to get it to work with the API commands available. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
Does anyone know if there is a way to turn on the Apple TV via scripting? The Remote app turns it on, but has no Siri shortcuts for it. If that worked AND there was a way to select an app via scripting, then I could do some interesting things!
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Thanks for the link! I just need to be able to launch Channels and then through Home Assistant I’ll be able to tell Alexa to “watch news”! I can also use Home Assistant to turn off the TV, so I’m close.
Unfortunately you can’t give input via Siri, ie name the room you want it to happen in.
You would have to make a shortcut specifically for a channel and room, all hard coded. Then record a voice trigger like you mentioned.
Thanks. I’m not surprised to hear that. Do you know if there is a way to add a previous channel shortcut?
Previous channel isn’t part of the Channels API, so a Shortcut couldn’t do it. But we’ll look at adding it. Thanks!
The Android/Fire platforms have it.
they dont use it thru api. api does not have that feature.
Here’s a shortcut to show what’s currently playing. Can be customized for your favorite channels.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/742c5a879cc34cf2956b815e820d9f80
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Sorry for the necro post...but I just realized that we can now dictate which ATV we want actions to happen on through the Shortcuts app. Has anyone created shortcuts? So far I have created a shortcut to turn on my master bedroom ATV but I'm slowly figuring out I can do a much simpler request using the APIs to tune to a channel.