NEW: Improved Apple TV support for HDMI-CEC and Bluetooth remotes

Channels Apple TV
#97

Thank you for your reply.

  1. With a swipe to the left/right for channel up/channel down. Many other apps do it e.g. Receiver (radio app on the Apple TV). This gesture is not used in Channels yet for anything yet.

  2. I can entirely use Channels (and the Apple TV in general) with my Sony Bravia remote:

  • turn it on: green/off button (TV turns on but not Apple TV) and then I press the OK button (Apple TV turns on). Assuming that the TV was previously turned off on the same input channel (in my case HDMI 1)
  • turn it off: current streaming must be stopped, but no need to exit current app (e.g. Channels), turn off TV with green button and after a couple of seconds, Apple TV automatically turns itself off.
    However, I prefer the Siri Remote overall as not having to click to browse (but just to tap or swipe) is very satisfying to me

Best wishes

#98

Hi Maddox,

Thank you for being here and interacting with us.

You (and the team) have really done an incredible job with the app.

Would it be possible to add a swipe to the left/right for channel up/channel down. Many other apps do it e.g. Receiver (radio app on the Apple TV). This gesture is not used in Channels for anything yet. Even better, you can even imagine that the entire screen slides like on a mac (with the three-finger swipe to change desktop). Wouldn't it be cool if possible?

Thanks

#99

Hi,

Thanks for the kind words!

There’s no plan to make that feature change channels. We find that the Siri remote is just too sensitive to use its gestures for things as destructive as changing channels. We used to use it for scrubbing the timeline and it was a nightmare.

Additionally we’re saving those gestures for anything we decide is a good idea inside the video player.

Thanks!

1 Like
#100

I've noticed that the colored function keys don't seem to work after you've gone a couple of screens into the library. If I back out to the main screen, then the work again. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?

#101

I absolutely love that you guys added this feature. I've switched my ATVs over to using BT with Harmony, and it's working well.

I mapped the record button, but it only appears to function if you're actually watching the program. Is functionality being added to support pressing the record button from within the guide? Not super important, but it saves an extra button press.

Would it also be possible to add a remote shortcut to navigate to the scheduled recordings and/or settings page? I frequently visit the scheduled recordings page to see what's coming up to watch in the coming days.

#102

This has been added in the latest TestFlight already. You will first need to go to Manage Navigation and set Schedule to On.

This was not planned we're always interested in hearing use-cases. Would you expect the program on the guide to start recording immediately without the regular record dialog?

Channels 4.0 is released
#103

I’ll jump in and add my two cents and say that I would expect the regular record dialogue to appear.

#104

Very impressed with Sofabaton remote. The app is very straight forward and no account creation or login required to use it. It's a little dodgy in the setup but nothing that would be too hard for a non-technical person.

Also used Tivo for the last two decades. Last five years on a cable card. This is a game changer as we now have 100% parity with our old usage habits. Channels is worth every penny and my sincere admiration for the development team.

The only thing I am trying to work through is the Sofabaton, paired to ATV using Bluetooth, does not want to wake the ATV. I have to pick up the Siri remote and press menu. Plan to search the Apple forums today as I am thinking the ATV does not wake to keyboard presses, as that is what is being emulated. If I can not resolve, I should be able to learn an IR "menu" command for an old ATV remote. Then I would just need to be in visible range of ATV when turning on it and the TV with an IR macro button.

1 Like
#105

I had the same issue with the Sofabaton not waking the TV.

There were initially some pairing issues with the Apple TV but these seemed to be resolved (after a short outage) over the weekend. I ended up buying another Sofabaton for my stepmom who finds the Apple TV remote physically difficult to use (limited range of motion of her thumb).

I was able to map a macro with IR commands waking my TV and switching inputs to the topmost power button (which is shared between the devices on the Sofabaton). This seems to work pretty reliably.

The only other issue (non Channels related) I’ve run into is that the Apple TV YouTube app doesn’t respond to the arrow keys on Bluetooth keyboards, of which the Sofabaton is one.

#106

I don't have a Sofabaton, although I've considered getting one. But, I've been struggling with Apple TV power on and off and learned a few things you may want to try. FIrst, the Apple TV will not go to sleep if it is streaming something at the time. Its dumb to me, but that is the way it works. So make sure you stop live TV or recording playback before you hit power off. If configured for CEC, the Apple TV will go to sleep when the TV is powered off. It may take 5-10 seconds, but the light will go out. I spent months on this and wasn't stopping the stream first. When I hit power on, then I sometimes need to hit the "OK" on the D Pad to get the Apple TV to wake up. You could also try setting the Apple TV to go to sleep after 15 minutes. When you do that, you can wake things back up with the "OK" button the D Pad, not the power button. The remotes I'm doing this with are the cheap All For One Streamer and the Sony TV remote.

#108

The ok button on the sofabaton works for me to wake my atv4k.

#109

We've gotten use to long pressing the home button to put the AppleTv to sleep, which also shuts the TV off. So that at least gets us around stopping the stream and shutting off the TV. This translates just perfectly to the Sofabatton remote.

The part I am dealing with is after the AppleTv goes to sleep, is waking it up. No button on the paired Blootooth Sofabatton remote turns the AppleTv on. If I manually turn on the TV, no command seems to be sent to HDMI-CEC to turn on AppleTV. So at this moment our recourse is to press the Menu button on the factory AppleTv Siri remote, which also sends the HDMI-CEC message to turn on the TV.

#110

I'm curious, is there a difference between using FastForward/Rewind and SkipBack/SkipForward commands from the Apple TV vs the Windows Computer??

Also, is there a way to assign a single button to go to last channel or do I just need to tell that to be play/pause and just double click it?

#111

No. Until a few days ago, the SkipBack/SkipForward didn't exist on the Apple TV profile. Harmony added it after I asked them to copy those over from the Windows Computer profile.

You can map to backspace if that's available. Or map to the Live TV shortcut (f2 or whatever you picked in the app) and that will jump to last channel also.

2 Likes
#112

Last channel isn't working for me, either with pressing play/pause twice or with F2/red button. Both on the Siri remote and on the Harmony.

#113

Uploading new testflight build with a fix for red button = previous channel

1 Like
#114

The ability to assign a color shortcut button on our remotes to go straight to live TV, while also being able to use that same button to jump between that channel and the previously-tuned live TV channel, and then also be able to jump back-and-forth between those channels, with the same button, is one of my favorite new features of the Channels client.

It works great. Very quick and intuitive. Thank you!

2 Likes
#115

thank you
thank you

Please add more F key slots, more then 4
Maybe for record... and info.

I understand the whole BT keyboard deal
I added a fake windows computer in the harmony app ... paired as BT keyboard to the appletv and i am now sending F key commands and the linked to real buttons on the remote like guide and DVR

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1 Like
#116

With the pairing this Bluetooth keyboard you can finally do numbers for channel numbers

#117

Few more screenshots on how to add a Windows computer to your Apple TV activity to pair it via Bluetooth

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