Once, when fiddling around with the iPhone app, I came across an option to get a tv channel to play on my appletv rather than on the iPhone itself.
I’ve never managed to find it again. Is it a hidden feature somewhere? Is it just really flakey and sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t?
What can I do to get it working properly? I’d love to be able to get BBC CBeebies to play downstairs without getting out of bed 
It works if you install the latest Channels update from the App Store on your phone, but only while Channels is on the screen on your Apple TV
I’m on 4.1.0 on iPhone. As I mentioned, it worked once and then not again, even when both are active.
Appreciate what you’re saying about having it active on the ATV though means my dream of setting it to run from another room isn’t likely to work.
Just wish the apple remote app had a VNC like option.
This was working, but unfortunately has recently stopped working for me, too. With Channels running on my Apple TV and iPhone at the same time, tapping on a show on my iPhone and then on the Watch button no longer gives the option to play on the phone or tv. It just launches immediately on my phone. Same result with an iPad 6. Version info:
-Channels DVR server: 1.0.5 (2020.09.14.2100) running on a Synology NAS
-Channels DVR 4.1.0 client on iPhone 11 and iPad 6 both running iOS 14.0.1. "Play to your tv" is turned on in settings. Toggling it off and back on didn't help.
-Channels DVR 4.1.1 client on Apple TV 4k running tvOS 14.0.1
This functionality broke with the iOS 14 update. It's been resolved in the 4.1.1 update but the iOS version is still in review. It should hopefully get reviewed and be available today.
4.1.1 is available on the App Store now
4.1.1 fixed it for me. Thanks! 