Advertisement

10 tips for getting the most out of your Apple TV

Megan Lavey-Heaton
Updated ·2 min read
0

Did you get a new Apple TV for Christmas? Or, are you looking at your old, faithful friend and wondering if there are any new tricks you can teach it? The folks over at Reddit compiled a number of great tips for the Apple TV, some that are familiar to us, and others we've never seen. A couple tips have come through our dealings with the ATV. Here are 10 ways to make your Apple TV work better for you.

  • You can use your iOS device to set up your Apple TV. This will transfer your WiFi information, iTunes account and any region/language preferences you have.

  • Are you playing a video or deep in a nest of submenus and want to quickly get back to the home screen? Just hold down the menu button, and it'll take you back to the top instantly.

  • Put the Apple TV to sleep by holding the play/pause button on the remote.

  • Press up on the remote during playback, and you'll get information about the video you're watching. Press select, and audio options will come up.

  • Go into Settings > General > Restrictions, create a passcode and then you can select what apps appear on the Apple TV's home screen.

  • Map any remote to the Apple TV by using Settings > General > Remotes.

  • Tired of slowly keying in data or afraid you'll lose the included remote? Download Apple's free Remote app for your iOS device.

  • Want to rearrange the icons on the home screen? Take a cue from your iPhone. Press and hold the center button on the remote until the icon begins jiggling, then move the icon where you want.

  • A frequent complaint is audio not syncing when using the Apple TV. Rebooting the Apple TV will fix this.

  • Take a look at third-party apps to boost your Apple TV experience. iFlicks will convert and boost the metadata on your files to have them looking as good as possible. Go for version 1 ($9.99), not the more expensive and buggy version 2 that's US$24.99. Beamer ($15) allows you to play any video format on your Apple TV by streaming it from your Mac via AirPlay. No need to convert a file. A free trial is available. There is also a way to get PlexConnect to work with the Apple TV via the Trailers app.

  • Play around with your screen saver settings. You can use the default photos, but you can also select movie posters fed via the Trailers app, a specific Photo Stream or a Flickr album.

Do you have any recommendations? Let us know in the comments.