Apple would not make it straightforward for Android customers to play good with its ecosystem, and the Apple TV streaming field isn’t any exception. Nevertheless, regardless of Apple’s tight ecosystem, I’ve managed to show my Android cellphone right into a dependable distant for my Apple TV.
There’s No Official Apple TV Distant App for Android
One of many causes I am unable to love Apple TV as a lot as I need to is its lack of compatibility with Android gadgets. Apple would not present an official Apple TV Distant app for Android. The one official solution to management an Apple TV is through the use of both the Siri Distant or an iPhone.
Fortunately, third-party builders have stepped in to fill the hole, and a few apps work surprisingly effectively. After all, you will not get the identical tight integration as with iOS, however for primary navigation, playback, and quantity management, a few of these apps are greater than ok.
The right way to Management Your Apple TV Utilizing Your Android Machine
As with most app classes, there are numerous apps on the Google Play Retailer that allow you to management an Apple TV. I’ve tried most of them, and whereas it took a while to seek out one which got here near good, I consider I’ve lastly discovered the most suitable choice.
The app I have been utilizing known as Distant for Apple TV. It is fully free (although it does embrace some advertisements) and provides each click-based and touchpad controls with out locking primary options behind a paywall—one thing that may’t be stated for many different Apple TV distant apps for Android.
As soon as you put in the app, it connects robotically to your Apple TV over Wi-Fi. It is a one-time pairing course of—you simply have to grant entry in your TV as soon as, and the app remembers your machine for future classes. The interface is clear and simple, with three tabs on the backside.
The principle Distant tab offers you primary controls: D-pad or swipe controls, a devoted play/pause button, residence and again buttons, and even a keyboard for simpler textual content enter, which makes typing into search bars far much less irritating. Under the media controls, you will see your three favourite apps for rapidly launching them on Apple TV.
The Apps tab lists every little thing put in in your Apple TV, letting you open apps instantly out of your cellphone. The Settings tab helps you to customise the expertise with choices like vibration suggestions, faucet sounds, and language.
Just like Apple’s personal distant app, this one may even wake your Apple TV while not having to press any bodily buttons on the TV distant. This implies even when your distant is not close by, you may wake and management the Apple TV with simply the app. Here is how one can get the Distant for Apple TV app operating in your Android cellphone:
- Set up and open the Distant for Apple TV app in your Android cellphone.
- Faucet Not linked on the high of the display screen.
- Choose your Apple TV machine from the listing.
- Enter the pairing code proven in your Apple TV display screen.
And that is it. Your cellphone is now able to act as a completely practical distant. Simply be sure each your cellphone and Apple TV are on the identical Wi-Fi community, or the pairing will fail. Additionally, the app could take a second to attach. If it fails, faucet Not Related once more to retry the pairing course of.
Use Your Telephone’s IR Blaster (If Accessible)
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Alternatively, in the event you do not need to use third-party apps as a result of advertisements or unintuitive consumer interfaces, you may strive utilizing an IR Blaster in your cellphone (if it helps one) to regulate your Apple TV.
Smartphones from manufacturers like OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo supply built-in IR Blasters and include native apps that may management gadgets like an Apple TV. Nevertheless, mainstream telephones like these by Google or Samsung do not embrace IR Blasters, so you will have to depend on a third-party app as an alternative.
You’ll be able to verify in case your cellphone has an IR Blaster by wanting on the high fringe of the cellphone for a small additional sensor, or by visiting the producer’s official specs web page.
I used the Oppo Discover N5’s built-in IR Blaster and IR Distant app to regulate my Apple TV, and it surprisingly labored effectively. Whereas it would not supply options like keyboard enter or fast app launching, the perfect half is that it really works with no Wi-Fi connection, so even in the event you’re offline, this characteristic nonetheless works.
All in all, whereas there is no official solution to management an Apple TV utilizing an Android cellphone, there are nonetheless loads of methods you may handle it utilizing an Android machine. And regardless that these unofficial strategies work fairly effectively, I do want Apple would give you an official resolution quickly—particularly for the reason that firm already provides a couple of apps and companies on Android.
