Hidden Apple TV Features You Should Know

Lost the remote to your Apple TV? Download the Apple TV Remote app and use the keyboard on your iPhone or iPad to type in your query. (Android users can use Air Remote.)

If you'd rather use a traditional remote, you can use any third-party one with just a little programming. Use the app on your phone to navigate to Settings > General > Remotes > Learn Remote on your Apple TV. Choose a setting or button that doesn't control another device on your remote, and then select Start. You'll then see the six familiar buttons of the Apple Remote on your TV screen, which you can map to your new remote by pressing and holding each button until the blue progress bar is done.

If you have tvOS 9.2+, the newest Apple TV also supports Bluetooth keyboards, something that was in older Apple TVs but removed from the newest ones, for some reason, until now.

On the new Apple TV and remote, Siri is at your voice command. Speak your requests and it'll get you results, even if they're really specific, like all movies directed by Pedro Almódovar. If you use Siri from the home screen, it can search for a show or movie among all apps. If you open a specific app, Siri will search just in that one.

Also on the new Apple TV, you can use Siri to search for apps by voice as of tvOS 9.2. Request a specific app ("Find the Showtime app") or a type of app ("Find fitness apps"). The software update also added support for dictation, so you can speak your queries into search boxes or dictate usernames and passwords letter by letter. Just press the microphone button on your remote and spell things out. If your passwords have uppercase letters, just say it (for "janE," say, "J-A-N uppercase E").

The touch surface can be a little sensitive. To adjust how quickly it scrolls, go to Settings > Remotes and Devices > Touch Surface Tracking. The default setting is Medium, but you can change it to Fast or Slow.

Sometimes you juuuust miss something someone onscreen said. Not to worry. Tap the Touch surface on the left to go back 10 seconds. Tap the right if you need to get past a sad animal commercial 10 seconds at a time.

The new Apple TV lets you keep your apps tucked away and organized in folders. They work pretty much the same way folders do in iOS. Highlight the app you want to put into a folder and hold down the Touch surface until it starts to jiggle. Then drag it on top of another app that you want in the same folder.

If you want to create a new folder based on the highlighted app, hold it down and press Play/Pause and choose an option. To rename a folder, tap it, and then type in a new title.

You also aren't stuck with the default icon order on your Apple TV homescreen. With the new Apple TV, use the Siri remote to select what you want to move and press down on the touch surface. You'll get the vibrating icons that signal you can move things around. Swipe left, right, up, or down; when you're done, press the touch surface again to set it in place.

With the older Apple TV, select what you want to move on the remote, hold down the main button on the remote and wait for them to start wiggling. Then use the arrow keys to place the icon where you want it, and press the main button again to set things in place.

If an app freezes, then you can force-quit it by double-clicking the Home button, selecting the app that's causing the issue and swiping up.

Get a better view of things by sending content from your iOS device to your TV screen with AirPlay Mirroring. Make sure your iOS device and Apple TV are on the same network, then swipe up from the bottom of your iOS device's screen to access Control Center. Tap AirPlay > the name of the Apple TV you wish to AirPlay to > Mirroring.

Meanwhile, those using AirPlay for business can use the Conference Room Display function within tvOS 9.2 to display directions for how to connect. Which Wi-Fi network is it? Just look at the screen. Turn it on via Settings > AirPlay > Conference Room Display and selecting On.

If your Apple TV sits idle for a while, then set it up to have something pretty on the screen. You can choose your own photos by going to Settings > Screensaver> Type > My Photos.

On the new Apple TV, you can get gorgeous aerial video views of cities. Go to Settings > Screensaver > Aerial. You can subscribe to get new videos more (or less) frequently by going to Settings > Screensaver > Download New Videos and adjusting the frequency. If you love the screensavers so much that you want to see them on demand, go to the Home screen and double-click the Menu button.

Beyond screensavers, tvOS 9.2 also lets you view your iCloud Photo Library, including Live Photos, on the big screen via the Photos apps; "previously Photos only supported My Photo Stream and Shared Photo Streams," 9to5Mac reports.

Change your screen resolution to either get a better picture or to save some bandwidth. Go to Settings from the main menu > Audio and Video > TV Resolution, and select your desired resolution.

Sometimes you've clicked through so many screens that it feels like you can't go home again. If you just want to get back to where you started with Apple TV, press the Home button once. If you want to see all the apps you have open, press the Home button twice.

If you share your Apple TV with others, you don't have to share their tastes. Set up separate accounts using individual Apple IDs. From the Home screen, go to Settings > Accounts > iTunes and App Store. Select Add New Apple ID and enter an Apple ID user name, click Continue, add the Apple ID password, and select Sign In. To add another account, sign out and repeat the process. You can switch between accounts by returning to Settings.

Meanwhile, the arrival of the App Store on the new Apple TV means more gaming options. There is a touchpad on the Siri remote, but it's not the most comfortable way to play. Hook up an MFi-based controller instead, like the Mad Catz C.T.R.L. i for a fuller gaming experience.

Are you poly-Applerous? As in, do you own more than one Apple TV? Then give them each a name so you can tell them apart. Go to Settings > AirPlay > AppleTV Name.

Put your Apple TV to sleep fast. On the new Apple TV, press and hold the Home button down until the "Sleep Now?" menu appears and select Sleep. On older models, press and hold Play/Pause. Press any button on the remote or tap the Touch surface to wake Apple TV. If you want to choose how long it takes before your Apple TV goes to sleep on its own after being inactive, go to Settings > General > Sleep After and select a time.

There's plenty of great content on Facebook Live that would benefit from being on the big screen (like, ahem, PCMag's Random Access). To send a Facebook Live broadcast to a TV, make sure both the device you're casting from and the TV are on the same Wi-Fi network. Then open a Facebook Live broadcast on the device and hit the TV icon that appears on the screen.

The new TV app from Apple brings unification of TV content across multiple OS devices. It's particularly useful for Apple TV users because it unifies all movies and shows downloaded through iTunes and content from other downloaded apps. Upgrade to tvOS 10.1 to get it.

The one thing cord cutters might miss is watching live TV. But some US TV channel apps have an option that lets you watch them live on Apple TV. That includes ABC News, CBS, CBS News, CNN Go, Cooking Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Jr, Disney XD, DIY, ESPN, Food Network, FXNOW, HGTV, TBS, TNT, and Travel Channel. If you have a fourth-gen Apple TV, you can just hold down the mic icon on the remote and ask to watch a channel live. Siri will even understand if you search for a particular sporting event, such as asking "When are the Flyers playing?"

Your connected home just got even more so if you have the third- or fourth-gen Apple TV, a Siri remote, and HomeKit devices. HomeKit devices can only be controlled by Siri if there is a dedicated hub at home (aka, an iPad running iOS 10 or a third-generation or later Apple TV). Considering that you're likely to take your iPad with you, Apple TV is your most reliable hub choice.

Because Apple is aware of the dangers of smart homes, it requires that you have two-factor authentication set up on iCloud. To make sure you do, open an iOS device and go to Settings > iCloud > Passwords & Security > Set Up Two-Factor Authentication. You also need to set up iCloud Keychain (Settings > iCloud > Keychain).

To set up Apple TV as the hub is easy. If you use the same iCloud account for your Apple TV and the iOS device you use with HomeKit, then Apple TV will become a HomeKit hub automatically. If this doesn’t happen, go to Apple TV and navigate to to Settings > Accounts > iCloud, look for HomeKit and make sure it is connected.

Have you tried turning it off and on again? To reboot Apple TV from the remote, hold down the Home and Menu buttons until the status light on the Apple TV flashes and then let go.

The fourth-gen Apple TV lets you finally delete apps. But if you have a second- or third-gen model you can hide them. Just use the remote to highlight the app and hold the Touch surface down (fourth-gen) or hit Select (older models) until the app does the familiar iOS jiggle. Then press Play/Pause button and you’ll be given the option to Delete or Hide.