New apple TV help?

By Jenifer Barr, 27 September, 2022

Forum
tvOS and Apple TV Apps

Is there a guide for TVOS like the "getting started with your iPhone" guide? I've had an apple tv before but just got a new one and the remote is dofferent, and some of the VO gestures seem different.
thanks.

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Comments

By Roxann Pollard on Saturday, October 22, 2022 - 22:00

I will share the following things that I have chosen to do on my remote, I'm using the latest Apple TV remote here.

1. Go to settings, remote, and ensure that click pad is set to Click and touch. This means that you can swipe on the large circle at the top, or you can use the edges of the circle like arrow keys to navigate. This gives you the most functionality. If you choose swipe, as I do, it works just like the iPhone does. I like to have click and touch selected, though, for when I feel like pushing a button instead.

2. In the same remote settings area, navigate to Touch surface tracking, and set it to fast. One might think that setting it to fast would make things move too quickly, but this is not the case, at least for me. It simply makes the remote as responsive as the iPhone is. If it's set to a lower speed, I find it to be very sluggish.

3. In the same remote settings area, locate TV button, and set it so that it will jump to home screen. This means that when you push the Top right hand button, located under the large navigation circle, it will drop you to the home screen of the Apple TV, instead of activating the Apple TV app, which is the default behavior. I did not like going into the AppleTV app by using this button. I wanted to be able to go directly to my home screen.
4. Finally, go to settings, accessibility, voiceover, Navigation style, and ensure that follow focus is selected. This will cause the remote to perform in the expected swiping right left up down gestures. If you choose direct touch, and then swipe, the remote will tend to skip many icons, very rapidly. It is not controllable, in my opinion. But, if you choose the follow focus, your normal swipe gestures will work flawlessly, one item at a time, as expected.