Key Takeaways
- You need to use your HomePods as TV audio system seamlessly.
- Hold your viewing historical past separate and get your individual Up Subsequent queue with tvOS profiles.
- Use your iPhone with Face ID for fast TV shade calibration or fallback on handbook strategies for precision.
Like many tech corporations, Apple likes to think about its merchandise are straightforward to make use of, however you will have to determine many key options by yourself. There’s some believable hope for that with an Apple TV 4K — it’s, in any case, only a media streamer — however in apply, there’s a lot you may not concentrate on, particularly for those who’re usually exterior the Apple ecosystem. With issues like when to upgrade your Apple TV and how to use your iPhone as a remote amongst different options, the corporate would not provide you with a lot steering previous the preliminary setup.
Whether or not you’ve got owned an Apple TV for years otherwise you’re plugging one in for the primary time, we have got a number of ideas right here that could be information to you. Perhaps at some point Apple will present extra complete guides for newcomers. Till then, learn on.
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1 Utilizing HomePods for wi-fi audio and voice management
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Maybe not too surprisingly, Apple makes it useless easy to make use of HomePods as TV audio system when you have an Apple TV. As soon as you’ve got added your HomePod(s) to the identical room as your Apple TV in HomeKit, the latter machine ought to ask if you wish to change default audio outputs. Even when it would not, you possibly can later go into your Apple TV’s settings within the Apple House app in your iPhone or iPad, then faucet Default Audio Output.
Whereas you should utilize a single HomePod if that is all you’ve got obtained, it is best to purchase a pair for stereo results. Actually, you possibly can’t use any greater than two, and if you would like simulated encompass sound (together with Dolby Atmos), you will have to purchase a pair of high-end 2nd-generation HomePods moderately than Minis.
I take advantage of instructions like “Siri, open YouTube,” “Siri, rewind 30 seconds,” or “Siri, flip off the TV” on daily basis.
This association is not at all times flawless — Wi-Fi router updates could drive you to power-cycle your HomePods, as an example — and strictly talking, you possibly can in all probability get equal or higher soundbars for a similar worth. But it surely makes for a slick setup, and you may typically avoid wasting problem by speaking to your HomePods as a substitute of selecting up the distant. In my own residence, I take advantage of instructions like “Siri, open YouTube,” “Siri, rewind 30 seconds,” or “Siri, flip off the TV” on daily basis.
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2 A number of consumer profiles
Make your historical past your individual
A number of tvOS profiles aren’t at all times vital, since lots of {couples} and households are likely to share the identical service logins. They’re typically required to entry separate Apple purchases and subscriptions, nonetheless, and if nothing else, it is typically good to get your individual Up Subsequent queue. Somebody who enjoys Aliens or Twin Peaks in all probability would not need to sift by their youngsters’ Bluey episodes first.
To get began with profiles, maintain down the TV button in your Siri Distant, then choose the Profiles tab. In the event you’ve already arrange a number of Apple IDs in your family, you possibly can change this fashion, or choose Add Consumer if an individual would not seem. In the event you’ve obtained voice recognition arrange to your Apple ID (through one other machine), you possibly can say “Siri, change to my profile” at any time.
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3 Utilizing an iPhone for shade calibration
Fast and simple
Apple
To make sure colours look appropriate in your TV, significantly for HDR modes like Dolby Imaginative and prescient, it is clever to do some type of calibration. The simplest possibility includes an iPhone with Face ID — you will be requested to place your iPhone in entrance of your TV, and the remaining ought to occur mechanically. If you do not have a appropriate iPhone, otherwise you’re chasing most precision, you possibly can at all times fall again on shade bars and your TV’s built-in menus, however that feels downright archaic. The iPhone-based calibration is triggered by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Calbration > Coloration Steadiness.
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4 Forcing body charges, resolutions, and HDR modes
Match a director’s intent
By default, tvOS makes an attempt to play video within the “finest out there” body fee, decision, and HDR mode, as dictated by your TV and the HDMI port your Apple TV is related to. This may typically result in unusual outcomes although, by which case you possibly can drive a selected mixture by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Format. Even higher in most circumstances goes to Settings > Video and Audio > Match Content material and selecting Match Dynamic Vary and/or Match Body Price, both of which can regulate associated settings on the fly primarily based on content material’s metadata.
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5 Utilizing an Xbox or PlayStation controller for video games
One other console house
Microsoft / Pocket-lint
The Apple TV hasn’t fairly taken off as a recreation console the best way Apple would possibly’ve as soon as envisioned. However there are nonetheless video games value taking part in within the App Retailer, like Inside or Cozy Grove, and a few of these are finest performed with a Bluetooth gamepad. You may pair any recent Xbox or PlayStation controller — or an appropriate clone — by placing it into pairing mode, then navigating to Settings > Remotes and Gadgets > Bluetooth and selecting your controller when it seems.
Bear in mind that whilst you can usually join as much as 4 Bluetooth gamepads, the restrict shrinks to only one for those who’ve additionally obtained Bluetooth audio going. Additionally, you will in all probability need to purchase controllers particularly to your Apple TV, since it is a ache to repeat the pairing course of each time you need to change to or from a console.
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FAQ
Q: Which Apple TV ought to I get?
Most individuals needs to be simply advantageous with the 64GB Wi-Fi mannequin. It will get the job finished, and it is arduous to get anyplace close to the 64GB restrict for those who’re simply streaming music and video.
The 128GB Wi-Fi + Ethernet mannequin is sensible for those who plan to play lots of video games, otherwise you desire a wired Ethernet connection for optimum reliability. It is also the one mannequin with a Thread radio, which might help join appropriate sensible house equipment to HomeKit, equivalent to bulbs and plugs.
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