7 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Apple TV

The Apple TV is an amazingly versatile device (see more on that here). It's very common for me to strongly recommend that people purchase an Apple TV for each TV in their home or business because the possibilities are limitless.

In order to get the most out of your Apple TV, there are some tricks you will want to know. In this post, I will tell you 7 of my favorite Apple TV tips.

Tip #1. Jumping forward by chapter

When watching movies, fast forward can be a little slow, especially if you want to jump ahead a significant amount of time. Instead of using fast forward, try skipping ahead using chapters. To do this, first press the down arrow on the Apple TV remote to expose the chapter view. Once you can see the chapters listed, you can move forward and/or backwards a chapter by pressing the left (backward) or right (forward) button on the Apple TV remote.

Tip #2. Resetting your Apple TV

This isn't something that needs to happen very often, but occasionally, you may need reset your Apple TV. To do this with your Apple TV remote, press and hold the Menu and down buttons at the same time for 6 seconds. The Apple TV will restart.

Tip #3. Organize Your Apps

With as many apps as there are on the Apple TV, it can sometimes feel disorganized. Everyone has their favorite channel, and it would be nice to have your favorite channels on top. To do this, highlight the app icon you want to move then press and hold the Select button for a few seconds. The icon will start to wiggle. Move the icon where you want it to go, then press Select again to set it in place.

Tip #4. Jumping Back to the Main Menu

If you're buried deep in the Netflix menu and want to go home, you can press the Menu button a few times to get back to the main menu, OR you can press and hold the Menu button for a few seconds. It will take you immediately back to the main menu.

Tip #5. Putting Your Apple to Sleep

Want to put your Apple TV to sleep manually? No problem. Just press and hold the Play/Pause button for about 5 seconds. Your Apple TV will be sleeping in no time.

Tip #6. Pair or Unpair a Remote with your Apple TV

Do you have two Apple TVs in the same room? If so, you may want to unpair remotes so that you don't inadvertently control the wrong Apple TV. To do this, press and hold the Menu and left arrow buttons for about 6 seconds. This will UNPAIR that remote with that Apple TV. To PAIR a new remote with an Apple TV, press and hold the Menu and right arrow button at the same time for about 6 seconds.

Tip #7. Marking an Episode as Watched

If you've seen a particular episode of a show but it still shows as unwatched, you can quickly mark it as watched to avoid confusion later on. To do this, highlight the episode you want to mark as watched then press and hold the Select button for a few seconds.

Posted on August 13, 2015 and filed under Apple TV, How To, Opinion.