Apple announced at this year’s WWDC  they are working on a new version of the Remote app for iPhone and iPad that will get all the features of the Apple TV Siri Remote, including touch navigation, Siri and game play support. According to CNET, the redesigned app will be released to the public this summer but the beta version is now available for testing and can be accessed by registered developers.

After downloading the Apple TV Remote IPA, you will be able to install the app directly to your iPhone or iPad via iTunes. The app requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS 9.3.2 or later, and the Apple TV running tvOS 9.2.1 or later.

9to5Mac’s Jeff Benjamin has already got his hands on the new app. Taka a look at his video walkthrough:

As noted by 9to5Mac, the new Apple TV Remote will allow you to:

• Navigate Apple TV with touch gestures
• Ask Siri to find something great to watch, listen to, or play
• Dictate text, including usernames and passwords
• Enter text with the keyboard
• Play games using the accelerometer and gyroscope on your iOS device
• Game Mode with simplified game controls, available while holding your iOS device in a landscape orientation
• Controll the movie, TV show, or song that’s currently playing in the Now Playing screen

Learn more about everything Apple announced at WWDC 2016.

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On Monday, at the WWDC 2016 opening session, Apple announced that they are working on a new version of the Remote app. The Apple TV Remote App for iPhone and iPad will get a redesigned now playing screen with playback controls and, most importantly, all the features of the Apple TV Siri Remote, including touch navigation, Siri and game play support (the app will use the accelerometer or gyroscope for game play).

During the keynote, Apple didn’t give any details on when the new version of the app will be released. CNET has today learned that the redesigned app will be available this summer:

The all-new Remote app will be available this summer, according to an Apple representative who spoke with CNET and filled us in on some of the details.

Apple’s spokesperson told CNET that the new app will feature a microphone button, just like the one on the Siri remote and will supports most of the Siri remote features.

That means you can speak into your phone to search Apple TV and use other Siri features like “What did he say?”

Like the current Remote app, the new version will have a large swiping area similar to the Siri remote’s touchpad for navigation and selection. It will also have a Now Playing window that shows artwork and playback controls.

And of course, there’s a keyboard for text entry, complete with dictation if you don’t feel like typing on your phone.

According to CNET, the new Apple TV Remote App will control both the new (2015) and the old (2012) Apple TV.

Learn more about everything Apple announced at WWDC 2016.

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CiderTV is a great alternative for Apple’s own Remote app as well as for the Siri Remote. It works perfectly with non-jailbroken 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Apple TVs letting you to easily navigate menus with gestures, quickly send text queries with built-in keyboard and control your TV volume from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac.

The best part is that it lets you do all of this from your iPhone’s/iPad’s Lock screen (Notification Center widget), so there is no need to unlock your device every single time you need to use the app.

Just swipe down to open the widgets pane and control Apple TV even if iPhone/iPad is locked.

(Note: to control Apple TV box from widget you need to pair it from the CiderTV app first and then add CiderTV widget to your Notification Center.)

The app also lets you connect to more than one Apple TV and access them all from one screen.

CiderTV is also available for Mac and Apple Watch, so you can control your Apple TV from your computer or even from your wrist.

Some of the basic gestures include:
– TAP to Select (Play/Pause)
– DOUBLE-TAP to go back
– LONG-TAP (press for a second) – go back to Home Screen
– SWIPE LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWN – move between menu items
– SWIPE LEFT/RIGHT – rewind or fast-forward. Further swipes will increase rewind/fast-forward speed.

CiderTV is available from the App Store for free.

The app is also available in Google Play Store.

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Apart from pairing the Apple TV Siri Remote with your Mac to test Apple TV apps running in Xcode’s simulator, the remote is not of much use on the Mac. That’s where SiriMote, an awesome third-party app comes into play: it enables you to use the Apple TV Siri Remote with all sorts of applications.

Aside from controlling your Mac’s system volume, SiriMote lets you use Siri Remote to control:

• iTunes (Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Next Track, Previous Track)
• Keynote (Next Slide, Previous Slide)
• QuickTime (Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind)
• VLC (Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Next Track, Previous Track)

You can also use it to controll any other application that react to the media keys on the Mac’s keyboard.

SiriMote translates remote buttons into media key presses of your Mac’s keyboard. For example, when you press Volume Up on the Siri Remote, the app will translate that into the Volume Up key on your keyboard and send it to the system.
Likewise, it translates the Play/Pause button on the Remote to the Play/Pause media key on your Mac’s keyboard and sends that to the system.

That enables your Remote to interact with any application that hooks into the media key event system.

SiriMote requires OS X El Capitan 10.11 or newer and a Mac with Bluetooth 4.0. 

The app is free and can be downloaded from the Eternal Storms Software website.

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In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Apple’s Eddy Cue revealed that the company is developing a new, much-improved Remote app for iOS to be released in the first half of 2016.

“We’re working on a new Apple TV remote app that will give you the full functionality of the Siri Remote on your iPhone,” Cue said. “We’re hoping to ship that in the first half of next year.”

Apple yesterday released tvOS 9.1 for Apple TV 4 that includes the much-requested support for the current Remote app on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Holiday Gift Guide 2015: Best Accessories for Apple TV

Also read:

• Apple TV 5: “dramatically” faster, new features, mass production begins in Q1 2016 (rumor)
• Infuse 4 for new Apple TV released
• How to save media files to your Apple TV 4 ‘hard drive’ for offline viewing (video)
• Plex on Apple TV 4 explained (video)

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