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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We’re hearing from some developers that iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan use a new AirPlay encryption, which is not compatible with older Apple TV firmwares and software mirroring solutions like AirServer and Reflector.

In iOS 9 and El Capitan, Apple TVs running firmware version older than 6.2 appear as an audio only destinations:

In order for AirPlay to work, both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan require Apple TV running firmware 6.2 and newer, meanwhile the latest jailbreakable Apple TV software version is 5.3.

People with jailbroken Apple TV’s running 5.3 will need to upgrade to 6.2 or newer to continue using AirPlay.

Of course, if you’re using a jailbroken Apple TV, you may choose not to update to iOS 9 or/and El Capitan and keep AirPlaying your content to the Apple TV.

Some developers told us they are re-implementing the encryption in their software to be ready for the final iOS 9/El Capitan update.

It is expected that iOS 9 will be released in mid-September. OS X El Capitan will launch sometimes in October.

This Wednesday, Apple is hosting an event where it is expected to unveil a next-generation Apple TV, which is rumored to be be thicker and slightly wider than the current-generation model and feature Apple’s A8 chip, a new, “drastically improved” remote with touchpad, more on-board storage, an improved operating system with support for Siri voice control and a long-awaited App Store.

Read more on Apple TV 4: 

• Apple TV 4 specs and price revealed
• Apple TV 4: big focus on gaming and Siri, support for Bluetooth game controllers
• Apple TV 4 will cost $149-$199, available in October

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Couple of days back, Apple seeded the second beta to their latest Mac operating system, OSX 10.11 El Capitan (read more). And as usual, developers tore it down in an attempt to track down Apple’s upcoming products. One of the results turned out to be a new Bluetooth remote control, most probably designed for the Apple TV 4.

9to5Mac came across a file inside El Capitan named AppleBluetoothRemote.kext, which wasn’t there on previous builds nor on Yosemite. 9to5Mac’s editors scanned the file and extracted some useful details about the remote.

The new remote will pair with devices over bluetooth and control them with infrared bursts, just like the current remotes.

But what is interesting is that the mentioned remote will have a multi-touch trackpad, which supports inertial scrolling like what we’ve seen with the Remote app for Apple TV. Developers also found references to Apple’s latest force-touch technology in the file but aren’t sure if it will make way to the final product.

It could also be made out that the new remote control will support audio interface, which seems to be an input for Siri voice commands rather than for a speaker.

Unfortunately, they haven’t found any direct mentions of Apple TV 4 in the file. However, this remote uses the same technology as the current Apple TV remotes and is packing touch-pad and Siri input which have previously been rumoured about the Apple TV 4 remote. Hence, we believe that the file references the same and that Apple is planning to launch the revamped Apple TV by the time El Capitan becomes available to the public.

Read more on Apple TV 4.
Check out:Apple TV Remote troubleshooting guide

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Last Monday at the WWDC, Apple previewed the next major software update for Mac, the OS X 10.11 El Capitan (check out the major highlights). Safari on El Capitan brings a wonderful new feature for Apple TV users: the ability to AirPlay web videos to the Apple TV without sharing your whole screen and in the background.

In Yosemite, you can of course AirPlay your entire browser screen to Apple TV and whenever a web video is played, it will show up in full screen on your television. But as soon as you stop playing video on the Mac, the view on the TV goes back to a pure mirror of your screen.

In El Capitan, you will be able to broadcast a separate web video to the Apple TV. It continues to play while you open new tabs on Safari or multitask with different apps – only the video and nothing else is mirrored to the TV.

Use AirPlay to share web video without sharing your whole screen.
Play video from a web page to your TV with Apple TV — without showing everything else on your desktop. Just click the AirPlay icon that appears on compatible web videos and you can watch your video on the big screen.

If you can’t wait till this fall for El Capitan to get this feature, or you have an unsupported Mac you can check out AirParrot 2 for Mac that features media streaming and specific app mirroring.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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