Build quality, hardware, size, and price

Even though it’s a few years old, no one can deny that the apple tv 3rd gen looks amazing. It measures 23 millimeters in height, and 100 millimeters square. In fact, it’s has such a small form factor that you can easily place it on your TV without worrying about it taking too much space. If you check the back of the device, you’ll notice there are several ports. These include optical S/PDIF, HDMI, Ethernet (10/100 Megabits), and a micro USB port. However, according to Apple, this port is for diagnostics only.

The Apple TV also features a dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi, meaning that it can effectively connect to 2.4 GHz and also 5GHz networks. If you’re curious about the apple tv 3rd generation price, you can currently get it for as little as $59. The apple tv 3rd generation Amazon may be cheaper, so be sure to check its price on Amazon as well.

Setup and control

You can easily control the Apple TV via its sleek and small, yet very thin aluminum remote. Even better, the remote is very simple to use, features a central Select button, but also a 4 way cursor pad that you can use to navigate through menus.

It’s possible to also use the Remote application for your iPad or iPhone. With it, you can control your Apple TV from your tablet or phone. What’s great about the app is that you don’t require line of sight, since it works over Wi-Fi.

To set up the Apple TV, you just have to plug in the soft-touch power cable and then hook it up to the HDMI port of your TV. Keep in mind that Apple doesn’t provide an HDMI cable, so you should get one separately. Next, all you have to do is enter your Apple ID and password. Once you do that you’ll be taken to the home screen.

Interface

What many will love about the Apple TV is the fact it has one of the simplest interfaces you’ll ever find on a media streamer. The icons on the home screen are large, therefore easy to navigate through. It’s important to mention that the top row is dedicated to Apple Services. You cannot delete them, but you can reorder them. The Apple TV runs on TVOS which works very smoothly. Even though it’s a bit old, the Apple TV 3rd gen has hands down one of the best operating systems ever put in a streaming device.

Content and AirPlay

The reason why people get an Apple TV is to consume content and there are many ways for them to do that. You can use apps, but you can also use AirPlay. AirPlay allows you to beam content from your Mac, tablet or smartphone to your Apple TV. This means that almost any content you can watch on your smartphone can also be beamed to your Apple TV.

If you want, you can also use AirPlay’s Mirroring function. As the name suggests, you’ll be able to send what you see on your laptop, tablet or smartphone to your TV. This can be very useful if you want to watch a movie with your friends or someone else.

Apple movies and TV

One of the best things about the Apple TV is that you can rent and also purchase TV shows and HD movies from Apple’s collection. In fact, Apple has the second largest collection of content (Sky Now ranks first) you can choose from, so no matter what TV show or movie you want to see, there’s a good chance Apple has it.

If you want, then you can also watch content you purchased from another device. Dolby Digital surround tracks are also supported by Apple (where available). Therefore, if you’re into surround sound, then just plug your Apple TV into an audio video receiver and enjoy it! One thing to bear in mind when purchasing live shows from Apple is that its version is usually a day behind the live broadcast.

Photos and iCloud

With photographs from your Mac, iPad, and iPhone going into iCloud, you can easily view them on your Apple TV at any given time. Not only that, but all the content you uploaded, such as your shared streams, photo stream, movies, etc can be accessed from the interface. Based on your internet connection, the content can be viewed pretty fast.

You may also have photographs that have yet to be uploaded to iCloud. If that’s the case, then you can use AirPlay to view on them your Apple TV.

Apple music

By using the music app, you can easily browse through the music store to play any songs that you may have purchased. If you have an iTunes Match subscription, then the songs you ripped from CDs are also made available.

Summary

If you’re the type who wants to have access to all his favorite TV shows and movies at any given them, time you certainly need to buy apple tv 3rd generation. Its impressively simple interface, great functionality, amazing build quality, but also low price make it a solid choice for anybody looking for an affordable, yet top quality streaming device.

The post A quick look at the Apple TV 3rd Generation appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

One thing you need to know about the Apple TV is that it comes preinstalled with a lot of useful apps. Some of them include MLB.TV, YouTube, WatchESPN, HBO GO, but also PBS, Hulu, Netflix, and more. However, maybe these apps are not enough for you and you’d like to add more apps to it. If that’s the case though, then how to add apps to apple tv? Well, about that and more we’re going to tell you more below. One more thing to keep in mind: adding apps to apple tv also depends on the Apple TV model you have.

4th Gen Apple TV: Yes

Okay, so you have a 4th Gen Apple TV and you would like to add apps to apple tv. Can you do that? Fortunately, the answer is yes! The 4th Gen Apple TV was introduced in late 2015 and as Tim Cook said at the time, the TV was built around the idea that applications are the future of TV.

When it comes to installing the apps on your device, it’s as simple as installing them on your iPad or iPhone. It’s true that the operating system is a bit different and this means the installation process also differs. However, it’s not a big difference. Here’s a short guide on how you can download apps on apple tv and install them.

1. Search for the app you want to install, highlight it and then view the detail screen for it by clicking the touchpad.
2. At this screen, you’ll need to click the Install button. If the app is paid, you’ll see a price instead of the Install button. Begin the installation by highlighting the button and clicking the touchpad.
3. To proceed with the installation, you may need to enter your Apple ID password. Do this by using the onscreen keyboard and the remote control.
4. Once the installation is launched, you’ll notice an icon appearing in the button that shows how long until the installer completes.
5. When the app is finally downloaded and installed, the button’s label will change to Open. You can open the application by selecting it or returning to your Apple TV’s home screen.

3rd Gen Apple TV and Earlier: Channels are added regularly by Apple

Can you download apps on apple tv 3rd gen? Unfortunately, the answer is no, but luckily Apple does add them on a regular basis. For instance, when the Apple TV was launched, it featured less than 10 channels of online content. Currently, there are dozens of them and what’s surprising is that Apple continues to add a lot of them as new ones appear.

It’s important to note that there isn’t a fixed schedule for new channels to be added to the Apple TV and users also have no control over whether they’re installed or not. So if you just turned on your Apple TV and noticed a new icon on the home screen, then this means that you can access new content. There are also cases when new applications are bundled together with certain updates to the Apple TV’s software. These days though, channels are added to your Apple TV as they’re ready.

3rd Gen Apple TV and earlier: No

If you want to know how to get apps on apple tv 3rd generation, well, you cannot actually do that. While it’s true that the operating system for the Apple TV 3rd Gen and earlier is similar to the one the iPad and the iPhone use, it has limited features. Most importantly, you won’t be able to download apps and install them. Fortunately, new apps do get added to it.

Adding apps via Jailbreak

Without a doubt, there are many people who aren’t happy with the idea that Apple is the only one that decides what apps make the cut and which apps do not. Therefore, if you’d like to install apps that Apple currently doesn’t allow, then you may want to jailbreak your device. Jailbreaking is a process that makes certain changes to the device’s core software in order to remove certain restrictions imposed by Apple (usually on installing software).

If you would like to actually jailbreak your device, then you can do so by using special software. Some examples include Pangu, iJailbreakPro (this is a paid tool), and Seas0nPass (free tool). Jailbreaking may not be possible on all Apple TVs (firmware version is very important as well), so be sure to keep that in mind before deciding to jailbreak your device.

Once the jailbreaking process is over, you can proceed to install tools such as XMBC or Plex so you can access content that Apple currently restricts. At this point you may be wondering “can you add apps to apple tv?”. Sure, you can install a lot more apps than before, but the apps need to be compatible with your Apple TV.

Now that you know how to get new apps on apple tv, you can start checking the most popular ones and see how you like using them with your Apple TV. Have fun!

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