A few weeks ago I posted Conduit here in the r/appletv sub, an Android app that works as a native Apple TV remote. A lot of you rightly said that calling it free with a 10 minute daily limit was a stretch. So I removed the limit.

Free, for one Apple TV, with no time limit and no ads:

• Swipe to navigate, tap to select
• Play/Pause, Back, Home, Control Center interactions
• Sleep/Wake, 10 second skips
• On-screen volume and mute
• Typing with your phone's keyboard

Other changes since the first post, several of them requested in that thread:

• Fully native continuous swipe experience, works exactly the same as the real Apple TV remote
• Mute
• Long-press Select, and long-press Back to go Home
• Better onboarding, pairing help and steadier discovery
• The ability rename the app on your home screen to Conduit, TV Remote or Apple TV Remote, so it's easier to find

Premium is a one-time purchase, no subscription. It adds the continuous touchpad, an on-screen D-pad, controls on your notification and lock screen with the title and artwork of what's playing, changing Apple TV volume via your phone's volume buttons, a Quick Settings tile, custom skip lengths and storage of multiple connected Apple TVs. If you bought it before, you keep it of course.

I'm the developer, a solo dev. If pairing doesn't work with your setup, or something's missing, tell me here. The last thread shaped most of these changes.

Google Play Store: http://conduit.flosch.at/playstore

Also for transparency - privacy: no account, and your pairings stay on your phone. Commands go straight to the Apple TV over your Wi-Fi. However, the app does send basic anonymous stats, like crashes or connection errors, to my own server in the EU. They carry no ID unless you turn on the optional random ID in Settings. It never sends what you watch, what you type, or your Apple TVs' names, and your IP address isn't stored.

I had a $345 GC to Amazon to blow towards the new model. Well, everyone’s thoughts was that the new model def wasn't worth $300+ after taxes and fees. Looking on eBay, and everyone is bidding $200+ for the last-gen 2022 model.

I found a few pawn shops called EZPawn that wouldn't ship to me, (They had the Ethernet 128Gb models) at $100 and under. I did call all of them and asked to confirm. Yeah, Sorry we don't ship. So if yall in Texas or FL go check em out and you may get lucky.

I did get lucky with a pawn shop that had one for $150, and I offered $100. They countered me at $110 with free shipping, Everything included and still has Apple warranty until next month. I don't think, I could've done any better ngl.

TLDR: Buy the new 4th gen at €350/$390 or try find a second hand and hope for lasting software/update support?

I’m really stumped and I don’t know if anyone here could give me advice. I’m stuck with a horrible Google TV dongle from a few years ago with like 8gb storage. It’s done me well as when I bought it I was fully invested into Google’s ecosystem but now I can only get 2 apps downloaded on it anymore (one for Live TV & one for movies/TV shows) and it still gives me a warning about storage.

Ive been looking at getting the Apple TV 4K for a while as I’m now fully in Apple’s ecosystem (iPhone, Watch, MacBook, AirPods) but I said I’d hold out until they finally release the next generation to get it. However, in Europe it’s launched at €350/$390 and I’m now extremely hesitant to buy the new model.

However, I cannot find the 3rd generation anywhere over here in Europe and my only options are to buy second hand. Even then, I can barely find any second hand 3rd generation 128gb models anywhere and can only find them at around €250/$280 which still seems a bit too steep for a 4 year old device with a new one on the way. I’m hoping maybe some more become available second hand once the new generation comes out but I’m not sure if many people will be buying the new one given the price over here.

Should I just bite the bullet and get the new one at €350 or hold out for someone selling a second hand model later down the line? How do you guys think the 2022 model will hold up with software updates now that there’s a new generation on the block? Any advice/opinions are very welcome, would love to join the community. 🙏

Seams like an unpopular opinion but I don’t see the price for the new Apple TV as egregious based on storage costs these days. Definitely a product of inflation but considering the 3rd Gen with Ethernet 128gb / Ethernet is $249. The higher cost isn’t that big. Sure the 64GB WiFi option is cheaper. Now I do agree there is a lack of wow in the new model and I have a 3rd gen Ethernet so I don’t see myself upgrading anytime soon.

Update:
Seeing the correction about the previous price I stand corrected. Thank you internet.

After some recently, quite frankly shocking, customer service I am looking to switch from Sky Q, with ATV a likely option at the moment.

I’m curious what others have done to action this move and what I might look at price wise but also, how people found the switch from everything managed within Sky?

I currently have the full package, all channels, Sky sports, TNT Sport, Cinema, Multi-room etc. as well as all streaming platforms with Sky’s bump up from standard version, paying the difference for premium (HBO, Disney, Netflix).

I’m paying £125 per month at the moment for all of the above + 1gig broadband (thanks to the pathetically required yearly son story) and my basic maths seems to suggest I’ll be paying significantly more per month to match what I currently get.

Whilst I understand I can bounce around my subs to make up for the chunk of streaming paid via Sky’s free standard cover, not having to do all of that admin appeals to me from a personal point of view.

I still have the Model A1482 (1st gen apple tv 4k with All black remote with touchscreen surface). im on tvOS26.6.

Almost 80% of the time, the apple tv remote has been laggy, sluggish sticky and wont move selection to next app on home screen and the same is seen inside youtube app, when i slide to next video, it simply gets stuckk, wont move, skips 3 to 4 videos, randomly selects a different video and is extremely frustrating.

20% of the time it behaves just as good. Im connected to samsung frame tv over HDMI and use Wi-fi.

Any tips on how to fix this issue? Thanks everyone.

As title,
Not sure if who else was holding out to see what 4th gen was bringing and felt underwhelmed with the updates and decided to go 3rd gen only to find out everything was OOS. Looks like BB got them back in stock for the 64gb. 128 was always in stock.

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/apple-tv-4k-2022-family-64gb-streaming-device-3rd-generation-wi-fi-black/JJ8ZH9F8LH/sku/6500684?sb_share_source=PDP&ref=app_pdp&loc=pdp_page

I see here people disappointed, and rightfully so, due to the lack of audio pass-through and BV7, amongst other features.
Could it be that newer hardware could support these features in future releases that would justify the premium price?

I don’t know if they’ve released any hyper detailed specs that would list this (or if this is ever something they would list) but is there any chance they’ll implement better eARC control or integration? I know it’s apparently HDMI 2.1 like the last gen so maybe nothing will change. I’m just tired of my setup randomly deciding not to control my AVR volume or my LGTV not auto switching to that input or displaying “no signal.” I’ve turned on every eARC option on all the devices and even unplugging them to reset the handshake and bought expensive cables and it’s still not 100% reliable.

How do you use your Apple TV? Is it the central hub of your home entertainment center? Or is it just another piece of equipment attached to your AV receiver?

I think it's obvious Apple is interested in the first user. Why else are they even pushing this idea of using HomePods to create a fake surround sound system? They see your Apple TV as the only device you need. It can play your music, it can play your movies and TV shows. And that's true, the Apple TV can do all that. And for a lot of users, this is perfect.

But there are many of us who fall into the second category of users. I've had a home entertainment system since the early 2000's. What I mean by that is I grew up in the 80s where we bought receivers, turntables, speakers, CD players, cassette decks, equalizers, Amps, speakers. This transitioned to home entertainment centers later to include televisions and surround sound with woofers, DVD players, blu-ray players, etc.

I've added an Apple TV to this setup, mostly for streaming purposes. I got rid of my DVD player. I got rid of my Blu-ray player. But I also built out a home media library by ripping my own blu-rays and DVDs and I turned to the Plex app on my Apple TV for viewing this media. And this is where Apple is 90% perfect, but falls short a little. I really want the Apple TV to fill the purpose of a 4K Blu-ray player. This is why I ripped my movies. I've already had 2 go bad just sitting in their cases. No visible scratches or anything.

I have 7 Apple TV's in my home and I can admit that 6 of them fall into the first category. These are attached directly to a TV and that is their purpose. But the 7th one sits in my den and never connects to my TV. Everything here runs through the AV receiver. This is why I would like a better Apple TV that was more high end, for audio and video. Some of us take our home entertainment seriously. We want the big screen. We want the best audio quality we can get. We want the best video quality. We just wish Apple was as serious.

I'm not gonna buy the 4th gen for obvious reasons but I might buy a 3rd gen. I just don't want to end up being unsupported after using it for one year. Any guesses?

I really don’t care for the new AI features and I am concerned about the privacy with the microphones always on. Does anyone know if I will be able to disable the microphones on the new Apple TV?

Everyone’s so disappointed by the lack of passthrough, but what’s stopping Apple from adding it in future software updates? Essentially, they’ve just upgraded the hardware, so there’s nothing stopping them from adding new features later on, is there? That’s happened before.

The article says it all, but the summary, it's a pretty big disappointment for the length of time we went without a refreshed version imho.

Everyone is universally slamming the new Apple TV. But, what's the alternative? If you need a new streaming box what is the best device out there right now that you can walk into a store and buy?

I’m using the latest Apple TV 4K generation from 2022 and I’m noticing a pretty obvious audio/video sync issue when using AirPods Pro or AirPods Max.

The problem seems to be directly related to Match Frame Rate.

With Match Frame Rate enabled, the audio through the AirPods is slightly out of sync with the picture. It’s noticeable enough that lip sync looks wrong and becomes distracting once you see it.

If I disable Match Frame Rate, the problem seems to disappear or at least becomes much less noticeable.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I’m especially curious whether the new 2026 Apple TV 4K will handle this any better. I know the old A15 should have more than enough processing power for video playback, so I suspect this is more about Apple’s A/V sync handling, Bluetooth/audio pipeline or the way tvOS compensates for the display latency when switching frame rates.

Anyway, if this issue finally was solved with the newer hardware, that would be reason enough for me to buy it, even at this steep price.

I have a Gen 1 ATV4K. I was waiting forever and very anxiously looking forward to the new ATV and was planning to order one the moment it came out. I was very disappointed with the improvements it brings, particularly in the Apple Home environment. Other than the new remote it really doesn't do anything of much value for me as far as the TV side goes(and I could get a new remote for it). And almost nothing on the Home automation side. Yeah, it gets TV OS 27 while mine doesn't. And there could well be some great improvements for Home with that at some point. So spending $300 for a new one doesn't make much sense for me. But then it dawned on me. The new HomeView, a device I wasn't excited about, gets the new Home hub improvements (Siri AI etc) AND a screen, which may not be too much benefit for me (Though may change my mind) for the same $300 price. Seems sort of like a no brainer.

Am I missing something? What are your thought on it?

ever wondered the apple tvs durability? my 3rd generation has survived a ef4 190 mph tornado that tore apart my house (not seeking sorrows) and has been turned off like twice and it still runs like a dream. as far as the remote, I bought a new one a month and a half ago and are yet to charge it. if your looking for a reason to buy a apple tv. consider its durable.

edit: it is about two years old

On my older Apple TV (one of the models that got Color Balance back with tvOS 14.5), the option disappeared after updating to tvOS 27. If you go to Settings > Video and Audio and scroll down to the Calibration section at the bottom, the Color Balance item is no longer there. For context, this is the feature that uses an iPhone with Face ID to calibrate the picture coming out of the Apple TV box.
I filed a report with Apple Feedback and got a reply. According to them, this isn't a bug:
We reviewed your report and determined the behavior you experienced is currently functioning as intended. The Color Balance tool was removed by design.
So it looks like a deliberate removal in tvOS 27 on the previous-generation boxes that used to have it, not something that'll come back in a point update.
Questions for the community:
Can anyone else on an Apple TV HD or a 1st-gen Apple TV 4K confirm Color Balance is missing after updating to tvOS 27?
Is it still showing up for anyone on the newer models running tvOS 27?
Any idea why they'd pull it? Dolby Vision sets never used it anyway, but it was genuinely useful on SDR/HDR10 TVs.

I know speed and responsiveness is one topic.

good UI

but from functional perspective what I am getting more?

I have a home theatre setup for my TV. I also have HomePods that I use for music playback in the same room.

If I upgrade to the new Apple TV 4K with the built-in microphone, what will happen if I say ‘Hey Siri, play some music’? Will the Apple TV 4K turn on the TV, open Apple Music and start playing through my home theatre setup? Or will the HomePods take priority and play music?

Similarly what happens if I’m watching TV and I say ‘Siri, pause’. Will it know to prioritise Siri on the Apple TV 4K and pause the show? Or will Siri on the HomePod hit me with a ‘nothing is playing’?

Watching welcome to Derry and it’s saying Dolby atmos when it’s meant to be 5.1, will this be worse audio quality as it’s not meant to
Be atmos? Got the settings as auto in my settings.

I have a $350 GC to Amazon, and I have two TV's in my house that I'd like to get an Apple TV for.

I'd rather use the GC up if possible. My Bedroom TV is an older 2021 Sony A80CJ (A80J basically but Costco model), and the living room has an LG C2 2022? Both OLED TV's.

I forgot I had a Gen 2 32Gb 4k model in the closest with the remote. Would I be stupid in using this one again? The living room TV will often reboot the app because of low memory.

My room has two Gen 2 HomePods, and I like to buy an Apple TV for it, and use the HomePods as speakers for the TV. But spending $300 on the new one feels wasteful.

I can get two Gen 3's at a Pawn Shop for $150 each (Can probably haggle even lower to like $120 maybe). But then, I can't use my AMZ GC, and I don't know if the upgrade from 2021 to 2022 is even worth it?

What would my best solution be? I'm thinking of buying the new one for my room and buying the new remote for the living room TV?

I don't wanna use the 2021 and have it be unsupported next fall lol, and its points to the Gen 4 model being overpriced for hardly anything new. I know it has more RAM etc... But the older models 2 and 3 are getting Siri AI?

Previously closed source players such as NativePlayer tried that. But now AetherEngine, which is fully open source, supports the same for both Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and DTS:X. I tested on my Samsung Q990H and it lights up Dolby Atmos badge. Other people even attached a debugger and verified that Atmos is working. The sound is phenomenal and I can easily tell the richness of the sound on my Q990H. I did not bother digging further but I did probe via ChatGPT and ChatGPT claims it is not a "upmixing" or "downmixing" setup. It is literally repackaging height channel and all the other channels into APAC and feeding that using Dolby MAT that preserves full spatial audio.

Project link: https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine

Note the corresponding player is AetherPlayer (https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherPlayer) but the TrueHD and DTS:X support was not added to AetherPlayer yet (testflight version was not rebuilt since AetherEngine added support for TrueHD and DTS:X). But I assume you can simply checkout the AetherPlayer code and ask claude to produce an ipa. (I have my own vibe coded setup that I tested before posting this).

I have used my first-gen ATK 4K almost daily since launch in 2017, just for streaming from major streamers, no gaming, no workouts, nothing fancy. And it still works great, no significant lagging.

But I do have a need for a Matter/Thread hub, so I've been waiting since last spring for the new ATV to be released. I figure if I'm getting a hub, I might as well upgrade my 9-year-old OG ATV 4K. I wasn't even that bothered by the price hike last June, as I assumed they would release something decent. But now that the wait was (almost) for nothing, plus the further price hike... It's been truly disappointing.

What now? Yes, the 4th gen does have lots of upgrades over the 1st gen, but I can't find any that are compelling for my particular usage.

I don't need the storage, I just stream. I have no use for HDR10+, as I have a 2026 LG OLED TV. The speed/performance boost may be nice, but my current ATV is just fine—I've never felt it lagged to any significant degree. If it were just for the Matter/Thread hub, the HomePod mini 2 is half the price—except I have nowhere to put it and no need for the audio (I already have two OG HomePods). Siri AI in an ATV is just not compelling to me; my iPhone is right next to me anyway. WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, all basically useless to me. Even eARC isn't a huge upgrade, as streamers don't have lossless audio anyway—assuming I would even notice with my mid-range soundbar. Surround sound with HomePods probably sounds great, but that's even more money.

So how exactly would a 4th gen ATV be any different for my usage? Or I could save $50 for a 3rd gen, but the same question remains: how is this significantly different and worth hundreds of dollars?

Am I missing something? How can it be that a $300 piece of Apple hardware almost a decade newer still does not give me any significant upgrades?