Apple TV

Stay up-to-date on the latest Apple TV news and learn how to get the most out of your device with our comprehensive tutorials and guides. Discover new features, troubleshoot issues, and explore the best apps and games for your Apple TV.

How to put the Apple TV into retail Demo Mode

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

A few days ago, we showed you how to access the Apple TV's "Advanced Settings" mode. That particular option is geared towards Apple employees. Today, we're going to show you how to place the Apple TV into Demo Mode.

Demo Mode, according to Apple, is a special setting that locks down many Apple TV settings to keep Apple TV “fresh” for each customer interaction. Each time the Apple TV comes out of the screensaver, the Home screen layout will reset to present the default interface.

In a nutshell, Demo Mode is what you see when looking at an Apple TV while in an Apple Store or other big box retail store. Have a look at the rest of this post to see how to enter Demo Mode on your own Apple TV.

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How to access tvOS’ hidden ‘Advanced Settings’ menu on Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

The Apple TV features a hidden "Advanced Settings" menu, which contains some interesting Apple employee-centric features. Accessing the hidden settings menu is remarkably easy to do, all you need is a paired Siri remote to get going.

Inside the hidden Advanced Settings menu, you'll find an AppleConnect login option, a menu pertaining to loading a VPN Profile, Sleep Delay settings, and more. It's generally not something that most customers will even care about, and we can't recommend dilly-dallying around and changing values, but it's interesting to know it's there.

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How to watch local live TV on Apple TV with an HDHomeRun + antenna combo

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

It is possible to legally watch free over the air terrestrial television via the Apple TV. This can easily be accomplished by connecting an HDHomeRun to your home network along with an ATSC antenna to pull in free over-the-air high definition local channels.

It's basically the equivalent of connecting an antenna to your TV. TVs generally include a tuner built in, which allows the unit to display the channels pulled in from over the air. Wouldn't it be cool, though, if you could broadcast all of those channels on your home network? By using an HDHomeRun, you can easily tap into free high definition television streams via the Apple TV and an app like Kodi. You can even watch live TV on your iPhone, Mac, or other devices.

In this video tutorial, I'll show you how easy it is to get live local channels on your Apple TV. That means you can watch high definition streams for NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and more. There's no monthly subscription involved, or anything like that, which makes this perfect for cord cutters. Have a look.

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How to install Kodi on the new Apple TV 4

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

It's been a while in the making, but it is now possible to install Kodi on tvOS. Granted, this is a very early tutorial, and Kodi for Apple TV 4 is still in the pre-pre-alpha stages, but it does work, although not perfectly yet.

Still, the fact that we can even get Kodi on the Apple TV without jailbreaking is a win in itself. In this video tutorial, I'll show you how to install Kodi on the new Apple TV running tvOS.

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How to control your Mac with the Siri Remote

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Better Touch Tool, one of the most useful power-user utilities available for macOS has been updated to include support for Siri Remote control. The update, which is currently available as an alpha version download, lets you control your mouse with the Siri Remote, as well as assign shortcuts and mouse clicks to the Touch Surface and each of the remote's buttons.

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How to watch BBC iPlayer on Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Last month, an open source app called Auntie Player was released to access on demand programs from the BBC. This app can be sideloaded on an Apple TV and used to watch BBC on demand content and even live content.

I tested out Auntie Player today, and it worked as expected. Keep in mind, however, that you're supposed to be in the UK in order to properly access its content. There are ways to access BBC iPlayer outside of the UK, but we cannot endorse those methods.

Still, we understand that many of our UK-based readers would be interested in accessing BBC iPlayer on the Apple TV, so in this post we're going to show you how.

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How to redeem an Apple TV app promo code

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

While it's possible to receive promo codes for Apple TV apps, it's not possible to redeem such codes directly from the Apple TV interface itself. Even though the newly released Apple TV is the first iteration of the device capable of running native apps, Apple is keeping the process of promo code redemption limited to iOS or the Mac.

Have you received a promo code for an Apple TV app or game? In this post, we'll show you how to redeem it.

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How to record Apple TV video output on Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

There are lots of reasons why you might invest in a USB Type-C cable for the new Apple TV. One of the most compelling reasons is because a USB Type-C cable allows you to record Apple TV video output. Via QuickTime's video capturing capabilities, first introduced in OS X Yosemite, it's possible to record and save direct-feed footage from the Apple TV to your Mac.

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