The latest remote bundled in with Apple TV is meant to mimic how it is to control an iPhone—using a touch surface for its navigation. Now touch controls are great for screens that are designed around having different controls on different screens. That makes sense, cater the user experience to what they specifically need at that moment. Where touch controls do not make sense is as a replacement for simple up-and-down, right-and-left directions.
Function101 Button Remote for Apple TV/Apple TV 4K | $32 | StackSocial |ENJOY20
That’s all you need to use that section of the remote for. That’s it. Just make them buttons! We don’t need to completely remove buttons from our lives because “touch screens are cool.” It’s pointless in a lot of places—not to mention creates an accessibility problem for some users. If you’re like me and miss buttons, you’ll be happy to know you can replace that first-party Apple TV remote with this one which has real buttons for just $32 when use the promo code ENJOY20. It also won’t soak up every bit of grease from you fingers like the regular Apple TV remote will. Trust us, that’s a good thing.
This post was originally published by Joe Tilleli on 06/24/2022 and updated with new information on 08/03/2022 and 1/12/24 by Emily Knepp, and on 1/22/24 by Brittany Vincent.