18 September 2023
• Added support for Interactive Widgets. Send remote commands, launch apps and switch sources without opening the app via AppIntents. • Live Activities can now control TVs without launching the app by using AppIntents. • Redesigned watchOS app for watchOS 10 users. • Default televisions are now pre-selected on watchOS 10. • Added a new Filter Televisions Shortcut for quickly finding televisions to use in other Shortcuts. • Existing Siri Shortcuts and Widgets have been switched to the new AppIntents framework for greater flexibility in future updates. • Added support for AppShortcuts so Shortcuts can be used without configuring first. • Support for StandBy on iOS 17. • Support for Lock Screen Widgets on iPadOS 17. • Support for the Smart Stack on watchOS 10. • Added tips using TipKit throughout the app. • Improved the layout of the remote and updated the general UI on iOS. • Improved the communication between the iOS and watchOS app. • Improved the performance of Live Activities.
24 October 2022
Introduced in iOS 16.1, TV Remote will support Live Activities. TV Remote allows users to configure up to four commands to place in the Live Activity so that when they are watching television, they can quickly change channels, adjust volume and more without having to find the app again as it’s already on their Lock Screen or in the Dynamic Island. The Live Activity can be started automatically or manually using the easy-to-access button in the top navigation bar. As well as this, a number of other settings can be configured such as the ability to use the TV’s theme or the TV Remote default, whether the theme options should apply to the Dynamic Island, and which commands are shown in the Live Activity Widget. This feature requires access to TV Remote Premium, details of which can be found below or in the app.
12 September 2022
Introduced in iOS 16, TV Remote will support Lock Screen Widgets. The following will be available to add: • Remote Command: Control or power on your television from the Lock Screen. • Apps: Launch TV apps from the Lock Screen. • Sources: Switch TV sources from the Lock Screen. • Channel Number: Change channels from the Lock Screen. • Television Switcher: Open the app from the Lock Screen to a specific television.
For users who aren’t a fan of round buttons, they can now choose to have square buttons on a theme-by-theme basis
One of the most requested features since version 2.0 launched is the ability to create custom themes for Apple Watch. This was possible but used the same theme as the Dark Mode on iOS which sometimes didn’t work great so this has now been fixed in 2.1!
Apple added the ability to build Complications using WidgetKit instead of ClockKit which works much better and saves so much time! The Complication to launch the app has now been built using WidgetKit so it’ll adapt much better to themes than in previous versions.
As well as the main features, these are some of the other changes that are new or improved in version 2.1: • Added an onboarding process for new users so they can setup a TV straight away. • Updated the styling of some elements, including menus in iOS 16. • Refined the design of the Layout Builder tool. • Other bug fixes & improvements.
1 March 2022
Introduced previously, the Themes feature allows users to customise how their remote control looks in terms of colours. Now, in version 2, themes can be created for each individual television and there’s support for a different theme for Light and Dark Mode. Users are also able to toggle the app between Light & Dark Mode or set it to Auto to match the system. The themes created will now sync to Widgets and the Apple Watch app too instead of just the iPhone/iPad app as well. There’s also now a preview for users to see what their remote will look like without having to leave the screen. TV Remote comes with a number of preset themes for specific devices and colour schemes which can also be duplicated and customised by the user themselves if they’re not quite satisfied with the default.
Brand new in version 2, the Layouts feature allows users to create a truly customisable remote control layout using some pre-defined components that were in version 1, and also some brand new ones too! Each television can have its own unique layout and there’s support for customising the Apple Watch app’s layout too.
Widgets have been completely redesigned in version 2 with space for more remote commands, new sizes and as mentioned previously themes support too. Apps and Sources widgets are also brand new as well so watching content on the TV is quicker than ever. Widgets now also close the app again when a command is pressed.
As well as the main features, these are some of the other changes that are new or improved in version 2: • Improved VoiceOver and Dynamic Type support. • Refined app icon and new custom app icons. • Set the whole app accent colour, defaults to Teal. • Quicker to search for televisions. • More reliable when searching for televisions. • Redesigned settings screens and prompts. • Refined remote commands. • Shortcuts should now run quicker. • Certain routers will no longer be picked up as televisions when searching. • The touchpad now works properly on watchOS. • Supported televisions can now be viewed in the app. • All keyboard characters now work as expected on Roku. • If you lose your physical Roku remote, supported remotes can now be found in the app.