How to Set Up and Use Universal Remote with Your Apple TV?

by Emily Johnson Technical Advisor

Is your living room crowded with various remotes and controllers? If yes, then a universal remote will do all the work alone. If you own a Bluray player, PS4, HomeTheater, Apple TV and other media streaming devices, then your remotes and controllers would be looking like a discount rack at shopping stores. You must set up a universal remote with your devices such as Apple TV, and your DVD or Bluray player. By doing so, you can reduce the numbers of different remotes in your living room.

In this article, we are going to tell you how to use a universal remote with your Apple TV streaming device. So what’s the wait? Let’s jump in.

Setting Up a Universal Remote for Apple TV

Before buying any universal remote from the market do check its specifications and reviews. If possible look for a remote which is compatible with Apple TV-like devices. Dozens of different manufacturers are creating and selling these kinds of all-in-one remotes. Here’s how to set up one with yours:

Turn on your Apple TV and get your universal remote ready.
Head to the Settings on your Apple TV. The settings are located on the home screen of your device.
Navigate to the “Remotes and Devices” option.
Go to the Learn Remote option from the given options.
Ensure that your universal remote is turned on. You will have to use Unused Device settings here.
On your Apple TV, press Start using the universal remote option.
On your universal remote, long-press the key which you want to use for the “Up” button. When the progress bar gets full, you can release the key on your remote.
Now hold the down key on your remote and when the progress bar completes, release the down key.
Next, you need to do the same for the left key on your remote.
This time you should hold the right key until the progress bar gets full.
Now hold the Enter or Selection key on your remote and once the progress bar gets, full release the key.
After that, hold down the menu key on your remote until the progress gets complete.
Now provide a name for this remote on your Apple TV.
Hit the Done option.

Your basic controls can now be accessed from the universal remote. But before you check whether it is working or not, please follow the next tutorial to set up playback controls.

Set up the PlayBack Controls on Universal Remote

Go to the “Set Up Playback Buttons” option.
Hold down the key on your remote that you wish to use for the Play command. Release the key once progress bar gets full.
Now hold down the suitable key for Pause command and release the key once it is created.
Do the same for Stop command.
This time choose a key for Rewind command in your remote. Don’t forget to release the key once the progress bar is full.
Now select a key on your remote to be used for the Fast Forward command. Hold it until you see the full progress bar.
Long press the key on universal remote that you want to use as Previous Track button.
Choose a key on your remote to be used as Next Track. Leave the key when it gets done.
Do the same for Skip Backward command.
Now choose a key to be used for Skip Forward command and release it when the progress bar completes.
Hit the Okay button.

Emily Johnson is a Norton product expert and has been working in the technology industry since 2002. As a technical expert, she has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as norton.com/setup.

Source: http://advisornorton.com/how-to-set-up-and-use-universal-remote-with-your-apple-tv/