Apple to Release New Apple TV Remote App for iOS With Full Siri Functionality in First Half of 2016

apple_tv_diagonalApple senior executive Eddy Cue has confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the company is developing a new Apple TV Remote app with full Siri Remote functionality on iPhone to be released in the first half of 2016.

“We’re working on a new Apple TV remote app that will give you the full functionality of the Siri Remote on your iPhone,” Cue said. “We’re hoping to ship that in the first half of next year.”

Apple released tvOS 9.1 for the new Apple TV on Tuesday, enabling support for the current Remote app on iOS devices and the Apple Watch.

Cue also said Apple's new tvOS App Store is off to a "great" start, with over 2,000 apps available in the store.

“We’re seeing tremendous developer interest,” Cue told BuzzFeed News. “Already we have over 2,000 apps live in the store. And on the customer side, things are going great. What we’ve found is that a little over half of transactions are coming from people upgrading from the last Apple TV and just about the other half are coming from new customers that are buying their first Apple TV.”

Many of those apps are pick-up-and-play games such as Crossy Road and Mr. Jump, and Cue mentioned how the new Apple TV caters to casual gamers that aren't looking to purchase an Xbox or PlayStation.

“What we’re seeing with the new Apple TV is to me very similar to what happened with gaming on the iPhone,” Cue said. “When we first announced the iPhone, we didn’t tout it as a gaming device. But games became a huge part of iPhone, because it turns out that a lot more people than just hardcore gamers love games. We expanded the market. I think the vast majority of people around the world probably aren’t looking to buy an Xbox or PlayStation. But that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy playing games. I think Apple TV expands the gaming market to those people.”

The new Apple TV launched in October and features an App Store, Siri, tvOS and more.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)

Top Rated Comments

iMerik Avatar
109 months ago
This new Apple TV Remote app should have been released with the Apple TV.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jamesarm97 Avatar
109 months ago
Any my wife already dropped my new Apple TV remote and the pad shattered (still usable). They want $79 for a new remote, I would be better off buying a new AppleTv for $149 and having a spare. Cant believe the remote cost half of a new AppleTv.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DanielDD Avatar
109 months ago
First half of 2016? June 30th it is :)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
109 months ago
This new Apple TV Remote app should have been released with the Apple TV.
Make sure that you do that when you release your competing hardware. After all, how dare Apple not have everything ready to give you for free?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleguy123 Avatar
109 months ago
All the rumors said that this thing was delayed over and over again so apple can get it right, but so many things about it feel rushed. No Siri Apple Music at launch, no remote app compatibility at launch. No tv streaming service.

This is the 4th gen Apple TV, but it doesn't even feel like a first gen Apple product. It feels like something I bought on Kickstarter.

Pretty inexcusable from the largest company in the world.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nfl46 Avatar
109 months ago
I am surprised they've kept Cue this long.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...