The Amazon Fire TV and Xbox One have started implementing voice control, and it’s likely we’ll see future Apple TV upgrades that offer the same.1 But why did it take us so long to make input less awkward? Were we so focused on the best solution that we forgot to look for better solutions that would suffice in the meantime?
We have a wonderful iOS Remote application for controlling the Apple TV but no quick way to open it. Even if our iPhone is within arm’s reach we still need to unlock it, find and open the Remote app, wait for it to load, select the Apple TV, and wait for it to connect before we can start navigating.
Earlier this month I tweeted:
The iOS Remote app should display a notification on your lock screen whenever a linked AppleTV is waiting for keyboard input.
How long would it take to build a solution that opens Remote and connects to your Apple TV when you tap on a notification? It’s not perfect, and it doesn’t cover every situation, but it would have temporarily eased our pain over the last five years.2
I’m not in any position to question Apple’s decisions—they’ve had unequivocal success without my input—but the rest of us could use this as a reminder. The next time you’re brainstorming, try not to toss aside all the imperfect solutions you come up with along the way. Maybe one of them is a simple solution you could implement now while continuing to work on the holy grail.
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WWDC 2014 kicks off next week, but the Apple TV’s release schedule isn’t consistent and there are ever-circulating rumors of bigger changes coming this Fall. ↩
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iTunes Remote was released in 2008, and iOS has had push notifications since 2009. ↩