Personally I use a Universal Remote to control my HT. My HT consists of a Samsung QLED TV, a Onkyo Receiver, 6.1 Channels on the speakers an Apple TV 4K & Direct TV box
I set the remote for 3 functions:
- Watch TV: This turns on receiver which routes the HDMI signal from my receiver to the TV and sets the TV to the correct input and also turns on the Direct TV system.
- Watch Apple TV: This turns on the Apple TV, routes the HDMI signal from the receiver to the TV and sets the TV to the correct input.
- I also have a setting on the remote to control Internet radio (Pandora, etc..) on the Receiver.
Programming everything took about 15 minutes and it works perfectly even when I switch from watching Direct TV to watching Apple TV and vice versa.
The remote I use is a Logitech. I prefer their remotes as the programming is web based and simple to do. I've been using universal remotes for about 20 years and have found theirs the easiest to work with.
It's an additional expense yes but it makes the experience much much better than trying to use the remotes from so many devices. I keep those remotes in a box and rarely even look at them.
