Apple TV remote app won't connect

This answer is not helpful and Apple is not properly maintaining this software. The Apple TV software as well as all the help assume you are connecting the Apple TV with Wi-Fi. This is silly as all Apple TVs have RJ45 connectors making it possible to connect the Apple TV via an ethernet cable. Exactly what I do. Apple should fix this software to not search via WiFi to connect, but to search on the same LAN, regardless whether any connection is done via Wi-Fi or not. In my case I want to run the app from my iPad, connected via WiFi, but going of course to the router, which connects to the Apple TV via cable. The make the connection is always a hassle. Awful that Apple cannot make software that matches its hardware.

Thanks jeelke. I did try all scenarios, removing my phone from apple TV, reconnecting via bluetooth as you said but no success.

Mine is fixed now by signing out my apple ID on my Apple TV, removing apple TV from my apple ID on my phone and then signing in my ID on my Apple TV. Remote app in control centre is working now!

Perhaps let me clarify two points:

1) I was talking in my previous post about the iOS app 'Apple TV Remote'. It seems mostly unusable for my setups where connections are ethernet cable based. The app never fails to show my Apple TVs, but is most of the time unable to connect to the Apple TV it lists. The hints offered such as go closer to the device and make sure both devices are connected to the same WiFi, while my Apple TVs are never on the same WiFi as only cable connected, all this makes simply no sense. So Apple should fix this iOS app for its buggy behavior or start deprecating it.

2) Fortunately with newer iOS there exists an alternative that seems to work reliably: This technique, described here Set up the Apple TV Remote on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support, seems today to be much better supported by Apple and does not require aforementioned iOS app 'Apple TV Remote'. While this seems to work in my experience reliably also with a setup involving ethernet cabling, it also gives misleading information. E.g. in case of some difficulties also this system software consistently refers to the misleading need that both devices would have to be connected to the same WiFi instead of stating the same LAN. Any user using an ethernet cable is invited to disconnect her Apple TV first from a perfectly working ethernet cable and try to use the WiFi, while the actual problem has nothing to do with the fact that an ethernet cable connection is involved.

To wrap up: Fortunately the newer iOS offers a solution to this problem. Yet, buggy software becomes more and more time consuming for all end users and Apple's software quality is unfortunately also only declining. As a programmer I am well aware that at the same time the complexity of the software has exploded, so one can argue that relatively seen the quality has even increased. However in absolute terms end users are suffering more as our societies rely increasingly on software. Therefore I find companies such as Apple and others need to accept that if a software behaves as poorly as the iOS 'Apple TV Remote', this is simply not acceptable from a consumer's perspective.

Iphone 5se 2016 would not remote ATV4. 3-4 calls at Apple support and updates to iOS and TVOS to get the same version seem to be not required after all.

Above post helped!

The following assumes that remote has already been added to control center.

So I :

Signed out of iCloud on ATV4 by doing the following to / within the ATV4:

( Settings>Users and Accounts>then picked the problem User>iCloud>Sign Out.

Then on Malfunctioning iphone, the ATV4 was removed from the list at the bottom of the Apple ID page by the following steps: >Settings, at the top of the page choose the cell with your your AppleID showing, then scroll down the page that comes up until you see the ATV4 listed and choose “Remove from Account”.

1. Now, still on the iPhone, swipe up to get the control center screen, tap the remote icon and wait for the 6 digit security code to show on the iPhone and enter it onto the TV screen using the ATV4 dedicated remote. Wait a few seconds.
2. BINGO - the iPhone’s remote control for ATV4 now works !
3. It seems to be “the old log out then log back in trick” to fix it.

Please anyone who has this issue give the remote app 1 star.

i only had one Apple TV that the remote would not connect to. I changed the name of that TV only, then went through the set up a remote process to re- pair the phone to the Apple TV again.

How can we update the AppleTV when it doesn’t connect to our phones?

Settings on TV4--> Remotes and Devices --> Remote App and Devices.

Note that it doesn't give you a formal menu choice to pair a device -- you have to look in the print beneath the lovely Apple TV logo on the left, where it says "To pair a device, hold it close to this Apple TV" -- you might have to turn bluetooth off and on.

And the strange thing is that on my iphone and my ipad, if you look on the bluetooth "my devices" list -- ATV4 doesn't show up on either of them.

So I think that pairing the bluetooth is a critical step into having the remote work from your iOS device. But this is how to pair it. A bit obscure, but pairing my phone to the ATV4 seemed to be the step that resolved the issue.

Yeah for the last however many months, I’ve been having to access my Apple TV through my phone in a very annoying way by going through the control center and then choosing the Apple TV and then clicking the remote button and it’s really tedious and many steps and I restarted everything and I don’t think there’s any way to fix it.

I had the same issue with my wife’s new phone. (A 13 pro max) tried every solution offered here with no luck.

Because I have multiple Apple TV’s and still

have one physical remote, I was finally able to fix it by performing a factory Reset on the Apple TV. This required then pairing my physical remote with it, and reinstalling apps, but no changes were required on her phone. At that point it just worked.

One quirk is that I performed the initial setup using my phone. That meant that my iCloud account had a generically named “Apple TV” registered along with the “Living Room” device. I just removed it from the iCloud/Apple ID settings page on my phone.

Solved…!!!!

On your Apple TV go to:

Settings >Remotes and Devices>Remote App and Devices.

Remove all devices that have been previously connected to this Apple TV and start connecting them again using the remote app on your iPhone.

you shouldn’t have a connecting problem after doing those steps.

Good Luck,

Mohamed Darwish

I have been same problem for a while. Just downloaded new iOS and it showed up for a second then disappeared again. BUT I think I got it fixed. I changed the name of the apple tV (from master bedroom to a ‘bed’ ) and now it works. Other steps I took were to ‘forget’ my iPhone in the settings->remotes menu on apple tv. Then brought the phone close to re-pair and add it to home in the apple TV set up. Even then it still didn’t work until I changed the name. Give that a try. Hopes this helps.

This also happening to me, my remote app will not stay connected after I use it for the first time of the day. For the rest of the day it will just act as if it cannot recognize my Apple TV or connect to it anymore please hot fix.

Funny enough, it works for me it I connect it for the first time and I can control the Apple tv normally, 2 minutes later it disconnects and it refuses to connect (showing the connection wheel then nothing happens)

if I leave it for few hours then try again it works, and again after 2 mins it stops

How can we update the AppleTV when it doesn’t connect to our phones?

It is recommended to have a functional physical remote available for your Apple TV, even if you prefer the software remote. Borrow one temporarily if needed. Or buy a replacement remote separately.

Updating the Apple TV (4th generation or later) isn’t essential for connecting the iPhone remote (when running tvOS 11.1 (2017) or later, which was current when the Control Center remote was introduced).

Updating the Apple TV (3rd generation) isn’t essential for connecting the iPhone remote (when running Apple TV Software 7.5 (2020) or later, which was when that functionality was introduced for this model).