AppleTV Remote FINALLY controls Bose Soundbar 700!

I have had a Bose Soundbar 700 for 3 years now and could never figure out how to program the AppleTV Siri Remote to control the volume on the Soundbar.

Every time I tried to get the AppleTV to learn the volume buttons on the Soundbar 700 remote, the remote volume buttons would never respond to the prompt to “hold the volume up/down button on your other remote.” It was like whatever signal the Soundbar 700 remote sent out for controlling volume was not recognized by the AppleTV. I could program other buttons like play/pause or menu with the Soundbar 700 remote but NEVER the volume buttons.

The workaround goes like this:

1. find a 3rd party remote that you can program to control your Bose Soundbar 700 (for me, my LG C9 remote worked, but there was a trick involved with that to program the LG remote to work with the Soundbar: https://youtu.be/wmRjJgD1-1Y)
2. once the 3rd party remote is working with the Soundbar (it actually changes the volume up/down) go back to the learn device menu option for volume control on the AppleTV and use your 3rd party remote to fill the bar when prompted to “hold the volume up/down button on your other remote.”
3. you may encounter some resistance while filling the bar (the bar will fill up, then slip back down) but continue holding the volume up button and it will eventually fill up.
4. repeat for volume down
5. the mute button would not fill up the bar for some reason with my LG C9 remote, but that didn’t matter because it’s a fairly irrelevant feature for me. You can skip setting this button up by grabbing your ATV remote and pressing the right arrow button. It will skip the mute setup and just take you to the naming menu.
6. name your device.

Viola! After 3 years of struggling to control my Bose Soundbar with my AppleTV remote I am FINALLY able to not have to grab my Bose remote or open the Bose Music app to adjust the volume on my AppleTV. Hope this helps at least one person out there!