Can you use an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard with the Apple TV 4th Gen?

Exactly you connected it FOR SERVICE. No where on the contents of the packaging does it say that it includes a USB cable. None of the documentation says anything about connecting any devices to the USB port. It's only used for service issues I.e. Restore

i have a library of 10,000 movies tv shows that are stored on an external HD and I stream the entire library via home share on my ATV 4 just like I did with the ATV3. All of the files have subtitles included and all of them are enabled by swiping up and selecting. Sorry if that's not the experience you have had...

IR keyboards seems to work!

Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard

link:Apple-TV-4-keyboard

Dear Harmony Users,

We’re glad to inform you that Harmony is compatible with Apple TV (4th Generation). Harmony controls it via IR and we've identified identified two limitations with controlling the 4th Generation Apple TV.

1. Bluetooth support for this Apple TV is broken and support for Harmony App's on screen keyboard will not work
2. The "Sleep" command which works through IR is not working making the Harmony unable to put the device to sleep

Apple TV may sometimes come linked with a specific Apple remote and will ignore commands sent from any other Apple or Harmony remote control. To allow Harmony to interact with your Apple TV, you must send an "unlink" (or "unpair") command. You may send this using your Harmony remote. If you're unable to control the newer version of Apple TV, find below the troubleshooting steps

Using a Harmony remote

• Navigate to the Devices menu on your Harmony remote LCD screen.
• Select Apple TV, and while pointing your remote at your Apple TV box, select Un Pair.
• Your Apple TV should now respond to all commands sent from Harmony.

Using the Harmony mobile app

• Launch the Harmony mobile app, select the device menu and select Apple TV.
• Ensuring your Harmony hub and Apple TV are within visible range of each other and then select Un Pair.
• Your Apple TV should now respond to all commands sent from Harmony.

Best Regards,
PKHarmony

If a reply resolves your issue, you can help other users also by clicking "Accept as Solution" and "Give Kudos".

Click here to join the Harmony Beta Community!

All opinions written here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of my employer.

The Logitech Harmony Ultimate has two methods of communicating with an Apple TV - IR and Bluetooth. If you use the Smart Keyboard with infrared, you're limited to the commands that the old-style Apple Remote is capable of, ie: Directions, Select, Back, Home and that's about it.

To be perfectly clear: TEXT ENTRY IS NOT SUPPORTED VIA INFRARED WITH LOGITECH HARMONY ULTIMATE SMART KEYBOARD.

I had the Smart Keyboard shipped from the US because you can't buy them in Australia, and it's fantastic. The beauty of it is that it automatically switches to the device you're using. I can control a PC and an Xbox via the two supplied USB dongles, and a PlayStation & Apple TV gen3 via Bluetooth. One keyboard, every device. Awesome.

Apple TV gen 4 does NOT support this. In fact, Apple TV Gen 4 is the ONLY Apple device released in the past few years that uses text entry, but doesn't support ANY external text entry method. Ipads, Ipods, Macs, Macbooks, iPhones, previous gen Apple TV, you name it, they ALL work with Bluetooth &/or Remote App in iOS. But this one doesn't.

And, it's THREE TIMES the price of the previous generation ($AU, for 64Gb model that I purchased). This is the first time, ever, that I've been disappointed with an Apple Device I've purchased.

this is a user support forum - we are all users here (not Apple). You can always send feedback to them directly http://www.apple.com/feedback/

if your not happy with an entertainment device then why keep it? Take it back, get something that entrrtaines you! Or maybe complainingfor the umpteenth time about something 98% of the people on this site are already aware of Is entertaining to you?

Thanks for the suggestion of submitting feedback - I've already done this, as well as spoken directly about the issue to my local Apple Store manager.

As far as user support, my response was specifically to correct the previous, misinformed post, which seemed to imply that users could use a logitech harmony keyboard over infrared to get around the text entry issue. Since I own this hardware, and know for a fact that this is not actually the case, and since I don't believe 98% of people would actually have been aware of that, in stating this I feel that I've provided valuable information to this forum for those users who have come looking for solutions to this issue, and might have been tempted to go and spend another couple of hundred dollars on a proposed solution that won't actually work either.

I apologise for voicing my dissatisfaction at the same time, as stated given the considerable investment I'm a little upset about the issue, that's all. Not enough to request a refund, but certainly enough to provide feedback to Apple about it (which as I said, I've already done twice).

Hope that clears things up.

have the third-gem, will not buy the fourth til keyboard support. I would suggest for us all, that it'll do no good to whine about it on here. Get right to the dev, flood 'em with the complaint so much that someone gets tired of deleting it and decides to seriously focus on this support. Not only that, but, while some address the developers, others should address them with a business case with concrete figures in it, stating why getting keyboard support back is needed. Otherwise, there's just no incentive on Apple's part to make it a priority. IMHO, they don't release firmware updates frequently enough to make waiting three or four updates a satisfactory solution. I hope there's a warning in a good online review of this product, warning not to purchase the box right now if you need bluetooth keyboard support. Now, if they would at least make it so you could say to the Siri remote, "enter a" or something, that'd be next best. But, people, we need to get to the developers, flood 'em with this complaint, plus, on the constructive side, a business case, and flood 'em hard, til they get sick of seeing this "spam"; otherwise, it could be six months or more of being stuck with useless devices for thousands of us...

Hmm; all this rage in this forum, I'm starting to catch, just like a cold. Come on, peops, stop whining about this on here, it only makes it worse. We've gotta get more ballsy and fight for what we had with the older atvs. Flood Apple itself with this keyboard lack complaint, til someone gets sick of deleting the spam and decides to make bringing this back a priority, or at least making it so you can spell things with Siri. Just passively waiting and hoping is not going to get this fixed, any time soon; as was said, it took a couple years to support keyboards in previous atvs. If enough thousands of users scream directly at Apple itself that we aren't willing to wait another two years... And, along with the constant complaints bombarded directly at Apple, there's got to be some way of flooding them with a "business case" for bringing back this support. Otherwise, there's just no incentive, financially, to make this a priority, rather than something else like the watch.

That's why i noted that feedback should be sent since complaining in a user community will have zero impact. Personally I have not wanted for a keyboard since I bought my ATV4 on release day. However, if it is an issue for you should absolutly send feedback. Then Apple can see the numbers impacted to decide if/when it becomes a priority Business decision for them...

FWIW I have heard that the Logitech k480 does work (for reasons unbeknownst to me why only 1) Re: Use iPhone/iPad to control Apple TV 4 gnr

Stupid that 4th gen Apple TV won't support Bluetooth keyboards. The way round the problem I have found is to use the very crude (but works!) Apple TV Remote app on my iPad and allow computer sharing on the new Apple TV - this allows the iPad keyboard to be used with the Apple TV

That's great. But the remote app only started working yesterday with the tvOS 9.1 and iOS 9.2 updates...

You should send feedback to Apple if you want them to hear your frustration...

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I suspect it may not be a mistake, but a deliberate business decision; just a guess, but would not surprise me. If you can't use a keyboard, you are discouraged from using third-party services and apps, locked into only iTunes and Apple Music which work with the Siri-based search. Assuming this *could* be the case--deliberate business strategy of discontinuing keyboard support--a loud and long-sustained public outcry to Apple itself is needed.

Not quite - I have yet to install iOS 9.2 and Apple Remote still worked!

I cannot understand why the Apple Remote is not pushed more by Apple as a way of controlling the Apple TV and the app could/should be much improved to make it much easier to use. With an iPhone or iPad using the app there really isn't a need for a separate keyboard so why on earth don't they exploit that? Weird.

SSorry I misspoke. The remote app does not require the iOS 9.2 update. Only the tvOS 9.1. Sorry for any confusion...

if you search these posts you will see hundreds of people complaining since release day that the remote app was not available...

It is a USB-C port as indicated in the instructions. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13814

Kind of mind blowing that Apple TV 4 doesn't have bluetooth keyboard support, unlike all previous gen Apple TVs.

However a good work-around is to use the Apple Remote app on an iPhone or iPad, which provides a soft keyboard for entering long text such as app passwords.