Vincent_From_Florida

Q: Apple TV Remote App - Volume Control

I have an Apple TV 4th Gen. - the Siri remote works perfectly.  I just downloaded the new (8/1/16) Apple TV Remote App on my iPhone 5s.  The App works fine except the TV volume can't be controlled with the iPhone's volume + and - buttons.  Our tvOS version is 9.2.2, CEC is enabled and the Apple TV is a discovered device on my Vizio TV.

 

Some community members report that the iPhone volume buttons work with the new Apple Remote TV App and others have the same problem I have.

 

Help.

 

Thanks,

Apple TV (4th generation), tvOS 9.1

Posted on Aug 25, 2016 12:13 PM

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Q: Apple TV Remote App - Volume Control

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  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Aug 25, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Vincent_From_Florida
    Level 10 (103,346 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 25, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Vincent_From_Florida

    The siri remote uses IR to adjust the volume on your TV/receiver in the vast majority of cases and HDMI-CEC in a small number of cases since very few TV/receivers appear to support volume control this way. If you can't use your siri remote to control volume via HDMI-CEC then you aren't going to get the remote app to either since the remote app can't use IR.

  • by Vincent_From_Florida,

    Vincent_From_Florida Vincent_From_Florida Aug 25, 2016 12:30 PM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 25, 2016 12:30 PM in response to Winston Churchill

    Thanks for your quick response.  The Siri remote controls our TV volume using IR, so I guess that's why I can't adjust volume with my non-IR capable iPhone.  iPhone volume control seems to be working for a small number of community members with TV's that support volume control via HDMI-CEC - how can I tell if HDMI-CEC volume control is possible on my 2-year old Vizio TV.

  • by Winston Churchill,Helpful

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Aug 25, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Vincent_From_Florida
    Level 10 (103,346 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 25, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Vincent_From_Florida

    Mine isn't so I can't confirm this 100% and it may be a bit of a guess.

     

    My assumption is that it's the remote that tells the Apple TV to tell the TV/receiver to adjust it's volume, as such if that feature were available I'd assume it would show up in the options for settings > remotes and devices > home theatre control > volume.

     

    I'd also assume the Apple TV knows whether the connected TV/receiver has this ability so it can tell the phone. Apparently it's the volume buttons on the phone that control the TV/receiver volume and you wouldn't want the phone volume to change when you adjusted the TV/receiver volume, so I was kind of thinking the phone would need to disable the phone volume when it was told there was a TV/receiver to control instead.

     

    Hope that makes sense.

  • by Vincent_From_Florida,

    Vincent_From_Florida Vincent_From_Florida Aug 25, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 25, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Winston Churchill

    Makes a lot of sense - thanks again.  I've been through my TV manual and menu screens and there doesn't seem to be an option to control volume through HDMI-CEC.  So, I guess that's why my Siri remote can only control volume using IR and since my iPhone 5s doesn't have an IR capability there's no iPhone Apple TV Remote App volume control available for me.

     

    Not happy with the outcome, but at least I know why I can't control my Apple TV volume with my iPhone.