How to use voice search on your Apple TV
How to use voice search on your Apple TV
If you’d rather use Siri to move around your Apple TV player, we can help you become a pro!
The streaming device remote is quite different from the button-laden TV remote of old. That’s especially true of Apple TV; the Apple TV 4K remote is quite advanced, but it comes with a lot fewer physical buttons than users might be accustomed to.
Some owners might find it easier to search around their Apple TV interface using the Siri voice assistant built into the device’s remote control. But how do you use the Apple TV voice search feature anyway? We’ll explain all the details below.
Everything you need to know to use Siri voice assistant with Apple TV
What is the Siri voice assistant?
Siri is the AI-driven virtual assistant built into a host of Apple devices. Customers can speak to Siri instead of using physical remotes or buttons to control devices using iOS, macOS, tvOS, and more. Siri can also be used as a chatbot, and its natural-language interface leaves customers to speak conversationally with the assistant instead of trying to ask overly robotic queries.
Do all Apple TV remotes have Siri voice?
All Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K devices have a Siri remote. First through third-generation Apple TV devices did not include the Siri voice assistant with their remotes, but can still be navigated by an Apple TV remote on an iOS device.
How to use the Siri voice assistant on Apple TV
To use the Siri voice assistant with your Apple TV remote:
- Power on your Apple TV and TV screen.
- Find the Siri button; on first-gen Siri remotes, it will be on the face of the device. On second-gen or later remotes, it’s on the side of the housing as pictured.
- Press and hold while speaking your command.
- Release when your command is finished.
What can you use Siri to do on Apple TV?
The Siri voice assistant can help viewers search for shows and movies by title, look up genres, locate and open specific apps, get recommendations, search YouTube, or even play live content. It can also be used to control playback, call up sports scores, and even find an iPhone if that setting is enabled.
The following examples are just a small selection of the voice prompts you can use with Siri:
- Turn on English subtitles.
- Find fantasy movies with a big ensemble cast.
- What should I watch?
- Open STARZ.
- Search YouTube for low-stress cooking videos.
- Switch to my profile.
- Play a Star Wars movie.
- Find 4K viewing options.
- What’s the weather?
- What’s the best TV show of the year?
How to change the language of your Siri assistant on Apple TV
If you want to have your Siri assistant speak a language other than English on your Apple TV, all you need to do is:
- Navigate to the Apple TV home screen.
- Click the Settings app.
- Scroll to Siri.
- Tap Siri language, and choose your new language from available options.
Can you use the Siri voice assistant hands-free with your Apple TV?
No, you will have to physically press the button on your Apple TV player to use the Siri voice assistant.
Can you control Apple Home devices with Siri?
Yes! If you have a Siri voice remote, you can use it to control any compatible Apple Home devices. That means you can adjust the temperature in your house, dim the lights, and turn up the sound to your ideal settings with your Apple TV’s Siri remote without having to leave the comfort of your couch.
Why should you use your Apple TV’s Siri voice assistant?
The Siri voice assistant can make navigating around your Apple TV a lot easier to accomplish. There’s no need to fumble with buttons or worry about an accidental press with the Siri voice remote, and you can use it to replicate just about any function you can carry out with the remote’s buttons with a lot less stress.
Using the Siri voice remote can also surface much more relevant search results for what you’re looking for. You can ask highly detailed questions to your Siri remote that it would take quite a long time to type into a search bar, and you can even ask basic knowledge questions like “What’s the temperature outside?” or “Is a tomato a fruit?” instead of having to put down the remote and search for the answer on your phone.
Quit fumbling around with your clickpad and make searching and navigation as easy as a spoken word with the Siri voice remote. Control playback, use Siri to control smart home devices, and do everything else your physical remote can do with just a few choice words into your Siri remote.