Function101 is selling an Apple TV remote that (hopefully) doesn't suck

By Oliver Haslam
published

Function101 Apple Tv Remote
Function101 Apple Tv Remote (Image credit: Function101)

What you need to know

  • The Apple TV Siri Remote is bad.
  • No, it's awful.
  • This $30 remote is a better bet for all kinds of reasons.

Sick of the abomination that is the Apple TV Siri Remote? We all are and Function101 is hoping we'll all pay $30 to get rid of it. But the joke's on them – we'd pay twice as much!

Steve Jobs once said of iTunes on the PC that "it's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell". I can think of another example of that – a replacement for the Apple TV's Siri Remote. Sure, you might not want to chisel your fingertips off every time you pick it up. But you'll still have to deal with that interface.

Apple TV Siri Remote

Siri Remote on Apple TV (Image credit: iMore)

But I digress and for now, I'll take this remote. And it looks pretty cool, too. The "Button Remote for Apple TV" honestly reminds me of the remote that comes with your average Amazon Fire TV Stick. It looks fine, and it has most of the buttons that you're going to need to banish the Siri Remote from your sofa – there's no Siri button, unfortunately. It's boring, but we've had an interesting remote for the last five years and look how that worked out.

You can order this vanilla remote now for $29.95 (opens in new tab) and sure, it's boring. But sometimes boring is good, right?

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

5 Comments
  • I actually really like the apple remote. Works great for me and the family. The pad makes it super easy to scrub through video. I guess I never understood all the hate.
  • Totally! I like the simplicity of the remote and I use it a lot every day since all our viewing runs through the Apple TV device.
  • I honestly don't see anything on there that would make me pay 30$ for a replacement when the original remote works just fine and does everything I need. You didn't even bother mentioning why it is supposed to be so much better compared to the original. It does look way bulkier though.
  • It has a mute button! A button that mutes! The ability to actually mute the audio!
  • I ordered this remote the day this article came out and still have not received it. The company sends me emails with a new excuse each time. (employee made mistake, New shipment on it's way, Tracking number was wrong) - Can the writer of this article call and see what the issue with this company. I think they may be a bogus company. Which might make for another interesting article