Swiping up on the Apple TV remote when a video is paused does not allow selecting the Subtitles or Audio buttons; instead, the video timeline just scrubs slightly left or right.

Swiping up on the Apple TV remote when a video is paused 99% of the time does not allow selecting the Subtitles or Audio buttons; instead, the video timeline just scrubs slightly left or right. Very rarely (1% of the time) it will move the selection cursor up to the Subtitles & Audio buttons.

Doesn’t seem to be an issue with my own or my significant other’s motor control ability— swiping down to reveal info panel (in video apps that have one) works fine; and I’m a software developer and graphic designer who works with a MacBook Pro’s touchpad, Apple Magic Mouse 2, and iPad Pro every day doing often pixel-precise work at rapid speed.

Issue is present with both Apple TV remote and virtual remote on iPhone or iPad, across all video playing apps (Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+, etc.) Issue has been present for at least the past few major tvOS releases (tvOS 14, 15, & 16). Hardware revision is Apple TV HD (2015).

Issue Topic listed is incorrect: Issue seems to be tied to tvOS, not specifically the hardware (issue persists with virtual remote) or a specific app.

So questions: What am I doing wrong? Is there a trick to this? Do I need to swipe slower? Faster? To one side of the remote? Starting from the bottom of the touch area, exiting at speed off the top of the remote? I can’t figure it out, and I’m by-trade very good at using a variety of user interfaces.

Also, is there an alternate way to access those buttons— some kind of “hold the volume up button for 5 seconds” trick or something? (This question excludes setting the appropriate options in system settings, which are already set up appropriately but don’t always take full or the desired effect in every app for every video.)