Can't control volume of Apple TV via iPhone remote "app": some misinformation here

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Level 1

41 points

Can't control volume of Apple TV via iPhone remote "app": some misinformation here

I very recently was gifted a new Apple TV and I have an iPhone 14, running IOS 16.2. Everything seems to be working fine, but I can't use the iPhone volume controls, in conjunction with the iPhone control center remote "app", to control the TV volume. (The TV is a 5 year old or so Insignia, connected to a Sony soundbar.) The control center remote app on the iPhone does everything else it is supposed to. The Siri remote that came with the Apple TV does control the volume just fine, interestingly even with the Apple TV sleeping. Someone in this community has repeatedly said the Siri remote directly controls the TV volume through IR, so not to expect the iPhone remote app to be able to control the volume. Not true. I disconnected the HDMI cable from the Apple TV to the TV and the Siri remote could no longer control the volume. I also unplugged the Apple TV from power and the Siri remote again stopped controlling the volume, so clearly it is going through the Apple TV and not directly to the TV. Someone here suggested making a phone call on the iPhone and while the call was going on put it on speaker, bring up the remote app and change the volume with the side controls, and then hang up. That didn't work for me. Any bright ideas, anyone?

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 16

Posted on Feb 8, 2023 10:19 PM

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Answer 1

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Theodore Lee Author

Level 1

41 points

Feb 20, 2023 10:30 AM in response to koagul8or

After using the iPhone as a remote all I can report is that sometimes it works to control the volume and sometimes it doesn’t, but subjectively it works more often than not. I have no idea what I do that makes it work, although I don’t think it requires cycling the Apple TV power or rebooting the iPhone.

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2023 11:19 PM in response to Theodore Lee

I contacted support about this and they told me that the volume control on the iPhone app (and the watch app) are used to control an AirPlay compatible speaker connected to Apple TV via Bluetooth, not the output volume from the Apple TV device (as per the Apple Remote control).

This seems pretty strange to me but that's what they told me.

I find it pretty frustrating that I can't control the volume if I've temporarily misplaced the remote control.

Off topic, but there is no way to control Apple TV from a Mac computer. Again, pretty strange.

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Answer 3

Urquhart1244

Level 10

145,710 points

Feb 9, 2023 03:47 AM in response to Theodore Lee

Volume control with the physical remote is done using IR directly to the TV or audio system (not through the Apple TV box). One exception is AV receivers (maybe select soundbars too) that support volume control over CEC.

No TV is known to support volume control from other connected devices over CEC.

The software remote on iPhone can only work over the Wi-Fi network to the Apple TV box. Therefore volume control using the software remote requires a compatible AV receiver, as the iPhone doesn’t send IR signals.

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Answer 4

Feb 20, 2023 08:03 AM in response to Theodore Lee

Yeah thinking about it, I now realise what I said is nonsense. Thanks for clarifying Theodore.

I have another Apple TV box that is connected to a computer monitor (with no audio), and the Apple TV is broadcasting audio to a very old Bluetooth speaker. I can control the volume with both the physical Apple TV remote and my iPhone. So I'm not sure why Apple Support told me what they told me (above). Maybe they simple searched the forums. :)

So I'm kind of back to square one because with the Apple TV box that is connected to a real TV with built in audio, I can only control the audio volume with the physical remote, not my iPhone.

I'll try unplugging and rebooting etc and report back, thanks.

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Answer 5

Feb 10, 2023 06:54 AM in response to Urquhart1244

Ah that makes sense, thank you. I didn't realise the Apple TV Siri Remote controls volume via the TV rather than the output of the Apple TV.

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Answer 6

Theodore Lee Author

Level 1

41 points

Feb 9, 2023 10:40 AM in response to koagul8or

I’ll be darned. It’s now working. I have no idea what I did to make it work. Possibly unplugging the Apple TV, rebooting my phone, or messing with the audio receiver setting on the tv. Let me make that clear. I’m playing a radio station through the Apple TV to my Insignia TV which is connected to a Sony sound bar. I can control the volume with the side buttons on my iPhone when I have Apple TV remote control center app up. Happy camper.

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Answer 7

Theodore Lee Author

Level 1

41 points

Feb 10, 2023 09:10 AM in response to koagul8or

I’m not sure you understand completely. The physical remote or remote app in the control center on an iPhone tell the Apple TV to change the volume, and the Apple TV communicates that the TV over the CEC pin on the HDMI cable. In my case, the TV knows I have a sound bar (which it calls an audio receiver) attached to the TV and communicates the volume instructions it gets from the Apple TV to the sound bar over the CEC link on the HDMI cable from the TV to the sound bar.

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Answer 8

Theodore Lee Author

Level 1

41 points

Mar 25, 2023 09:40 PM in response to Theodore Lee

I don’t know if anyone will see this, but I discovered something, partly by accident, partly by experiment, that seems relevant to this whole thread. When an iPhone is used as a remote for the Apple TV box it connects to the box by either Bluetooth or WiFi. When it is connecting by Bluetooth it doesn’t have as much functionality as with WiFi, in particular, volume control seems chancy and the mini-controls aren’t available. I discovered this because for historical reasons I have two WiFi channels in use on my home network, each on separate subnetworks. The Apple TV is permanently connected to one of them but my iPhone can be on either one and until I discovered this it doesn’t matter — either one routes to my DSL internet modem. But the two subnetworks can’t be seen from each other, so if my iPhone connects to the one the Apple TV is not connected to, it doesn’t see it through WiFi, only through Bluetooth. (I really need to reconfigure my whole home network, so that everything is on the same subnetwork, but I’m too lazy. )

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Can't control volume of Apple TV via iPhone remote "app": some misinformation here

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