It looks like the new Apple TV Siri is a blast from the past, like Apple took a Siri prototype from 2007 and stuck it onto what Tim Cook called a ‘revolutionary’ device. The Apple TV has had much hype since coming out this month, and it looks like it’s still something that needs plenty of development before it can measure up to its competitors.
Firstly, the Siri Remote. This new addition, which comes for free in the top-box set but at $79 if users want an extra, has a touch pad and a series of buttons that help users navigate. The top of the remote is touch sensitive, but the bottom is not, so users are better off just clicking, which takes away the entire novelty of the remote set up. Additionally, while Apple is offering extra Siri Remotes, Apple TV will only pair with one. Swiping is inaccurate and even the ghost of a wrong move will end up in a wrong selection.
The microphone button on the Siri Remote can be pressed down to talk to Siri, which is less clever than it’s iPhone counterpart by a handful of software updates. While the new Apple TV Siri understands very basic language, intricacies are lost to this version. Siri acts more of a recording search bar or interface. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the usual Siri snark, as it will give you bad jokes referencing other Apple Products when you ask it something it can’t recognize, so there’s that.
The new Apple TV Siri is also, dumbly enough, not compatible with a lot of apps from the Apple TV, including the App Store. You’d think Apple would make sure to make the add-on compatible with the largest collection of Apple content. You also can’t use the iPhone Apple TV Remote app to control the Apple TV Siri; in fact, the iPhone Apple TV Remote App doesn’t connect to the new Apple TV at all. There just seem to be plenty of nuances entirely lost to this new Apple TV.
Further updates will tell if Apple will continue to sacrifice functionality to avoid necessary redundancy, but for now, the new Apple TV is better left at store shelves. Reviewers are considering sticking to their Roku 4’s and Amazon Fire TV’s, at least until Apple gives the new addition to the family an update of some sort.
