There's more than one way to control an Apple TV
Apple TV can link to only one Siri voice-enabled remote at a time, but a universal remote or Apple's Remote app are decent compromises. Credit: Apple
It's amazing how well Apple TV fits into the TV-watching experience, especially with its small Siri-enabled remote control that has a touch pad on top. With the press of a button, you can speak into the remote to conduct voice searches and even spell login and password entries instead of typing with that silly on-screen keyboard.
So you would think getting a second remote would be as easy as going to the Apple store, paying $59.99 and pointing it at the TV. You'd be wrong: the Apple TV can pair with only one Siri remote at a time.
Turns out that you can program many universal remotes to control the Apple TV. A refurbished Logitech Harmony 650 universal remote, for example, runs less than $30.
The remotes are easy to program and work fine with Apple TV easily. What they don't have is Apple's slick trackpad or a microphone to enable Siri.
One compromise is Apple's free iOS app called Remote, which uses an iPhone or iPad to mimic most of the features of the Siri remote. It also uses the iOS device's touch screen and several on-screen buttons, including one with a microphone, to enable Siri.
The actual Siri remote has volume up and down buttons; the app does not.
The Siri remote works with Bluetooth to talk to the Apple TV and has an IR transmitter that enables it to talk to my TV. iPhone doesn't have an IR transmitter, so no TV volume control.
But the Remote app does have Siri, which is really useful once you get used to talking to it.
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