This is a great little gadget if you almost exclusively use your Apple TV for your TV programming. It was super simple to program, just aim your TV remote at this remote and press the corresponding buttons. The buttons can be programmed to be anything, even though they are marked with icons for things like power, volume, channel, source.
Because the Apple TV remote takes care of my TV volume, I used the (+) and (-) keys and right and left respectively to replicate the 4 direction pad on my TV remote (along with the UP and DOWN buttons below it). This works well for me to reach the Sleep function of my TV which is hidden in a menu and not directly accessible from the remote.
My one suggestion would be that the keys have different textures so that you can distinguish them by feel. Although the (+) key and the DOWN key have little nubs, they are not very noticeable and really don't guide your fingers to the right keys in the dark.
The Sideclick remote does a good job filling in for the Apple TV Siri Remote which lacks a simple option like a mute button to work along side the included volume buttons. Being able to program any of the Sideclick’s buttons to do whatever you’d like and not necessarily what is printed on the button is rather convenient. Right out of the box it was easy to install the Apple TV remote and program the buttons. Having something to make the Apple TV remote larger isn’t a bad thing since it’s small enough to be quickly devoured by your favorite chair or couch cushion only to never be found again. Worth while purchase!
I desperately needed this. Sometimes my Apple TV remote wouldn’t turn on the actual TV and then I would have to look for the TV remote just to power it on. I got this remote to solve that issue and it works great. Setup was super easy and now I can control the TV without keeping a second remote around. It also is super handy since I have a game console on the same TV and I can easily switch inputs and adjust the volume without looking for that second remote or even turning on the Apple TV. Highly recommend and will probably buy a few more for the other TVs.
The Amazon site says you can control your Apple TV and "multiple other devices" with the Sideclick. That's a little misleading. It will work with many different devices, just not at the same time. It has 8 programmable buttons, but each button can only be programmed to do one thing. If you program a button to turn on your TV, you can't program the same button to do anything else. If you do, then that button won't turn on your TV anymore. The Sideclick works well with my amp, but that uses four of the buttons; on, off, volume up, and volume down. I use the other four buttons with my DVR. I still need to use the factory remote to operate the TV.
The Sideclick works well, and it can cut down on the number of remotes you have to juggle, but if your set-up involves multiple devices, you are still going to be using more than one remote.
I purchased this January of 2018. I can say with 99% certainty this is going to be the best thing I buy this year.
Setup - EASY
Functionality - AMAZING
Works just as advertised. Better even. They undersold it. I have the Apple TV 4th Generation with Siri remote. Holds the remote well, doesn’t obstruct the lightning charging port. Makes it harder to lose!
This thing, within 2 days, I could not ever live without again. If I were homeless, I’d still want my Sideclick (which, by the way, is marketing gold and whomever dubbed that name deserves a capitalism Medal of Honor or something).
Add in the fact that my Apple TV remote has Siri, with HomeKit integration. I have a remote that controls all my media electronics AND with Siri can turn my lights on/off amongst other things.
I’m living in the future and boy let me tell you, the future is bright as **** thanks to Sideclick.
BUY THIS THING
Feature Product
- Slim universal remote attachment for Apple TV
- Control the basic functions of your tv, receiver, sound bar, blu ray and Apple TV all-in-one
- Easy to program. Must have your original device remote to program Sideclick.
- Apple TV player remote not included
- Compatible with apple TV black touchpad generation 4 remotes (not compatible with silver 2-3 gen)
Description
Control your Apple TV Gen 4-5 and multiple other devices such as your TV, Blu-ray, sound bar, DVD Player, amp and more with this all-in-one Sideclick Universal remote attachment. Included is the Sideclick slim universal remote and an adapter clip to fit Gen 4-5 models of Apple TV (with black touchpad remotes). AppleTV Remote NOT included.
I actually bought this to help me when watching YouTube TV. The way the Apple remote works it’s difficult to “zap“ commercials because when you tap the forward and back functions on the Apple remote it sometimes interprets a swipe and pulls up the menu messing everything up. I thought adding this to just add the functionality of moving forward and backward without the risk of swiping the touchpad would be ideal. It works quite well but there were a couple of limitations. First, I wasn’t able to program directly into the side remote from the Apple remote. I had to first program a universal remote I had handy and then use that to send the code to the side remote. It would also be nice if you could program macros in, but I understand the idea with this remote is quick and easy. I liked it well enough that I bought a second one for my other Apple TV. It did end up solving the problem for zapping commercials nicely.
This might be the best device that I’ve ever purchased, how can’t every other universal remote be this simple. 8 buttons that you can individually program to as many different remotes as you like. And it couldn’t be more simple, once you figure it out, each button takes literally 5 seconds to program. I went from 3 remotes to control the Antenna channels/input source & receiver volume to just this with my AppleTV remote, a Godsend! And I like that it makes the Apple remote a little more natural to handle and less likely to lose. Now to buy 2 more for my FireStick and FireTV!
Sideclick is a godsend! Not only does it add a little size to my AppleTV remote so my kids don’t lose it in the couch cushions, it’s also amazingly simple to program and use. I love that you can program each button to a single button on many different remotes. I have the following.
1. Receiver Power on/off
2. Receiver Volume Up
3. Receiver Volume Down
4. Receiver Media Source (AppleTV HDMI output)
5. Receiver Game Source (Gaming Console)
6. Receiver Sound Source (Dolby, Stereo, etc)
7. TV Power on/off
I love only needing one remote instead of three. It’s so simple to program and it works like a champ!
The sideckick remote provides some valuable buttons to complement the AppleTV remote. The only issue is that the extra width makes holding the remote slightly awkward. One improvement for the future I would suggest is to add some stronger texture to the back to assist in holding it. Programming was simple, hold the top and bottom buttons to enable learning, press the button you want to program and then use the existing remote to teach it the signal.
This is great. My tv setup requires 3 remotes- stereo receiver, tv and Apple TV. Too many considering two of the remotes are primarily used only for minimal function- on/off and volume. Wanted a universal remote, but don’t want to lose voice and touch capabilities of Apple TV remote. The sideclick has been a great solution. Easy to program and easy to use.
Only issue I found is the power button on the sideclick could not be programmed to turn vizio tv on. However the power button works fine with my receiver and the vizio power was programmed to a different button on remote. Weird glitch but not a big deal.
Side benefit: makes the Apple remote a little larger and harder to lose in the cushions.
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