Change Apple TV keyboard to a grid

For years now, the default keyboard on Apple TV has been “linear” meaning the keyboard is one long row, A to Z, so typing means swiping left and right a lot. Personally, I hate it. Fortunately, you can switch the keyboard to a “grid” layout if that works better for you. Go to the Settings app > General > Keyboard, then switch from “Automatic” to “Grid”.

Not all apps respect this setting but many do.

The default “linear” keyboard. So. Much. Swiping.
Fortunately, you can change to the grid layout with much less swiping.