My Apple TV settings recommendations

Apple TV is really one of Apple’s most underrated products. It’s affordable, the picture quality is amazing, and compared to other streaming boxes like Fire TV, Roku, and any built-in “smart” feature of a TV it is blazing fast and smooth as silk. But there are several settings that are set up as default that you may want to consider changing for an even better experience.

First some housekeeping. You can skip this if you are already familiar with Apple TV.

What is Apple TV? I wish that was an easy answer. Strangely, Apple has three different things called Apple TV. This is a bit of a branding problem. They are:

• Apple TV (the device): This is a box about the size of a hockey puck that you plug into any television, just as you would a cable box or a DVD player. It essentially turns your TV into a giant iPad with apps that are optimized for movies and TV shows, with some video games sprinkled in. It allows you to get apps such as Netflix, Hulu, and thousands more. And even if you have a smart TV already, this is far more capable than anything built into a TV. The box runs around $150 and there is no monthly fee. However, most apps themselves have fees. But if you already pay for them elsewhere such as with Netflix or Max, you don’t need to pay again. Just sign in with your existing account.
• Apple TV (the app): This is an app, available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, some newer smart TVs, and of course on the Apple TV device itself. It tries to be the central directory of available content. It keeps track of which shows you are watching, lets you know about new episodes, and suggests things for you to watch. However, the app is very different on each kind of device. On Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad it suggests and keeps track of content from most major apps. On Mac and on third party smart TVs, it only keeps track of content provided by Apple, either through the iTunes Store or Apple TV+.
• Apple TV+: This is a streaming service available through the Apple TV app on any device, and a direct competitor to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. They do have a rather small catalog because it is almost entirely content produced by Apple, but I think it’s generally really high-quality content. You may recognize some shows such as Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Shrinking, and For All Mankind. There is of course a monthly fee. You can get it included in all Apple One bundles, and it’s a free perk for many T-Mobile customers.

My recommended settings

TV button

The TV button takes you to the Apple TV app rather than to the home screen. I understand what Apple wants this to accomplish. The Apple TV app is supposed to be your directory of content for the Apple TV. Apple doesn’t want you to think of the Apple TV as a place for getting apps; they want you to think of it as place where you can watch content. In other words, the TV button is supposed to be a guide of shows rather than a list of apps.

However, the reality is that there are several apps that don’t integrate into the Apple TV app. Most notably the behemoth in streaming: Netflix.

For this reason, I think most people would prefer to switch the TV button to take you to the home screen where all of your apps are laid out in tiles, just as swiping up or pressing the Home button on your iPhone or iPad takes you to the grid of app icons. To do this go to the Settings app > Remotes and Devices > Remote > TV Button.

Keyboard grid

The built-in voice recognition and dictation is pretty good, but sometimes you just need a keyboard. And a very weird design decision, Apple makes the default keyboard a giant long line which reminds me of this classic Onion video from 2009. Typing an A and then a Z requires you to swipe across the entire alphabet. Luckily, you can switch the keyboard to a more traditional grid layout by visiting the Settings app > General > Keyboard Layout

The linear keyboard vs. the grid keyboard

Selection indicator

In another strange design decision, determining the current selection on your screen requires looking for very subtle cues. The current selection will simply be slightly larger than the other items. And if you gently wiggle your finger on the touch pad, you will see the selected item wiggle. If you want something more obvious, you can choose to have a white box around the current selection so you don’t have to guess what you are about to click. You can change this in the Settings app > Accessibility > Display > Focus Style. Switch it to High Contrast.

High Contrast disabled vs. enabled

Disable audible previews in the Apple TV app

When you open the Apple TV app it immediately starts playing a preview with audio in the upper portion of your screen. But you can disable the audio in the Settings app > Apps > TV and disable Autoplay Video Sound. You’ll still get audio when you choose to watch a preview.

Adjust AirPlay settings

By default Apple TV allows any nearby Apple device to request an AirPlay connection, even if they aren’t on your WiFi network. When a connection is requested for the first time a PIN pops up on the Apple TV which you then enter into your iPhone. This sounds like a good idea but it just means your neighbors are likely to accidentally connect thinking it’s their own Apple TV, thus pausing whatever you are watching. To fix this head to the Settings app > AirPlay and HomeKit > Allow Access. From here you will have up to three options depending on your configuration:

• Everyone: allows anyone within about 50 feet to request a connection. This can be a problem, especially in apartment buildings.
• Anyone on the Same Network: my usual recommendation, allows anyone on your WiFi to connect. This excludes people on a guest network.
• Only People Sharing This Home: Also a good option. If you use the Apple Home app for home automation, only the users that your home is shared to can access.

Dark appearance

You are likely familiar with Dark Mode on your iPhone and Mac, where you can switch everything to be white text on a black background. Apple TV has a similar function. Generally, we watch TV in dimly lit rooms. For this reason I usually recommend going to the Settings app > General > Appearance, and switching to Dark. Colors pop more and your TV won’t light up your whole living room with a bright white screen. Of course this is a personal preference, but I feel that this is more cinematic.

One Home Screen

For most people, I recommend turning on One Home Screen in Settings > Users and Accounts > Default User. What this does is it keeps all of the apps in sync between all of your Apple TVs. To be clear, this is just for the selection of apps and their placement, not things inside of the apps such as logins. It will need to be enabled on each Apple TV. Or if you have one TV you want to have different apps (such as in the kids’ room) you can disable it just on that one television.

Reduce tracking

Head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. Set Allow Apps to Ask to Track off. While this doesn’t block tracking, it asks all apps not to track your app usage, which they may or may not respect.

Match Content

This one I don’t have a specific recommendation for. It will depend on your TV and on your personal preferences and you’ll have to tinker to see what works best for you. Go to Settings > Video & Audio > Match Content. What these settings do is change your TV resolution and color settings to match the video that you are playing. I have both of these off because when I watch non-HDR content the blacks are way too dark, and whenever I stop or start a video the screen blanks out for 3 or 4 seconds as the settings are being applied which I find very annoying.