The Apple TV interface is designed to move one object at a time. Press the right arrow key on your remote, move to the next movie in your list.
Radu Dutzan had an idea for a more direct interface (think mouse instead of arrow keys) and built this conceptual prototype using an iPhone and AirPlay. Some interesting ideas in here, definitely worth watching. As Radu mentions, the direct manipulation concept is not new, but he’s making the case that this approach is doable on Apple TV.
When I asked Radu about Apple’s Remote app, which allows much of this functionality, he said:
Remote tries to imitate this effect, but instead of allowing the user to directly manipulate controls on the screen, it’s translating swipes into discrete button clicks, since that’s the only thing the Apple TV understands today. You cannot precisely control the cursor using Remote, in fact, the behavior is quite unpredictable at times.
This is most evident on a complex button layout, such as the keyboard. I had actually never tried to use the TV keyboard by swiping on Remote, since I would just use the on-screen keyboard on the phone, but having used the prototype, there’s really a world of difference. You just can’t move the cursor freely, there’s no spatial correlation between the gesture and the movement of the cursor, and if you swipe diagonally, it actually starts to get cute: Remote will do its best, but you’ll probably just end up with the cursor two or three buttons away, on the same row or column.
Interesting experiment.
Radu is the coolest! Such a useful demo.
Would be better to bring up an onscreen keyboard on the phone instead of moving around to select each letter on screen
With the current Remote app for the Apple TV, the vertical and horizontal scrolling is similar to what Radu demonstrated. He’s correct that the AppleTV does one item moves at a time, but in an interface where you’re moving from one item to the next, why do I need the ability to slide between two items? Per his keyboard demonstration, I’m not convinced it’s a better solution then just using the iOS built in keyboard.
What the Remote app really needs, however, is to just replicate the AppleTV interface on the iOS device, so instead of having a swipe pad, I see all of the icons and I can scroll through them on the device. When I tap an item, it then initiates that on the AppleTV. Want to move items around, move them on the device with tap/hold/move. When it’s dropped, it moves on the AppleTV.
Translate where you have a limited flat surface that you would have at hand while viewing TV, which can track swipes, can be clicked and is gesture enabled… Yes, the Apple Watch… The perfect remote is the one that’s actually there when you need it
I said as much on Radu’s Medium post but, I think to him we are splitting hairs. He’s making the argument that the remote that ships with the Apple TV is not as robust as it could be. And I agree but, that’s the reason I use my iphone/ipad with the downloadable remote app — which does everything he’s demoing (even if it can’t go diagonally like on a trackpad).
My argument to him was that adding that type of remote just increases the cost of the Apple TV – which in light of the Roku stick, chromecast stick and competitors like the Fire TV — is a non-starter for Apple.
At the end of the day, this interaction has more precision but is still indirect. What you really want is a direct interface. I made a follow up concept to demonstrate what that could feel like here: https://pauldyan.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/a-next-gen-tv-interface-concept/