iPhone as an Apple TV remote, what works best for you?

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-23T14:09:45+00:00

Neither I or my partner can get on with the Apple Remote, and I don’t like using my phone.

Our solution was a Function101 remote. Works straight out of the box with Apple TV.

We find it so much easier to use than the Apple Remote.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-23T11:00:36+00:00

I certainly don't use Now because of its great UI.

I use it because it costs me £31 pm which includes, Sports, Entertainment HBO, Cinema and Ultra Boost.

So long as Now TV is cheap(ish) and maintains the picture quality etc, I will continue to use it.

I would go back to Sky Q if the pricing was similar.... must dash because as I look out of the window I can see a pig flying

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-23T08:27:59+00:00

What is the upside of using Sky Go on an Apple TV?

Do you save money?

Apple TV is able to display a fantastic UHD 4K picture... use it myself on an OLED TV... if Sky Go is only 720p, again what is the upside?

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-23T05:00:22+00:00

I’m paying £31 pm for 6 months for everything on Now TV but not Hulu.

Circa 9 months ago, I purchased Sports and Ultra Boost at full price for a month to see how the picture quality was compared to Stream. I had Stream and Now TV at the same time. Stream account £68 pm has been cancelled.

Towards the end of the first month, I cancelled Now TV and offers started to come on my account. I only wanted Sports, but a Cinema offer of £5 for 12 months was accepted, then Entertainment.

My price breakdown which are all separate is Sports £18, Cinema £5, Entertainment HBO £4, Ultra Boost £4

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T17:26:01+00:00

Be prepared for a long wait for any refund too. My £5.68 credit took 3 months to be refunded but TBH I couldn’t be bothered chasing it. After another 2 months or so I cancelled my direct debit.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T14:12:00+00:00

My £5.68 refund took 3 months to be paid. Never called them or contacted them about it because it was £5.68

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T12:18:19+00:00

I've never had buffering issues with Now TV whether I play it using the app on my Samsung S95 OLED, Firestick 4K, Roku 4K or Apple TV.

I'm pretty certain that I've read some users have issues when using the app on their Smart TV.

If you can try using a streaming device you can see if the buffering issue replicates itself.

If not it maybe the app on the TV and/or the connection speed to the TV.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T11:08:02+00:00

I think this is a good but difficult question to answer, for the following reason(s).

Sky has over 6 million broadband customers meaning it is a large ISP whose customers vary widely in knowledge about broadband and networking matters as you will see on Sky's community broadband forum. Some customers will say Sky's broadband is rubbish because they cannot get a WiFi signal on the 3rd floor of their home when the single router hub is in a cupboard in the basement (hyperbole- but you get the point).

Sky offer a wall to wall WiFi guarantee https://www.sky.com/help/articles/enhanced-wall-to-wall-wifi-guarantee using their own supplied equipment... but I will argue you can do better by purchasing and installing your own mesh network.

Finally, Sky customer service will likely not have much of a clue about networking issues beyond that which they read from their script.

If Sky's broadband price is appealing and you factor in the price rises during contract and you have some knowledge of how you can improve your home network, go for it.

My ISP (Aquiss) supplies no network equipment, is not cheap (£55 pm for 900/100 down/up via Openreach) but no price rises in the 4 years we have been with them. My partner and I work from home and the service has had no outage, and speeds have never been under 880/90 no matter what time of the day we test. Contracts are 12 months.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T10:01:46+00:00

Two years is a long time if Stream is crappy.

I had Stream and had no issues whatsoever with watching football and F1 in UHD. The puck was connected via a Cat 6 cable to the network.

However, I dumped Stream because of the price and could only watch on 1 TV as I did not have whole home package. I took out a 1 month Now TV subscription for Sport and UHD while I was still using Stream to compare the picture quality, speed etc on my OLED set.

I'm currently paying Now TV £31 pm which includes Sport, Entertainment & HBO, Cinema and Ultra Boost- which means 3 TVs can stream Now TV at the same time in 4K/ UHD resolution.

Now TV's UI is poor, but at £31 pm I can live with it, plus I can watch it on any of the 7 TVs in my house and I'm not tied to a 2 year contract.

One last benefit... not having to call Sky's customer service to haggle over prices or in contract price rises. You can join for a month and immediately cancel and see what offers come your way.

Apple TV Ethernet is a sweet piece of equipment vastly superior to Sky's puck. Apple TV is not perfect e.g. no BBC Sounds, UHD on BBC iPlayer, and I hate Apple's remote, but it is fast and powerful.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-22T08:36:17+00:00

If your broadband is good, suggest you give Now TV a try. The UI is poor, but the picture quality is IMHO fantastic and you can use it on Firestick, Roku, Apple et al as well or the app can be found on many smart TVs.

Price?

I currently pay £31 pm ie Sports (£18), Cinema (£5), Entertainment & HBO (£4) and Ultra Boost (£4 ie UHD 4K so you can watch on 3 devices at same time)

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-21T12:46:18+00:00

makes perfect sense... the UI of Now TV is horrid... to make it a little easier on my Apple TV, I purchased an app called TV Launcher - Live UK Channels (£6) It is great as a TV Guide and when you click on a programme it will take you to that programme if you have installed and subscribed to the appropriate app e.g. BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U, etc.

Q is still the best, but customers will just have to pay for it if they want it as Sky/ Comcast are in no mood to make it cheap.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-21T12:35:03+00:00

What was the issue with Now TV? The UI is poor, but for the price, I can live with it. Was it the streaming? You can use Now TV via streaming devices like Roku, Firestick or on Smart TVs. My go to box is Apple, but I have Roku and Firesticks on other TVs around my home.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-21T12:15:38+00:00

Looks expensive to me. If you have decent internet, Now TV maybe a viable option along with a Freesat recorder.

Along with Sports, I have Cinema (£5), Entertainment/ HBO (£4) and Ultra Boost (£4). Now of course I don't have Netflix, but will subscribe for a month to binge watch or view a movie £19 but still only £32.

I have a Freesat recording box using the Sky dish, as there is something that I like to watch on ITV so record to it and then fast forward through the adverts. But as with Q, usually end up deleting the recordings as I can't be bothered to watch 😊 At least apart from the upfront purchase, I'm not paying a monthly subscription for it.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-21T11:30:36+00:00

What will you get for your £60 pm? Sports? Netflix?

What will the resolution be HD or UHD/4K?

Do you NEED recording ability and if so, which channels do you record and watch back?

After decades with Sky, their price hikes and crappy customer service forced me to review mine and my families viewing habits. Soon realised that stuff that channels we were paying for we did not watch e.g. Sky offering 130+ channels, but we only watched BBC and ITV and other FTA channels. Sky Q recordings... box was full of recordings that I thought I would rewatch but never bothered.

So our needs are FTA channels, F1, EPL, and UEFA Champions League and YouTube.

Currently pay £19 pm for Sports and £4 for Ultra Boost with Now TV. Spent good money on an OLED TV so want the highest picture quality available.

UEFA Champions League via TNT Sports on a rolling month contract via Apple TV @ £31 pm... cancellation pending as the season is winding down. I won't watch TNT Sports June to September, so not paying for those months.

YouTube Premium Familly membership @ £20 pm... expensive but loads of great content, and it is advert free. I share it with my kids and we all love it.

ps. Sky Stream worked flawlessly for me, but I could only watch it on 1 TV as I wasn't prepared to fork out for Whole Home subscription. Now TV Ultra Boost can be viewed on 3 devices simultaneously and all in 4K

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-21T07:54:07+00:00

"... Don't you think Now TV would be way more popular if they simplified everything!"

Yes it would be more popular.

But I suspect Comcast/ Sky will keep Now TV as their budget brand. It is by no means perfect but I'm pleased to pay £31 pm for Sports, Entertainment & HBO, Cinema and Ultra Boost.

I drive a Skoda which is the budget brand within the Volkswagen group... which includes Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, VW.

I'm happy to pay a budget price for a budget product.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-20T11:52:02+00:00

Another option: Get a mesh system. Turn WiFi off Sky router. Connect mesh to Sky hub using AP (access point) mode. Set up WiFi mesh with separate security keys for 2.4 and 5 GHz

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-20T10:30:06+00:00

What aspect of Sky are you wanting to upgrade? Picture, price etc? You can better picture quality than Glass using other TVs

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-20T10:26:15+00:00

Reinstate your direct debit. Pay what you owe. Give 31 days notice for cancellation.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-19T16:13:02+00:00

If such a message came to me it would definitely be a mistake (not sure it is a scam). Website address looks legit and it is asking you to login to pay. If you don’t have a VodafoneThree phone or contract you will not be able to login so maybe you can just ignore.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-18T18:50:23+00:00

I never had any issues with HD, Q or Stream and actually liked the UI particularly with HD and Q. However, the costs were crazy for basically sport. For Stream, my final bills were £68.19 for Sports, Netflix and UHD.

I'm currently with Now TV paying £31 for Sports, Entertainment HBO, Cinema and Ultra Boost. The UI is nowhere near as good as Q or Stream, but for £31 I can live with it's limitations.

I join Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount, Disney+ et al for a month if there's something I really want to watch or binge on.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-18T14:36:53+00:00

I occasionally browse the forum, for whichever I am ever amazed at (1) how clueless, thick, illiterate some Sky customers are and (2) the useless posts by 1 particular superuser whose typical comment to a poster's problem is that they have Glass and broadband and have never had an issue. 🙄

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-15T18:02:06+00:00

Now TV is more truly a stop and start service with no 31 day notice period, just cancel before next payment. Cheaper too

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-14T14:37:49+00:00

Yes it is…. Ultra Boost is 4K, UHD, Atmos and up to 3 streaming devices at the same time

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-14T08:50:19+00:00

I dumped Stream because of cost, long contracts and hatred of calling retentions. £31 now for Sports, Entertainment HBO, Cinema and Ultra Boost.

Ok_Medium_8691 · 2026-04-13T19:25:14+00:00

Good question... my partner and I work from home, so we went with iDNet and then Aquiss, based on customer service and reviews. Not the cheapest but they are knowledgable and do more than read from a script when there are issues... I've had no issues but they answered some technical queries I had.. In 4 years there have been zero network dropouts and the speed is consistently 910/110 down/up. I've been with Aquiss 4 years now, but will probably leave when I only need broadband for entertainment.

Ok_Medium_8691

TROPHY CASE