My 11 month old son is obsessed with my Apple TV 4K remote. It used to be that he just wanted to chew it, which isn’t ideal because it’s made of metal, but today he started actively playing with it and pushing buttons. Unfortunately, this also means that the remote control is missing quite a bit.
It feels like it’s ending up in that dimension that’s only accessible to socks in the dryer and objects your kids were holding before you turned your back for two seconds. Fortunately, unlike most remotes, the Apple TV remote has a way for you to track it — and I’m not talking about those bulky cases that attach an AirTag to it, either. It all depends on this hidden iPhone feature.
How to find your missing Apple TV remote
Usually when you’re missing an Apple device, your first idea is to jump into the Find My Device app and look there. It’s how you track AirTags, phones, tablets, and even some Apple Pencils—among other things. The Apple TV remote, specifically the third-generation Siri remote, does not include that level of support.
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That’s not to say you’ll be stuck when your Apple TV remote falls off the back of the couch, or into the fourth dimension where it’s impossible to see no matter how hard you look. Because the Apple TV app actually has a feature to locate it. It’s similar to the precision tracking that Apple already offers for other devices, although it’s not quite as accurate.
Here’s how it works:
1. Open the Apple TV Remote app
The Apple TV Remote app is not a standalone app in your app list, but you can access it from the Searchable at the bottom of your home screen – or above the recent apps section in the drop-down menu. Devices with iOS 27 can add this remote to the home screen, making access to replay easier.
2. Choose the right Apple TV
At the top of the Remote app, you’ll see a long, pill-shaped button. Tap on it and you will see a list of Apple TV devices connected to your Apple account. If you’re like me, that’s just a single box, which makes things easier.
When you find the right device, look for it to find button on the right side of the screen and move it. There is a small illustration of an Apple TV remote next to it to indicate what this does.
3. Connect to your missing remote
The find screen shows an interface with a circle of swirling dots. You will need to move around to try to connect to your remote, at which point a blue circle will appear in the center. The closer you are to your remote, the bigger the blue circle.
This is about all you get when it comes to tracking down your remote, though. In my case, the issue was that we had absolutely no idea where the remote could be, and any attempt to look in or around the sofa proved absolutely fruitless.
I went so deep into the pillow that I managed to find an unopened can of Pepsi that had been sitting there for an indeterminate amount of time. No, I have no idea how that got there either, most of the time the depths of my sofa are just home to dog fur, crumbs and the occasional missing lego piece. Nevertheless, no matter how hard my wife and I looked, we could not find the remote control.
It even got to the point where I wondered if I had accidentally dropped it in a box of things I had taken to the trash earlier that day. The remote app’s tracking feature didn’t help me pinpoint an exact location, but it did give me a rough idea of where the blown remote actually was—even with the interference of the couch itself. Once I knew where to look, the job became significantly easier.
That said, it still required some effort on my part, including slowly moving the couch until the remote revealed itself. Turns out the thing was hiding under the back of the couch, and since my couch doesn’t leave a big gap between it and the floor, the remote wasn’t visible all the times I went downstairs with a flashlight to try to find it.
So there are definitely things Apple could do to make that hunting process easier.
How Apple could improve remote discoverability
I’ve seen a lot of people asking why the Apple TV remote doesn’t have AirTag installed, and at first I agree with them. Then I realized that the Apple TV remote doesn’t need an AirTag, per se, at least not the way people think. Considering that the television almost never leaves the room, let alone the house, tracking its geographical location is not a priority.
There is already something similar to precision tracking, but without the same levels of distance you get with ultrawideband-enabled devices like AirTags and recent iPhones. So adding UWB and a rangefinder would definitely be a welcome change when the next Apple TV 4K box is released.
What’s really missing is the fact that the current Siri remote doesn’t have any kind of speaker. That means if the remote goes missing, you have to go through a process of trial and error to hunt it down – instead of just forcing it to play a sound and making the process that much easier.
I’ll admit, most remotes don’t have built-in trackers, and if it disappears into the depths of your sofa, you’ll have to go looking for it without technological help. But since Apple is already halfway there, there’s no reason why it can’t come up with an experience that’s even closer to using an actual AirTag.
After all, the Siri Remote is pretty thin, and much easier to lose than most streaming remotes—especially those that use replaceable AAA batteries.
Bottom line
If you find yourself in a situation where your Apple TV remote goes missing, your first instinct is probably to use the Remote app as a replacement. It’s one of the great things about the best streaming boxes, there’s almost always an app for that – especially on iPhones.
But Apple’s remote app has the thing that could help you get the real thing back, and without paying $59 for a replacement Apple TV remote. There are a few ways it could be improved, but it’s still far better than the alternative. So the next time your remote goes missing, either at the hands of a tech-obsessed toddler or for some other reason, be sure to download the Apple Remote app to help hunt.
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