Apple TV in less needy shock

Yesterday I got a nice new remote for the Apple TV. Today I noticed another improvement to the Apple TV user experience. The new remote has a prominent power button. You can use this to turn your Apple TV (and anything else connected to it) on and off.

You might think that this should not be news. It is after all what a power button should do. You are correct, but the thing is that in the past the Apple TV has always been a very “needy” device when I’ve used it. Previously, if the Apple TV was turned on and had HDMI control enabled it would to grab the foreground at every opportunity. Even if you didn’t want the Apple experience at that precise moment you seemed to have it thrust upon you.

The new device is much more relaxed. The Apple TV is happy to sit in the background until you wake it up.