I turned my Mac into an additional Apple TV distant at no cost

One characteristic I at all times reap the benefits of on just about any streaming device — whether or not it is an Apple TV, Roku, or Hearth TV — is the power to make use of my cellphone as a backup distant. So, when your precise distant is out of attain (say, as a result of your cat is asleep on you, or it is vanished into the sofa cushions), you’ll be able to simply pull out your cellphone and hold watching.

With Apple TV, Apple provides a backup distant app for the iPhone, iPad, and even the Apple Watch, however not for the Mac. That is at all times struck me as unusual, and it jogs my memory of how lengthy the iPad went with out an official Calculator app.

Give it some thought: you’ll be able to management your Apple TV out of your wrist with an Apple Watch, but not out of your Mac, which might be usually with you as effectively. I usually have my MacBook Professional open whereas the TV is on, so having the ability to management my Apple TV from it might be fairly helpful.

Fortunately, one developer has determined to resolve this downside as soon as and for all by making a macOS app that allows you to management your Apple TV proper out of your Mac, since Apple clearly is not in a rush to make one.

The app is named Itsytv, and you’ll obtain it at no cost from GitHub (through 9to5Mac). The developer, Nick Ustinov, describes the app as “the lacking Apple TV distant app” for Mac, and, better of all, it is fully open-source and full of options.

The app seems to be precisely like an Apple TV distant

It requires macOS Sonoma or later to run

Credit score: Itsytv

What I discover notably neat about Itsytv is that it is a menu bar app, which makes it extremely fast to entry everytime you want it. Even higher, the app’s interface seems to be precisely like an Apple TV distant, which makes it immediately acquainted and tremendous simple to navigate your Apple TV with (as you’ll be able to see within the picture above).

By way of options, there is a Now Enjoying part on the backside of the distant interface, letting you shortly pause no matter you’re watching in your Apple TV or scrub via the timeline to leap to a particular second. Additionally, on the high of the distant, there’s an Apps choice. Clicking it opens an app launcher the place you’ll be able to browse all of the apps put in in your Apple TV and launch any of them immediately out of your Mac with a single click on.

Fortuitously, operating Itsytv in your Mac is fairly easy, with the one requirement being that your Mac is operating macOS Sonoma (launched in 2023) or later.

Personally, I am actually impressed with this Apple TV distant app for Mac. The truth that it’s been designed to completely imitate the Apple TV distant is genius, and it actually seems to be like one thing Apple may have made themselves. So props to developer Nick Ustinov for placing all of it collectively. If you wish to strive Itsytv at no cost, it is at present obtainable solely on GitHub. As soon as you put in it, all you must do is pair it together with your Apple TV, and after that, you are good to go.

Whereas I am completely satisfied to see a free, open-source app like this land on the Mac, it additionally makes me much more excited concerning the new Apple TV 4K that’s supposedly coming. After years of ready, it is rumored to launch someday this 12 months, and I am hoping it arrives after Apple rolls out its updated Siri within the spring.