How To Access The Main Menu On An Apple TV (All Models Explained!)
Apple TV is a great device to have if you want all of your favorite streaming apps all in one place, but how can you get to the main menu on Apple TV?h
Table of Contents
- How do you get back to the main menu on an Apple TV?
- What Can You Do From Apple TV’s Main Menu?
- How Can You Get To The Main Menu On Apple TV?
- Why do I have to push the button and hold it?
- What Can You Do If The Main Menu Is Not Showing Up?
- Can I get my remote on my iPhone?
- Key Takeaways
How do you get back to the main menu on an Apple TV?
Getting to the main menu on Apple TV is really easy, but how you do it depends on what generation of Siri Remote you have. If you have the first generation remote, you will need to press and hold the MENU button, but on the second generation remote you need to press and hold the Back button.
Overall, Apple TV is a great product, but for new users, it can be quite challenging to navigate properly.
However, as an Apple TV user myself, I’ve gone through all the growing pains of figuring out how everything works for you. In most cases the solutions are quite simple, so rest assured that you’ll be able to navigate Apple TV like a pro in no time.
What Can You Do From Apple TV’s Main Menu?
The Main Menu on Apple TV is where your Apple TV viewing experience always starts. From here, you can easily access all of your favorite streaming services, other apps, and the settings menu.
While you can access every app from the main menu, the apps in the top row allow you to preview some of the featured content each app has to offer. Whether movies, TV shows, videos, music, games, or photos, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of what is available just by hovering over the icon.
The best thing about the top row of apps is that it is customizable, so if you don’t use any of the default apps very much, you can replace them with ones that you use more frequently so that all of your favorite apps are right at the top of the screen.
You can navigate and control everything your Apple TV has to offer from the main menu, so ensuring that you can get back to it when you need to is incredibly important for anyone who wants to get the most out of their Apple TV.
How Can You Get To The Main Menu On Apple TV?
Luckily, getting back to the main menu on Apple TV is incredibly simple, only requiring one single input from the user. However, while similar, the correct input does vary depending on what generation of Siri Remote you have.
First Generation Siri Remote
If you have a first generation Siri Remote all you’ll need to do to get back to Apple TV’s main menu is locate the MENU button on your remote. Once you’ve found the MENU button, simply press it once to go back to the previous screen or hold the button down to go back to the main menu.
Second Generation Siri Remote
If you have the second generation Siri Remote, you just have to do the same thing but with the Back button. So again, locate the Back button on your remote and press it once to go to the previous screen or hold it down to go back to the main menu.
Why do I have to push the button and hold it?
We’ll give you a bit of comparison here: Have you ever used a Roku remote or a typical TV remote? They have a lot of buttons. Roku has many buttons for not being used to actually navigate numbered channels anymore.
One of the things we like best about Apple, and we are sure that regular iPhone, Macbook, and other computer hardware buyers appreciate too – they’re designed to be simple.
The original Apple TV remote had just three actual physical buttons. Volume up and volume down were contained within a circle around the play button. The menu was the only button on the bottom.
Apple TV itself got more robust and the second generation of remotes added a voice remote button, distinct volume buttons, and a button to launch the Apple TV app within your TV.
Our point is that Apple has managed to keep even their most advanced and recent remotes down to 7 buttons. That’s rather few for a device of its type that hosts hundreds of thousands of movies, shows and other options. With fewer buttons comes the need to use some buttons for more than one function. Once you understand the use of a button, you’ll remember that the home button is a simple button hold away.
Plus, we also think that the remote looks cool in its simple form.
What Can You Do If The Main Menu Is Not Showing Up?
If you’ve followed the above instructions but are still having trouble getting the main menu to show up you could be experiencing one of a few potential issues. Luckily there are a few different ways to troubleshoot these issues.
Make Sure Your HDMI Cable Is Working Properly
One potential issue that could be restricting your ability to see the main menu could be the HDMI cable. If your HDMI cable isn’t plugged in properly or is damaged, you may see a blank black screen.
First, you’ll want to make sure that your HDMI cable, as well as all of the other cables for your Apple TV, are plugged in all the way.
Oftentimes, if you’ve moved your Apple TV or the TV itself around a bit your cables can come unplugged. Simply ensure that this hasn’t happened and everything is plugged in properly.
If you’ve checked your cables and the main menu still isn’t showing up, you might have a damaged HDMI cable. You can determine if this is the case by pressing down on the MENU/Back button on your remote.
If you can see the white light on your Apple TV turn on, but the screen still remains black, you most likely have a damaged HDMI cable and you can fix the issue by simply buying another one to replace it with.
Make Sure That Your Siri Remote Is Charged
Another issue you may be experiencing is that your Siri Remote isn’t charged. To find out if this is the case you’ll again need to pay attention to that little white light on your Apple TV. If everything is plugged in properly and you are pressing buttons on your remote but the little white light on your Apple TV isn’t turning on this is most likely the issue you’re facing.
All you need to do is charge up your Siri Remote and try again and this should fix the issue.
Make Sure There Are No Firmware Issues With Your Apple TV
If you’ve gone through all of the other previous troubleshooting methods but are still having trouble getting to the main menu of your Apple TV, there may simply just be a random glitch in the system or a possible issue with the firmware.
There are a few things you can do to try to fix this. The easiest of these is to simply restart your Apple TV. Random glitches do occasionally occur, but restarting the device will get rid of any of these issues. However, if this doesn’t work, it’s most likely a firmware issue.
To address this you can try performing a software update. Outdated software could cause your Apple TV not to work properly and if this is the case updating said the software will fix the issue.
To do this you’ll need to go to the settings menu and select System. Then click Software Update to check if there are any updates available. If there are, download and install the update to fix the issue.
In the worst of cases, restoring your Apple TV to its factory settings will fix any issues that you are experiencing, whether it’s with accessing the main menu or any other issue you may face.
Can I get my remote on my iPhone?
Yes, you can! It’s just a little different. Depending on your generation of iPhone and Apple TV, the remote might have either the < button, or a “BACK” buttom instead of “HOME”.Either way, you’ll just want to hold the bottom middle button, which is where both of these buttons are located.
The app can be downloaded through Apple’s App Store, though your might come with the ability to launch the app without needing a download.
Users who frequently lose remotes or otherwise tend to have their phone with them while watching TV might like the phone app better. We tend to use our phones with our Roku TV though it has a physical remote available – it’s just easier to use the phone sometimes.
As far as we know, you’ll just have to have your iPhone on the same WiFi network as the Apple TV to be able to give it commands.
This is not a big deal in most households, which either have a mesh network with one name or a single WiFi router.
Key Takeaways
- Apple TV’s main menu is where you access all of your favorite apps from.
- The button you need to press to do to get to the main menu depends on what generation of Siri Remote you have.
- To get to the main menu, press and hold the MENU or Back button on your Siri Remote.
- If you have trouble getting to the main menu, the problem is most likely with your HDMI cable or firmware.