Apple recently pulled its first-party Apple TV “Remote” app for iOS from the App Store, leaving users who have not downloaded the title to rely on integrated controls provided in Control Center.
Introduced in 2016 as an alternative solution to Apple’s dedicated Siri Remote, the Remote app for iOS allowed iPhone users to navigate Apple TV’s menus via touch and voice controls.
As of this writing, Remote is no longer available for download on the App Store, suggesting it has reached end of life. Further, nearly all references to the app have been scrubbed from the company’s website, with support pages now directing users to enable remote control functionality in Control Center.
The change comes some two years after Apple baked Apple TV remote control functionality directly into iOS 12.
Detailed in a support document, Apple TV Remote is automatically added to Control Center with current versions of iOS. Like the erstwhile Remote app, the Control Center version mimics the Siri Remote and tacks on support for Apple TVs in different rooms. It also gains search button and refined layout.
Apple rarely updated the Remote app, though it did rate a new icon last year.
While Remote for Apple TV is seemingly dead, Apple still maintains the iTunes Remote app for controlling playback of Apple Music, iTunes and the Apple TV app on a Mac or PC.