Using the Apple TV
Once you've connected your Apple TV to your Wi-Fi network, TV and iDevice, here are some of the things you can do with it.
1. Access iTunes
If you have an internet connection, you can use the Home screen icons to rent or buy music, films and TV shows. You'll need an Apple ID for this, and may need other accounts for specific features like Netflix. If you already have an Apple ID, you'll have access to all the music and films you've previously bought with that ID.
2. Mirror an iDevice display
If you have an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, you should be able to connect it over Wi-Fi to the Apple TV and the information on the display will appear on the TV.
To mirror your device, you will need:
· A second generation or later Apple TV. These are 100mm square; the earlier first generation Apple TV was 200mm square.
· An iPhone 4S (the first iPhone to come with Siri - look in Settings, General), or any iPad with a camera, or an iPod touch 5th gen (which has a smaller power connector than earlier iPods).
· iOS 5 or later. To check this, go to Settings, General, About, Version.
The steps to mirror your iDevice onto the Apple TV are:
· Make sure the iDevice and the Apple TV are on the same Wi-Fi network.
· On the iDevice, open the "recently used apps" screen and go to the first page.
· With VoiceOver on, double tap the Home button, and then swipe right with three fingers.
· Without VoiceOver, double tap the Home button, then swipe right on the area that appears at the bottom of the screen.
· Select the Airplay icon to get a menu of options.
· Choose Apple TV to get a mirroring option and switch it on.
· Your iDevice screen should now appear on the TV!
· And any music played will come out of the TV speakers. Or you can change a setting on the Apple TV so that it comes out of connected AirPlay speakers.
· Note that VoiceOver will always come out of the iDevice speaker.
3. Use Apple TV as a video magnifier/CCTV
Once you have your iDevice mirrored to a TV, you can use the camera on the iDevice and the output appears on the TV screen. This can be especially useful with apps like VisionAssist, that act as magnifiers.
An issue to bear in mind with this kind of facility is the stability of the iDevice - it's hard to keep the TV image steady with a handheld device. We're not aware of any purpose-built iDevice stands, but we have heard of people using ingenious methods to keep their iDevice steady, and then moving an object around under it. An alternative is to take a picture of an object, and then zoom into the picture.
4. AirPlay play music
Although a newer iDevice is required in order to mirror the screen onto an Apple TV, it's possible to wirelessly play audio from older devices such as the original iPad. It may be possible with an iPhone 4, although we were not able to do this with an iPhone 3GS.
5. Share iTunes from a computer
If you have iTunes on your computer, you can access the library from the Apple TV. Here's how:
· On the computer, start iTunes and go to File, Home Sharing, Switch on Home Sharing.
· Enter the details for your Apple ID.
· On the TV, go to Computers or Settings, Computers, and turn on home sharing using the same Apple ID.
· You can now share the iTunes libraries on the computer - on the Apple TV, go to Computer to see the iTunes library.
6. Share a computer screen
If you have a recent Mac with an up-to-date version of OS X, you should find you can mirror the screen onto the Apple TV.
· To find out if your Mac is able to do this, on the computer go to the Apple menu, System Preferences, Displays. If the Display page contains an “AirPlay mirroring” control, you’ll be able to mirror your screen.
· To share your Mac's screen, go to the Apple menu, System Preferences, Sharing.
If your computer isn't a recent Mac or you don't have the latest version of OS X, you can still mirror your screen via a third-party app. One example is AirParrot (http://www.airparrot.com/). Once installed and started, right click the notification area icon and choose Apple TV to start mirroring.
Using AirParrot, turning on Magnifier on a Windows PC gives a magnified image on the TV. However, the mouse pointer isn't magnified. Showing a YouTube video works, but with both a lag in the picture and some frame jumping, and the volume won't come out of the TV unless Audio is enabled in the AirParrot menu which is found in the notification area.
End of document.
rnib.org.uk