Imagine using a remote control for your Mac instead of using hand gestures, touch or keypads. While the Siri Remote is specifically designed to work with the Apple TV with its brilliant scintillating features and integrated Siri commands, the remote can also be used for controlling your Mac. In order to do so, you need an app dubbed SiriMote in addition to the obvious requirement of a Mac and a Siri Remote.
SiriMote is a free OS X app which allows owners of the new fourth-gen Apple TV to pair their Mac with Apple TV’s Siri Remote. With the new SiriMote app, you can control many features of your Mac.
To use a Siri Remote to control your Mac, you need to Pair your Siri Remote with your Mac. To do so:
- Open System Preferences > Bluetooth
- Press and hold the Volume Up and Menu buttons for about 5-6 seconds
- Now click on Pair option, next to the new device that your Mac has detected
- The app will then display the basic playback controls and tells you how to re-pair the remote whenever required (Whenever you will shut down your Mac, you have to re-pair)
- Now open iTunes and control your Mac with the Siri Remote
Once the set up is complete, you can use your SiriMote to control your Mac by translating buttons mounted on Siri Remote to the buttons from a keyboard.
You can use your SiriMote with iTunes to play/pause, rewind, fast-forward and skip tracks. You can also use your remote with VLC, QuickTime, and other apps that work efficiently with Mac media keys. In addition, the remote allows you to move through your presentation in Keynote.
The only feature SiriMote lacks the voice control functionality. Although SiriMote doesn’t let you use voice commands, it provides you a more tactile way to control your Mac.
So from now onwards, if I need to run any presentation on my Keynote app from my MacBook Air, I’ll simply turn my Apple TV’s Siri Remote into one of those clickers Mac, in just a few minutes.
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