Apple TV
Controls an Apple TV for navigation, transport, and app launching, and reports detailed now-playing state.
Connection
Section titled “Connection”Nothing to install. The driver prepares whatever it needs on the hub the first time an Apple TV is added — a one-off wait of about a minute, shown in the device’s panel while it happens.
Finding it again after it moves
Section titled “Finding it again after it moves”An address is a DHCP lease, so it changes on its own. The first time the device is reached it also reports an identity that is fixed in the hardware, and that identity is saved for it. Every reconnect after that tries the known address first, because a single-host lookup answers almost instantly; if nothing is there, or something else has taken that address, the network is swept for the identity instead and the new address is written down. Nobody is asked to find or type either value.
Apple devices are discovered over _companion-link._tcp, _airplay._tcp and _raop._tcp together, and the model identifier in their Bonjour records decides what each one is. That matters because _companion-link._tcp is what Handoff runs on, so every iPad, iPhone and Mac in the house answers it too — they are recognised and left out of the list, along with third-party AirPlay receivers (a Zidoo advertises model=AppleTV2,1 to attract iPhones, and has its own driver here).
What gets found
Section titled “What gets found”| Kind | What it is | What it can do |
|---|---|---|
| Apple TV | tvOS, offers Companion | Everything below |
| HomePod / HomePod mini | AudioAccessory* — also tvOS, also offers Companion | Transport and volume. No navigation, no power, no apps |
| AirPort Express | AirPort*, AirPlay + RAOP only | Volume, and playing a URL |
The kind is worked out each time the device connects rather than stored, so a device added before this existed corrects itself. Nothing in its saved configuration changes — it simply stops offering commands it was never able to run.
- Pairing — pair with the Apple TV to obtain AirPlay and Companion credentials. The credentials are stored as a managed secret.
What it can do
Section titled “What it can do”| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
nav | Navigate (up, down, left, right, select, menu, home, home_hold, top_menu) |
play / pause / stop / next / previous | Transport control |
skip_forward / skip_backward | Skip within the current title |
volume_up / volume_down / set_volume | Adjust volume |
turn_on / turn_off | Power the device on or off |
launch_app | Launch an app by bundle id |
text | Enter text |
Emits rich playback.changed events reflecting the current now-playing state.