A recent update to the Apple TV includes a new feature that allows you to perform the initial setup of your Apple TV (3rd generation) by physically tapping the device with your iPhone, iPad (mini), or iPod Touch running iOS 7. In this post, we’ll walk through how to do just that. If you’ve just purchased an Apple TV, using this process to set it up will save a lot of time and effort!
Requirements – First, as mentioned earlier, in order to set up your Apple TV by tapping it with your device running iOS 7 you’ll need a 3rd generation Apple TV and an iPhone (4s or later), iPad (3rd generation or later or the iPad mini), or iPod Touch (5th generation). This process works for transferring all the settings and information required for the initial setup of the Apple TV including Wi-Fi networks and passwords, iTunes Store account information, and language and region format preferences. Note that this setup process does not log you in to your iCloud account, iTunes Match, Home Sharing, or set up login information for specific Apple TV apps (such as Netflix or Hulu plus). You’ll still have to sign in to these services manually.
Before you start… make sure that your iOS 7 device is connected to the same Wi-Fi network to which you wish to connect your Apple TV to and that its bluetooth is turned on.
Step 1 – Connect your Apple TV to your display using an HDMI cable and power it on by plugging in the power cord.
Step 2 – Unlock your iOS 7 device and physically touch it to your Apple TV. Wait until prompts appear on both your iOS 7 device and your Apple TV.
Step 3 – On your iOS 7 device, enter your Apple ID username and password using the on-screen keyboard.
Step 4 – Respond to the prompts on your iOS 7 device, selecting whether or not you want your Apple TV to remember your Apple ID username and password and whether or not you’d like your Apple TV to send usage data to Apple.
Step 5 – Wait while your Apple TV is automatically configured using the information from your iOS 7 device.
Step 6 – Done! Your Apple TV is now ready to use.
By including this tap to set up feature in its latest software update to the Apple TV, Apple has made it even easier to get its streaming media box up and running. Apple has pushed out some significant updates to the Apple TV recently including new apps and features. There has never been a better time to own an Apple TV!
Check out TeachMeiOS’ review of the Apple TV here.
To learn more about what else is included in the most recent software update to the Apple TV, see our post here.
For more information about the Apple TV, or to purchase one of your own, see the Apple TV product page on Apple’s website here.
