You have the choice to switch between Linear and Grid on-screen keyboard on your Apple TV. Here’s how you do it.
Hate the Linear Keyboard on Apple TV? Switch Over to the Grid Keyboard on Apple TV Instead
While we do love the Apple TV, but using the on-screen keyboard to type something can be a painful experience. By default, it shows you a linear keyboard on which you have to swipe around like a madman in a horizontal row of letters in order to type something.
But, don’t worry, you can change that and you do have the choice to switch over to a far more acceptable Grid keyboard option. It simply shows you a grid of words which you can navigate using the Siri Remote to type something. It is better as it brings the letters far closer to each other since everything is in columns and rows instead of rows only like that in the Linear keyboard. It’s not perfect, but it is way better than the Linear option. Let’s go to enabling it!
Tutorial
Step 1. Turn on your Apple TV.
Step 2. Launch the Settings app from the Home Screen.
Step 3. Open General at the top.
Step 4. Now open up Keyboard.
Step 5. By default it is set to ‘Auto.’ Simply select Grid and go back.
Step 6. You can test this keyboard out by opening up an app like YouTube or Netflix and then search for something. Instead of the Linear keyboard (the lengthy, horizontal one) the Grid keyboard will show up, as shown in the screenshot below.
The great thing about the Grid keyboard is how everything is in rows and columns. This means you don’t have to swipe to extreme ends in order to type a word. You can jump from one word to the other much quicker by simply moving up or to the sides which is far more efficient way of doing things.
If you absolutely hate both keyboards and can’t settle on either one, then using your iPhone or iPad as an Apple TV remote is the way to go then. Whenever you are near your Apple TV and need to type something, a notification will show up on your iPhone, tap on it and the keyboard will pop right up. This is the route you should take if you have an iPhone or iPad with you. It’s fast, convenient and it just works every single time.
For more helpful guides and tutorials, head over to this section.
