Control Video Playback on Apple TV 4K
Once you start watching in the Apple TV app, you can use your remote to control playback, get more information, turn on subtitles and more.
Play, pause, rewind or fast-forward
Use your remote to do any of the following:
Play or pause: Press
, or press the centre of the clickpad or touch surface.Skip backward or forward 10 seconds: Press left or right on the clickpad ring or touch surface. Press again to skip another 10 seconds.
Tip: When you skip backward 10 seconds, subtitles are turned on automatically so that you can rewatch that section with subtitles.
Continuously rewind or fast-forward: Press and hold left or right on the clickpad ring or touch surface. Press repeatedly to cycle through rewind or fast-forward speed options (2x, 3x, 4x).
To resume playback, press
.
When you pause playback, playback controls appear on-screen, showing elapsed and remaining time and other playback options.
Show on-screen playback controls
When a film or TV show is playing, you can display on-screen controls that show elapsed time, remaining time and other options.
Use your remote to do either of the following:
Show playback controls: Rest your finger on the clickpad or touch surface, or press up on the clickpad ring (silver remote only).
Hide playback controls: Press
or 
.
For more information on playback options, see Turn on subtitles and closed captioning, Change audio options during playback and Turn on Picture in Picture viewing.
Scrub video backward or forward on the playback timeline
You can scrub through video thumbnails backward or forward on the playback timeline to find a scene.
During playback, press
on your remote to pause.Swipe left or right on the clickpad or touch surface to scrub backward or forward.
A preview thumbnail appears above the timeline showing your progress.
Tip: For more precise control, circle your finger around the clickpad ring (silver remote only).
Do either of the following:
Start playback at the new position: Press
.Cancel and return to the original position: Press
or .
Get information about shows, characters, actors and music
During playback, the Info and Insight buttons become available. Info gives you information about the film or TV show you’re watching.
InSight gives you details in real time about actors, characters and music currently on-screen while you’re watching an Apple TV movie or TV show (Apple TV subscription required). You can select an actor to view their background and filmography page, or quickly view a song that’s playing in the background and add it to an Apple Music playlist (Apple Music subscription required).
On your remote, do either of the following:
Show playback controls, and then swipe down on the clickpad centre or touch surface.
Press down on the clickpad ring to go directly to the InSight tab (silver remote only).
Select any of the following options:
Info: See more information about what you’re watching, start watching from the beginning or get more details.
InSight: Select an actor or character to see more info. If music information appears, select the song to add it to a playlist in Apple Music.
Tip: InSight information also appears on iPhone or iPad when you’re using it to control Apple TV 4K. See Use your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch as a remote for Apple TV 4K.
Chapters (available with some films): Browse chapters, and then select a chapter to skip to it.
Continue Watching: Select a different item from your Continue Watching row to start watching it instead.
Turn on subtitles and closed captioning
You can enable subtitles or closed captioning (if available), customize their appearance or turn them on temporarily if you happen to miss a moment of dialogue.
During playback in the Apple TV app, do any of the following:
Turn on subtitles or closed captioning: Show playback controls, swipe up on the clickpad or touch surface, select
, and then choose the option you prefer.Change subtitle or caption styles: Show playback controls, swipe up on the clickpad or touch surface, select
, select Style, then choose the style you prefer, or choose Manage Styles to customize your subtitles and captions.Turn subtitles on for the previous 10–30 seconds: Press left on the clickpad ring or touch surface on your remote for each 10-second increment, up to three times for 30 seconds.
Turn subtitles on while audio is muted: Press
(silver remote only).
Change audio options during playback
During playback, show playback controls, and then select
.Choose an audio option from the pop-up menu:
Enhance Dialogue: Choose Enhance More to make the dialogue much more prominent (this may alter the original audio mix), Enhance to make the dialogue more prominent with minimal impact to the original audio mix or Off.
Tip: For maximum clarity, you can add Isolate as a menu option by turning it on in Accessibility Settings. See Add Voice Isolation as an Enhance Dialogue option on Apple TV 4K.
Reduce Loud Sounds: Lower the overall sound level by reducing the dynamic range so that loud music and sound effects aren’t as loud as other sounds.
Audio Track: Turn on audio descriptions (AD), or choose a language you want to switch to.
Note: Available options depend on what’s playing, what speakers or headphones you’re using and what model of Apple TV you have.
To close the pop-up menu, press
or on your remote.
Turn on Picture in Picture viewing
You can play movies or TV shows from the Apple TV app in a small viewer that runs in the foreground while you play or browse other content on Apple TV 4K.
During playback, show playback controls.
Swipe up on the clickpad or touch surface, and then select
.The video you’re watching immediately gets smaller and moves to the lower-right corner of your screen.
In the main area of the screen, browse content, open other apps or select another item to play simultaneously.
The new video plays in full screen, behind the smaller picture.
Stream Silo and Stick on the Apple TV app with a subscription Do any of the following to control Picture in Picture from the smaller picture:
Swap audio from the larger to the smaller picture: Press
on your remote. To swap audio back to the larger picture, press or . Move the viewer to any corner of the screen: Press
on your remote, and then select 
on-screen to relocate the viewer to a new corner. Select again to move it to the next corner, and so on. Press or on your remote to confirm the placement and go back to Picture in Picture viewing.Restore the smaller picture to full screen: Press
on your remote, and then select 
on-screen.Stop playback and close the smaller picture: Press
on your remote, and then select 
on-screen.
To control Picture in Picture from the larger picture, show playback controls, and then select
and do any of the following:Swap the larger picture with the smaller picture: Select Swap
from the pop-up menu.Move the smaller picture to any corner of the screen: Select Move
from the pop-up menu to relocate the smaller picture to a new corner. Select again to move it to the next corner, and so on. Press or on your remote to confirm the placement and go back to Picture in Picture viewing.Close the smaller picture: Select Close
from the pop-up menu.
Note: Picture in Picture viewing may not be available in all apps.
Use Multiview to watch multiple live sports streams
With Multiview, you can play up to four live sports streams at the same time.
Multiview is available only for sports events that come with your Apple TV subscription, including Major League Soccer (MLS), Formula 1 (F1) in the U.S. and Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders during the Major League Baseball (MLB) season.
For Formula 1, you can choose a preset team Multiview during live events or build your own from multiple F1 feeds, including driver-view cameras, course maps and more.
While you’re watching a sports event available with an Apple TV subscription (an MLS match, a Formula 1 event or Friday Night Baseball), show playback controls, then do any of the following:
Select
.When watching MLS or Friday Night Baseball, select Live Sports in the lower-left corner of the screen, then choose Watch in Multiview.
When watching Formula 1, select Multiview in the lower-left corner of the screen, then select a preset Multiview option.
Formula 1 Multiview includes preset streams that can be changed to your preference. For all others, the current stream appears in a grid view next to an empty inset for the stream to be added.
The current stream appears in a grid view next to an empty inset for the stream to be added.
To add another stream, navigate to an item at the bottom of the screen, then select it.
You can select up to four streams from the bottom of the screen.
To change the layout of the streams in the grid, do any of the following:
When two streams are selected: Select
to view the streams in a 70/30 ratio. Select 
to view the streams at the same size.When four streams are selected: Select
to view the streams in a 70/30 ratio (one stream at 70%, three streams at 30%). Select to view all the streams at the same size.Note: By default, three streams are presented in a 70/30 ratio with no option to view them all at the same size.
When you’re finished adding streams and viewing options, swipe up to watch.
By default, the audio stream matches the currently highlighted stream.
While watching, do any of the following:
Change the audio to a different stream: Navigate to a different stream in the grid.
Move streams: Navigate to a stream, press
on your remote, and then select 
on-screen and move the stream to a new position. When you’re finished, press or on your remote to go back to watching.Remove a stream: Navigate to a stream, press
on your remote, and then select on-screen.
To exit Multiview, press
or on your remote.
Note: Multiview requires Apple TV 4K with tvOS 16.5 or later, plus a subscription to Apple TV. Multiple game viewing options are subject to scheduling.