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Pair an Apple TV

Install the app on the Apple TV, let it find your Mac, then pair the TV from the Aardy menu-bar icon so the Mac can start the screensaver for you.

1. Install the app and connect it to your Mac

1. On your Apple TV, install Aardy from the App Store ($4.99, one time; Family Sharing) and open it. It plays the built-in nature collection right away.
2. That one purchase is all you need: there is no subscription, and it covers every Apple TV on your Apple ID.
3. The app looks for your Mac on the network (this takes about 5 seconds). The Mac appears under its own name.
   • One Mac found — the app connects to it automatically.
   • Several found — you'll see Choose your Mac; pick yours.
   • None found — you'll see Can't find your Mac automatically. Type the Mac's address and Port (default 8737) and choose Connect, or choose Find my Mac automatically to search again. The Mac's address is shown in the web admin under Settings → How TVs reach this Mac.

2. Pair the Apple TV with the Mac

Pairing lets Aardy start and stop the screensaver on the TV. It's done from the Mac's menu bar — not from the web admin.

1. Click the Aardy menu-bar icon and choose Pair a new Apple TV…. Aardy scans your network and lists the Apple TVs it finds.
2. Select your Apple TV and click Pair.
3. The TV shows a PIN — type it on the Mac.
4. The TV then shows a second PIN; type that one on the Mac too.
5. When Aardy says the TV is paired and ready, you're done. The TV now appears in the menu bar and on the Apple TVs page of the web admin.

When the screensaver starts

The Mac starts the screensaver app when a paired TV has been idle for a while (10 minutes by default). It never interrupts apps on that TV's Never interrupt these apps list. You can also start or stop it yourself with Start on / Stop on in the menu bar, or Start / Stop on the Apple TVs page.

Configure each Apple TV

On the web admin's Apple TVs page you see each TV's live status, with Start, Stop, Configure, and Remove. Configure lets you:

• Assign packs to the TV and set their order.
• Override pack settings for that TV — transition, seconds per photo, portraits, dates, location, landmark language, labels, Live Photos, Streaming music (None, the pack's playlist, or Apple Music), and repeat.
• Edit the Never interrupt these apps list.

The Mac setting on the Apple TV

In the Apple TV app's Settings → Mac you can choose a different Mac (recently used Macs are remembered), enter an address manually, copy this TV's settings to all your TVs (needs the Sync-All code), or forget the Mac. If the Mac can't be reached, the TV keeps playing the photos it has cached.

Using the remote in the slideshow

• Left / right — previous / next photo.
• Play/Pause — pause the slideshow.
• Click — show photo info.
• Hold the clickpad for about 1 second — open Settings.
• Swipe up — mark the photo (it appears on the admin's Marked page); swipe up again for credits.
• Swipe down — show the clock and weather widget. Swipe left/right to page between cities; swipe down again (or hold) for Settings. It closes on its own after 60 seconds.
• Menu / Back — return to the app you were using before. If the Mac can't be reached, press it again within 3 seconds to go to the Home screen.