Aardy Manager (Mac)

Apple TVs: pairing, packs and idle start

Pair a TV, assign packs, start the slideshow, and choose what a TV never interrupts.

The Apple TVs page is where you manage each TV that uses this Mac.

Pair a TV

Pairing lets the Mac start and stop the slideshow app and see what a TV is doing.

  1. Make sure the TV is awake and on the same network.
  2. Choose Pair an Apple TV… (also in the Aardy menu-bar icon), pick your TV, and choose Pair.
  3. The TV shows a PIN. Type it on the Mac.
  4. The TV shows a second PIN. Type that one too. One lets the Mac open the app, the other tells it when the TV is idle.

The TV waits only about 30 seconds for the first PIN, so do it standing at the TV. The PIN submits itself at the fourth digit. If a digit was wrong, a new PIN appears for the same step.

If no TV shows up, check that the TV is awake and on the same network, and that Aardy has Local Network permission. See Troubleshooting your network.

Connect the Aardy app on the TV

Open Aardy on the Apple TV. It looks for your Mac by itself. See Apple TV pairing.

Assign packs

Choose Configure on a TV and assign the packs it may play. The TV then chooses which of them to play, and in what order, from its own Settings. You can also set:

  • How packs play: one after another, or mixed together, with a mix balance, a mix order, and which pack's music plays.
  • Per-TV overrides for transition, seconds per photo, portraits, dates, location, landmark language, labels, overlay position, Live Photos and music. These win over a pack's own settings. Leave them unset to follow the pack.
  • Photo resolution: Auto follows the display the TV reports, 4K for a 2160-line output and 1080p otherwise. Choose 1080p to save space and bandwidth on a TV that only shows HD.

Start now, or start when idle

  • Start plays the slideshow now. Stop returns the TV to what it was showing before.
  • Otherwise the Mac starts the slideshow by itself once the TV has been idle for a while. The default is 10 minutes.

Never interrupt these apps

In the TV's configuration, tick apps that should never be interrupted, such as FaceTime or Photos. While one of them is open, the slideshow stays off. A paused video counts as idle, so add your streaming apps here. The list comes from the TV, so the TV must be paired.

4K and enhancement

Photos are sent at the size that fits the TV. Photos too small for a 4K screen can be enhanced on the Mac. See Settings.

Reload a TV

  • Reload packs makes the TV fetch its pack list and every pack again, keeping the photos it has. Use it when a change has not shown up.
  • Clear cache & reload also deletes every photo and song the TV has saved and downloads them again. Use it when photos look wrong or stale. It will be slow for a while.

The TV picks the request up within about 30 seconds while it is on. A TV that is asleep picks it up when it wakes.

The remote

Using the Siri Remote lists every gesture during playback.

Away from home

To run a TV somewhere else, put the Mac and that TV on the same Tailscale network. Settings then shows a Tailscale address. On the remote TV, choose Settings, then Mac, then enter an address manually.

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