How to customize your Apple TV home screen

Apple and its products are notorious for their customization limitations, especially products like the Apple TV. However, you can easily customize the Apple TV home screen to give it a personal touch. Since I always prefer to personalize each of my gadgets, I explored several options. Read along to get all the tricks!

Change the look of your Apple TV

1. Open settings.
2. Click General.
3. Select Appearance.
4. Here you can choose:
   • Light: To display the Apple TV user interface in light mode.
   • Dark: The entire user interface is displayed in dark mode.
   • Automatic: Change the appearance between light and dark based on daytime and nighttime.

Now that you’ve changed the look of your Apple TV, it’s time to change the app to suit your preferences.

Source: Apple

Rearrange apps on Apple TV

One of the easiest ways to customize your Apple TV home screen is to rearrange your apps. For this:

1. Navigate to the app you want to change.
2. Select an app until it starts to wiggle. For this:
   • Second generation Siri remote: Press and hold the center of the touchpad.
   • First generation Siri remote: Touch and hold the touch surface.
3. Drag and drop the app according to your preference.
4. After moving the application to the desired location, you can confirm this;
   • Second-generation Siri remote: Press the center of the touchpad.
   • First generation Siri remote: touch the surface.

Note. tvOS lets you move some of your favorite apps to the top row of your home screen. When you highlight apps, you may see additional options and shortcuts.

Create an Apps Folder on Apple TV

If you want to organize your home screen on your Apple TV, you can create a folder and then move or delete an app to create the home screen of your choice.

1. Select an app until it starts to wiggle. For this:
   • Second generation Siri remote: Press and hold the center of the touchpad.
   • First generation Siri remote: Touch and hold the touch surface.
2. Drag an app on top of another app until a folder is created, then release.
3. Confirm changes:
   • Second-generation Siri remote: Press the center of the touchpad.
   • First generation Siri remote: touch the surface.

Note. tvOS will automatically name the folder according to its contents when you first create the folder. But you can also change it. To do this: open a folder and swipe up to the name. Then use the on-screen keyboard or dictation to rename the folder.

Source: Apple

Hiding and showing apps on Apple TV

You may want to hide something from others, especially if someone other than you is using the TV. Luckily, Apple TV gives you the ability to do just that.

1. Select an app until it starts to wiggle.
2. Then press the Play/Pause button and select Hide.

The app will now be hidden on the home screen. If you ever want to see this again:

For the latest version of Apple TV:

1. Open the App Store on Apple TV.
2. Go to the “Purchases”section and download the application again.

For Apple TV 2nd or 3rd generation:

1. Open settings.
2. Select Main Menu.
3. Here you will see the option to show apps.

Note. You can also sync apps and home screen across multiple Apple TVs to keep the look and feel of apps the same.

FAQ

Yes. You can set your own background on Apple. To do this: go to General → Screen saver → Select a different screen saver category.

That’s all!

I always enjoy customizing things I own, and if you’re like me, you’ll also want to do the same with your Apple TV. That’s where this guide comes in handy. By the way, what is your favorite streaming platform? Let me know in the comments below.