DM Home Theater Remote

October 13, 2026 |

DM Home Theater Remote: one window for your Apple TV, your AV receiver and your TV. Press Watch Apple TV and it turns everything on, picks the input and opens your app; press All Off and it all turns off.

Version 1.1 on the Mac: drag cards where you want them, make the buttons you use most bigger, widen the volume card, or put everything in one panel.

Know where the sound comes from

Now Playing shows what is playing and where it comes from: an app on the Apple TV, music AirPlayed from your Mac or phone, the TV’s own apps, or the receiver’s own player. It shows the whole path to your speakers, with the format, listening mode and speaker layout, and its play, pause and skip buttons go to the device that is really playing.

The Now Playing card: Demo Song from Music on the Apple TV, through the Apple TV input of the receiver, Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 to Dolby Surround on 7.2.4 speakers, 4K HDR10 picture, with play, pause and skip buttons

Arrange it your way

Open Customize Layout and every card gets its own controls. Drag a card where you want it, even into an empty spot, and give it a width of one, two or three columns, a zoom and a control size. Cards sit side by side in as many columns as your window fits, like a web page. Make the buttons you use most Large and the rest Small. A wider volume card gets a bigger knob, and sliders and the equalizer grow too, which helps on a touch screen. Set it up once and it stays that way.

A volume card two columns wide with a large knob and big buttons, above a full-width 9-band equalizer

Everything in one panel (Mac)

Prefer one view? Turn on Everything in One Panel in the View menu (Option-Command-0) and the Apple TV remote, the TV, your buttons and the signal path become cards beside the receiver’s, to show, hide, move and size like the rest. Hide the Apple TV remote if you never use it, or keep the TV’s buttons next to the receiver’s.

Everything in one panel on the Mac with the Apple TV remote hidden: Now Playing, the receiver's volume and inputs, and the Google TV remote, inputs and apps as cards side by side

Your Apple TV remote, your way (Mac)

Make any button of the Apple TV remote bigger or smaller, hide the ones you never press, and zoom the whole remote. Right-click a button, or click it while Customize Layout is open; hidden buttons come back with View > Apple TV Remote > Show All Remote Buttons.

The Apple TV remote twice: on the left with bigger Back, Home, volume and play/pause buttons and the keyboard button hidden; on the right in edit mode with a size badge and a hide button on each control

Plan your room

Draw your room, angled walls too, add your furniture and the TV, and turn furniture and speakers to any angle; windows stick to the walls. Type exact measurements, like 3′ 10″ or 1.2 m, or nudge them an inch at a time. Then see it in 3D: turn the room around, zoom in, and click a speaker to select it and set its level. Drag the sweet-spot dot to where you sit and nearer speakers turn down, farther ones up.

A 7.2.4 room in 3D, with an angled back wall, a sofa, a desk and a window. Front L is selected (orange).

The room planner in 2D: an angled room with speakers aimed at the seat, a sofa, a desk, a shelf and a window on the angled wall

See what your room hears

Coming in the next update. Open the Analyzer and your iPhone or Mac becomes a sound analyzer: a live spectrum in third-octave bars with peak hold, peak and RMS level meters with an approximate sound level and loudness (LUFS), and a scrolling spectrogram. Play music and watch where the bass builds up and which frequencies stand out. It only listens: nothing is sent to your receiver. Phone and laptop microphones aren’t measurement microphones, so treat the deep bass as a guide.

The Analyzer on the Mac: about 73 dB, peak and RMS meters, a third-octave spectrum from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with peak marks, and an 8-second spectrogram

The Analyzer on iPhone: sound level, loudness, meters, spectrum and spectrogram

iPhone and Apple Watch

The iPhone app has the same cards, layouts and room planner, plus widgets and Control Center controls. The Apple Watch remote runs your buttons from your wrist, and the Digital Crown sets the volume. Siri and Shortcuts can press any of your buttons. Your room and sound settings follow you between Mac and iPhone through your own iCloud.

Three iPhone screens (Now Playing, Customize Layout and the 3D room with the equalizer) and the Apple Watch remote

A 27-second tour of the iPhone app in Demo Mode.

Make your own buttons

Each button is yours to design: the devices to turn on, the receiver input, the listening mode, the volume, the Apple TV app to open, and a Shortcut (Mac) or the lights you choose (iPhone). Name it, pick an icon, and one press does the whole routine.

Three remotes and your lights, in one app

Apple TV: directions, now playing with scrubbing, apps, keyboard and volume.
Receiver: power, precise volume with a slider or a knob, inputs by name, listening modes with the live audio and video format, bass and treble, sound presets, a 9-band equalizer, center and subwoofer levels, lip sync, zones and the setup menu. Works with many Pioneer, Onkyo and Integra network receivers.
Google TV: directions, Back, Home, media keys, HDMI inputs, app shortcuts and power.
Lights: a button can also turn lights, switches and outlets in Apple Home on or off, or dim a light to the brightness you pick, in any of your homes (iPhone). On the Mac, a button runs a Shortcut that sets them.

A strip across the top shows the whole path from Apple TV to receiver input to TV; tap any device to wake it.

Mac and iPhone

One app for both. On the Mac you also get menu-bar controls and keyboard shortcuts for volume, mute and power. Everything talks to your devices directly over your home Wi-Fi, so it is fast and keeps working without an internet connection.

Try it with no devices

Tap Try Demo Mode on the first screen to explore everything with made-up devices. Nothing is sent to your network. Every picture and video on this page was made in Demo Mode.

Free, and private

Free, no ads, no account, and it collects no data. Read the privacy policy or get support.

Get DM Home Theater Remote on the App Store for Mac and iPhone. It is free.

DM Home Theater Remote is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple, Google or any receiver or TV manufacturer.

Posted in Software