Hi guys,
Since SwiftUI is not completely suporting tvOS remote and swipe/pan gestures (targeting tvOS 16 and higher, using Xcode 15.1 and its tvOS SDK), I have implemented custom remote control handling using GameController framework and GCController class to detects Siri Remote (1st and 2nd generation), iOS Remote (tvOS remote controller on iPhone) and Nimbus+ and PS game controllers. For video streaming app I specifically needed to handle arrows on old Siri remote and new Siri remote the same way - arrow press (not just touch) switches TV channel. In the standard SwiftUI remote control handling the arrow presses are triggered on old remote just by touching edges of the touch pad. We use Up/Down arrow presses to switch TV channel. Our testers reported that they too often accidentally change channel when picking up remote or simply laying down finger on the pad in preparation to use the remote for some action. That's why we needed to override default behavior on old remote and detect arrow press only when user touches the edge and "clicks" the touch pad. Simultaneously we detect input from all controllers, because for example when you have Nimbus game controller connected it becomes current controller - it is set in GCController.current - while we still need to handle Siri remote, so user didn't have to turn off Game controller and could just pick up the Siri remote and use it right away. But there are still some problems. For example if I open tvOS remote control app on iPhone it has higher priority over Siri remote. Although I'm able to hold iPhone in one hand and Siri remote in the other and use them simulatanously, pressing down arrow buttons on Siri remote triggers event, which is being detected as if it came from iOS remote. This problem occurs even if user locks iPhone while remote app is active. User has to unlock iPhone and minimize iOS remote to fix the problem and make Siri remote fully active controller with arrows working as expected. Is there a way of detecting from which remote the button press event came? GCController.current reports that iOS remote is current controller, notification GCControllerDidConnect and GCControllerDidBecomeCurrent does not help either. When I use iOS remote it becomes current controller and when I start using Siri remote and press button it does not become current controller. GCController.physicalInputProfile does not help either. It is as if iOS remote while being connected to tvOS has higher priority over Siri remote. Why don't I receive current controller change when pressing button on Siri remote?
When pressing the button on Siri remote and receiving event, it comes from handler with GCController.microGamepad.elements.count == 10, instead of 17, so although I'm pressing button on Siri remote I'm getting events as if I pressed button on old remote (or iOS remote which is handled as old Siri remote). Even button.controller instance is wrong and holds a reference to iOS remote instead of the correct new Siri remote. I tried to look at button.aliases to see if I find "Cardinal Direction", which would hint at arrow press on new controller, but it does not contain this type of alias. I'm trying to find some hack for detection of currently used Siri remote, but without any success.
It looks like somewhere in the core the GCController converts button presses to more generic events making the button presses anonymous (losing hardware info). But clearly the low level code must see from which controller the button press came.
Any idea if there is a way of detecting from which remote controller the button press came?