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Though tech giant Apple has still not delivered an actual television set to its legions of users. Despite that fact, the brand’s smart TV box remains one of the most high-profile streaming boxes available to consumers. There’s a reason for that: reviewers who have tested many smart TV devices believe the Apple TV outperforms most streaming boxes on the market in ways no consumer should overlook, even if it costs considerably more than most competitors. 

Not only that, some factions even believe the Apple TV box may actually handle many tasks better than a smart TV. Of course, if you know anything about Apple diehards, you know they’re constantly on the hunt for ways to elevate the user experience without the need for downloads or upgrades. It would seem they have indeed uncovered a function or two on the Apple TV that are likely not known to many users who are already using the devices in their homes.

Yes, that includes a notable hidden menu that grants users access to some potentially desirable advanced internal settings on the device. If you’re interested in seeing exactly what those settings are, we can tell you that this Apple TV hidden menu can be accessed without requiring users to jump through many hurdles. Here’s a quick overview of the hidden menu and the steps to access it.

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To be clear, the hidden internal settings menu on your Apple TV isn’t really designed to enhance your everyday streaming or viewing experience. As such, most Apple TV users won’t find much use for the advanced options here. In fact, the AppleConnect features appear to be inaccessible unless you already have an account, and are largely there for developer use. Most users should, however, be able to access and alter the VPN profile settings and certain configuration features on their Apple TV. But we’d advise you to do so only if you have a firm grasp of what each of those settings does.

If you’re still interested, the advanced Internal Settings screen can be accessed with a few button clicks on your Apple TV remote. Here’s how to do it.  

1. Turn on your Apple TV box using its device-specific remote control.
2. With your Apple TV remote control in hand, navigate to the Settings icon on your home screen and select it.
3. From there, scroll down to the System tab and click into it.
4. In the System menu, navigate to and select the Software Updates tab.
5. Once you’ve entered that menu, press the Play/Pause button (marked with ▶/II) four times in rapid succession.

Once you’ve pressed the Play/Pause button the requisite number of times, you should be immediately routed to the hidden Internal Settings menu, which displays tabs for AppleConnect, VPN, and Configuration. Once you’re there, feel free to use it as you like. And just for the record, the hidden menu was accessed for this tutorial using an Apple TV 4K device running the latest software updates. 

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As noted, not everyone will be interested in the features found in the hidden internal settings menu. You may, however, be interested in a few lesser-known shortcuts you can use with your Apple TV remote. Now, a couple of those you may already be aware of, like double-clicking the TV/Control Center button with the little TV screen icon to view open apps and switch between them on the fly. But you may not realize that if you press and hold that same button, a pop-up Control Center menu will appear, allowing you to switch between users, adjust audio settings, set the sleep timer, or power off the Apple TV, among other functions.

Meanwhile, folks struggling with unresponsive apps might want to know that there’s an easy way to force-close those nuisances. To do so, you’ll need to double-click the TV/Control center button and then swipe through to the app in question. Once you settle on the app, press up twice on the circular clickpad to automatically close it. The same function can be performed by swiping up on the internal trackpad inside the circle on newer remotes. Once closed, the app should reset automatically when reopened.

Just FYI — your Apple TV remote isn’t the only way to control the device. In fact, if you have an iPhone, you can actually program it to control your Apple TV. And that feature could prove handy if you lose or break your remote.