Apple TV: How to Arrange Icons on the Main Menu

Apple has released a guide for Apple TV owners showing them how to manage the apps, or services, on their set-top box, via simple instructions and graphics. The Cupertino, California-based computer giant also describes the options to show / hide certain services.

Thanks to the latest Apple TV software update, owners of the iTunes-powered puck-sized black box can now adjust the arrangement and display of icons on their Apple TV's main menu.

Although users can rearrange the order of most of the icons on the main menu – such as Podcasts, Radio, Netflix, Trailers, etc. – they cannot move or rearrange the icons in the top row (Movies, TV Shows, Music, Computers, and Settings), which basically acts as a dock for the Apple TV’s main services.

Apple makes this clear before it proceeds to outline the steps required to start managing icons on the main menu (reproduced below from Apple support document HT5490).

To change where an icon appears on the main menu:

1. Select the icon you want to move
2. Press and hold Select on the remote
3. When the icon begins to jiggle, use the remote to move the icon to a new position
4. Press Select again to finish

Users can, of course, repeat these steps to move other icons when they want to, Apple outlines.

There are also options to hide certain icons from view. This may come in handy for parents looking to restrict child access to some services, like YouTube.

“You can use Parental Controls to hide icons on the Apple TV's main menu,” reads Apple’s documentation. To show or hide icons, users must follow two simple steps (below).

To show or hide icons:

1. Select Settings > General > Parental Controls
2. Scroll down and select either Show or Hide as desired

As a final note, the Cupertino giant mentions that users don’t need to turn on Parental Controls to show or hide some features. However, users who want to prevent any changes to these settings should flip the switch on.