Siri Remote (gen 1) for Windows 11

LATEST A2854 STATUS (2026-10-25): See the current operational handoff. At abd69aa, Windows Release 381/381 and Stop-specific 28/28 passed; a real encrypted A2854 GUI session (~27s) ended by window X-close with both CCCDs disabled, accepted Disconnect and actual local 0x16. Earlier 64b927c demonstrated ~100s actual Windows mouse movement (but 0x08 timeout on Stop). New successor 85f20a7 adds pressure-assisted click wobble protection without synthetic pressure-triggered clicks. It is not yet independently Windows-built or hardware-tested. Direct Stop button then Start remains unverified. Keep the working protected bond, driver and physical calibration untouched. First-generation pairing directions below do not apply to A2854.

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A WPF (.NET 10) application plus a user-mode driver to use the gen 1 Siri Remote (Apple TV 2015/2017, A1513/A1962) on Windows 11: touch surface, buttons, tvOS-style gestures and a virtual keyboard.

C# port of a-funk/open-appleremote (MIT, Python/Linux). The decoder and the gesture engine are line-by-line ports of decode.py and gestures.py; the upstream docs/PROTOCOL.md describes the protocol.

Screenshots

Remote	Guide
Macros (Blockly editor)	Settings (key mapping, language, Bluetooth driver)

"Driver": what is provided

No kernel driver. Windows 11 already ships the HID over GATT driver (HidBthLE). Since the remote only exposes vendor-specific reports (input 0xFC, feature 0xF0), it stays silent until it is unlocked:

Linux (open-appleremote)	Windows (here)
/dev/hidrawN, HIDIOCSFEATURE	SetupAPI + hid.dll: HidD_SetFeature, asynchronous ReadFile
Unlock: report 0xF0 = 0xAF	same, buffer padded to FeatureReportByteLength (required by Windows)
Reconnect after sleep	reconnect loop + link probe (unlock if silent for more than 8 s)
/dev/uinput (virtual keyboard)	SendInput

A "real" virtual HID keyboard (VHF/KMDF) would need a signed driver; SendInput is enough to drive an application.

Structure

src/AppleRemote.Core      decoder, gestures (One Euro), keymap, capture replay   (net10.0, portable)
src/AppleRemote.Windows   HID enumeration, unlock, reading, SendInput            (net10.0-windows)
src/AppleRemote.App       WPF window                                             (net10.0-windows)
tests/AppleRemote.Tests   xunit, runs on any OS (macOS included)

Usage

1. Pair: hold Menu + Volume + for ~5 s near the PC, then Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Add device (the "Pair" button opens the page). The remote shows up under its serial number.
2. Start the application: it looks for the remote, unlocks it and displays keys, fingers and gestures.
3. Tick Virtual keyboard to send real key presses (default mapping below).

Remote	Key
swipe / flick up, down, left, right	arrow keys
click (press on the surface)	Enter
Menu	Esc
TV / Home	Browser: home
Play/Pause, Volume + / −	media keys
Siri	nothing

Custom mapping: keymap.example.json (entries up down left right click menu tv playpause volup voldown siri; value = key name, VK code 1-254, or null to disable; names: Keys.cs).

Windows running as administrator ignore key presses from a non-elevated program (UIPI): run the app as administrator in that case.

Installing the kernel filter (test-signing)

The AppleRemoteDriver filter is signed with a test certificate, not a Microsoft-issued one, so Windows only loads it in test-signing mode. Without the filter, the Windows Bluetooth stack drops the remote (see CLAUDE.md); the alternative is the direct Bluetooth mode (USB adapter under WinUSB), which needs no kernel driver.

1. Turn Secure Boot off in the UEFI settings (test-signing is refused while it is on). Check with Confirm-SecureBootUEFI in PowerShell. Note that some anti-cheat software and BitLocker setups depend on it.
2. In an administrator terminal, enable test-signing, then restart the PC:

   bcdedit /set testsigning on
   

   A "Test Mode" watermark appears on the desktop.
3. Run the app, then use its install filter button (or AppleRemote.DriverInstaller, as administrator). It trusts the bundled WDRLocalTestCert.cer (Root and TrustedPublisher stores) and installs the package from the driver\ folder with pnputil. Keep the 4 files of driver\ together (.sys, .inf, .cat, .cer). No PC restart is needed after that.
4. Pair the remote again if needed.

To undo: uninstall the filter from the app, remove the certificate if you wish (certmgr.msc, "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" and "Trusted Publishers"), then bcdedit /set testsigning off, restart, and turn Secure Boot back on.

Signing the filter yourself

The released package is signed with the author's test certificate. If you prefer not to trust it, build and sign the filter with a certificate of your own (the private key never leaves your PC):

1. Install the prerequisites: Rust, cargo-make, the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) and LLVM (LIBCLANG_PATH=C:\Program Files\LLVM\bin).
2. Enable test-signing as above (steps 1 and 2).
3. Clone AppleRemoteWin-Driver and run, in its root:

   cargo make --profile release
   

   The build creates a self-signed WDRLocalTestCert in your own certificate store (WDRTestCertStore), signs the .cat with it and writes the package, with its .cer, to target\release\AppleRemoteDriver_package\. (A Release build of AppleRemote.App downloads the latest published package into driver\ instead; replace those files with yours.)
4. Install that package with the app or AppleRemote.DriverInstaller: it trusts the .cer next to the .sys, which is now yours.

Every rebuild re-stamps the INF and re-signs the .cat: always install the four files from the same build.

Build

dotnet build AppleRemote.sln                    # on Windows (Visual Studio 2026 or .NET 10 SDK)
dotnet test tests/AppleRemote.Tests             # on any OS
dotnet publish src/AppleRemote.App -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true

From macOS/Linux: -p:EnableWindowsTargeting=true lets you compile (not run) the Windows projects.

Diagnostics

• "Apple HID devices" lists what Windows sees (VID/PID, usages, report lengths). The gen 1 Siri Remote is VID 004C PID 026D. Nothing in the list = not paired/connected.
• Scan Bluetooth LE listens to advertisements around the PC (without pairing): a remote in pairing mode shows up with the Apple manufacturer (0x004C) and its serial number as name, even if "Add a device" does not list it.
• Record a capture writes a .jsonl in the format of monitor --raw (replayable here via "Replay a capture", or in the Linux tool). Siri audio frames are truncated: voice is never written.
• After a long sleep, the button press that wakes the remote may be lost: press again.

Tests

35 xunit tests. SampleTests replays sample.jsonl (a real capture of an A1962, from the upstream project) through the whole pipeline and compares every event (step, fingers, buttons, gestures) with golden.json, produced by the original Python code on the same capture: the C# port is therefore checked against the reference.

Limitations

• Windows layer not tested on hardware: it compiles, but the real HID access (collection seen by HidBthLE, unlock via HidD_SetFeature) has not been run with an actual remote. If unlocking fails, the log says so; in that case, send the output of "Apple HID devices" and a capture.
• Voice (Siri) not decoded; gen 2/3 Siri Remotes not supported (different reports and different unlock); a single remote only.
• Gesture constants tuned for a gen 1 remote under Linux: retune if needed (Gestures.cs).

License

GNU AGPL v3 or later (AGPL-3.0-or-later), see LICENSE.

Decoder.cs and Gestures.cs are ports of open-appleremote, released under the MIT license: its copyright notice is kept in LICENSE-MIT-open-appleremote.

The kernel driver lives in its own repository, AppleRemoteWin-Driver, under the MIT license: see its LICENSE and README.md.