Getting MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared() to work in tvOS - ios

Question

Ok, maybe I missed something here. I want to use the black remote with my app and got this code essentially from the WWDC 2017 talk on the issue. It says ...
Consistent and intuitive control of media playback is key to many apps on tvOS, and proper use and configuration of MPNowPlayingInfoCenter and MPRemoteCommandCenter are critical to delivering a great user experience. Dive deeper into these frameworks and learn how to ensure a seamless experience whether your app is being controlled using Siri, the Siri Remote, or the iOS Remote app.
So I added these lines to viewDidLoad of my tvOS app and well they do nothing basically?
var commandCenter = MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
commandCenter.playCommand.isEnabled = true
commandCenter.pauseCommand.isEnabled = true
commandCenter.playCommand.addTarget { (commandEvent) -> MPRemoteCommandHandlerStatus in
print("You Pressed play")
return .success
}
commandCenter.pauseCommand.addTarget { (commandEvent) -> MPRemoteCommandHandlerStatus in
print("You Pressed pause")
return .success
}
}
I run the app, and try the play/pause button on the black remote and nothing is printed to the debugging console? Also added some code the plist related to background mode...Should this work or did I miss the point here somewhere?
<key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
<array>
<string>audio</string>
<string>external-accessory</string>
</array>

Answer 1

The commands in MPRemoteCommandCenter aren't triggered by the Siri Remote when your app is in the foreground. To get events from the remote when you're in the foreground, use UIGestureRecognizer like you're probably already used to.
These commands in MPRemoteCommandCenter are for other ways the system may want to interact with your playback, such as:
Your app is playing audio in the background, and the user presses the pause button on the remote: your app I'll be asked to pause playback.
The user is using the TV Remote app for iOS and is using that app's playback control screen.

Answer 2

Posted the question to Apple support; who pointed me in the right direction, need to use the GCMicroGamepad controller or its related GameKit frameworks. Than found a 2015 example posted by blauzahn who most certainly deserves the credit really for this post. Here is his code slightly modified for Swift 3.0, ios 10.x
import GameController
..
var gamePad: GCMicroGamepad? = nil
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self,
selector: #selector(gameControllerDidConnect),
name: NSNotification.Name.GCControllerDidConnect,
object: nil)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self,
selector: #selector(gameControllerDidDisconnect),
name: NSNotification.Name.GCControllerDidDisconnect,
object: nil)
func gameControllerDidConnect(notification : NSNotification) {
if let controller = notification.object as? GCController {
if let mGPad = controller.microGamepad {
// Some setup
gamePad = mGPad
gamePad!.allowsRotation = true
gamePad!.reportsAbsoluteDpadValues = true
print("MicroGamePad connected...")
// Add valueChangedHandler for each control element
if gamePad?.buttonA.isPressed == true {
print("button A pressed")
}
if gamePad?.buttonX.isPressed == true {
print("button X pressed")
}
gamePad!.dpad.valueChangedHandler = { (dpad: GCControllerDirectionPad, xValue: Float, yValue: Float) -> Void in
print("dpad xValue = \(xValue), yValue = \(yValue)")
}
gamePad!.buttonA.valueChangedHandler = { (buttonA: GCControllerButtonInput, value:Float, pressed:Bool) -> Void in
print("\(buttonA)")
}
gamePad!.buttonX.valueChangedHandler = { (buttonX: GCControllerButtonInput, value:Float, pressed:Bool) -> Void in
print("\(buttonX)")
}
}
}
}
// Game controller disconnected
func gameControllerDidDisconnect(notification : NSNotification) {
if let controller = notification.object as? GCController {
if controller.microGamepad != nil {
self.gamePad = nil
print("MicroGamePad disconnected...")
}
}
}