Flipper & Sky Q - Preventing/Dismissing the Start Menu

This article refers to our Flipper Big Button Remote Control

Sky Q boxes when starting up will display a start-up welcome screen. This screen poses problems for simple universal remote controls, such as the Flipper, that do not have an OK button. Here we'll outline some things that can help when using Sky Q with the Flipper remote control.

Change standby settings on your Sky Q box

The default standby setting for Sky Q boxes is Eco - when using the Flipper remote control we recommend this is changed to None.

Press Home on your Sky Q remote and select Settings, then Setup
Select Preferences, followed by Standby mode and then None

The instructions above may be changed by Sky. You can view the latest instructions on how to change the standby setting on your Sky Q box by visiting Sky's support article Using & Changing Standby Settings.

Advanced Programming - Map the Flipper mute button to dismiss

Important - This is an advanced technique and may not be suitable for many of our users. To set this up you will need to reprogram the Flipper and the end-user will also need to remember to use the mute button to dismiss the welcome screen

The Flipper mute button can be individually programmed to perform any function that an existing remote control performs. One trick we can do is reprogram the mute button so it performs the same action as the back/dismiss button on your Sky Q remote. Once this is done, the mute button can be used to dismiss the welcome screen.

To reprogram the Flipper you will first need to order one of Sky's accessibility remote controls (as Sky Q remote controls use bluetooth, which the Flipper isn't able to copy)
Follow our instructions on how to program the Flipper using learning mode - but only program the mute button on the Flipper with the dismiss button on your Sky Q accessibility remote control

Use your existing remote control

Although we appreciate that this isn't the most helpful advice for our users, we do recommend at the moment for your Sky Q remote control to be kept near at hand, as there may be times where it is needed even when following the instructions above. For example, when the Sky Q box is updated automatically and restarts, or if the Sky Q box is turned off at the mains power.