I have noticed a bug with the new version of BTT.
I have an old iMac that have IR reciever and I am using the aluminum remote with BTT for years.
Yesterday I have installed a fresh copy of OS so I configured all my apps again.
In the new configuration pane, I couldn't find the section for the old Apple remote.
But when I get into the old UI, it is still there.
Maybe I couldn't find it but you better check it, thanks!
Affected input device (e.g. MacBook Trackpad, Magic Mouse/Trackpad, Touch Bar, etc.):
Apple Remote (Aluminum IR)
I currently don't intent to move it to the new UI as I don't own a mac with IR receiver anymore and therefore wouldn't have a way to test it. Please continue to use the old UI for this specific trigger type.
The old UI won't go away anytime soon (at least a year). If it should go away eventually you can still use an older version to configure the old remote and then use the configuration in the new BTT.
The solution you propose would work, short term, but not long term. At some point, the old BTT version we would have kept safe will just not work anymore on a newer MacOS version, and we'll loose the support of the apple remote.
This remote can be used with an external IR sensor, plug and play without any specific driver, that's how I'm using it on my new mac mini 2018. This might allow you to keep supporting the apple remote. Which I beg you to (re)consider.