What’s new in Apple TV? Siri YouTube search, gameplay support, single sign-in and more

Apple has announced the latest update to its Apple tvOS that will see huge live TV access, smarter Siri and more.

Now over 100 live channels will be coming to the platform as of next month. Apple will make jumping between subscription services easier than ever thank to a new single sign-on feature. There’s also a brand new remote app and plenty more coming.

Check below for everything you can expect to find in the latest version of Apple tvOS.

Apple TV: New remote features

The Apple TV Siri Remote uses touch, motion and voice but now all those features have arrived on the iPhone app too.

Ideal for taking advantage of the iPhone’s motion sensors, this app will allow it to control games and more. You will be able to search by entering text using the keyboard.

Now if you get a new app on iPhone or iPad, like the Baseball league app say, it’ll be automatically downloaded to the Apple TV ready for you to use it when you turn it on next.

Apple TV: Updated Siri search

Siri has not only made it onto Mac OS but has also had an upgrade on Apple TV.

Now you can search using Siri for categories like “eighties comedy” and it’ll search the 650,000 shows and movies library and let you watch with just one tap. From later this month you can also search YouTube specifically by asking it to “Search YouTube for…”.

A new feature is called Live Tune In. You simple say “Watch ESPN”, for example and it’ll turn you over to the live channel.

Siri will even give lots of control over Apple HomeKit connected gadgets. So turning down the lights for a movie is as easy as telling Siri to do it.

Apple TV: Single sign-on access

Single sign-on is a new feature that should mean all subscriptions are in one place.

That means you sign in once and then you have access to all your apps without the need to input logins again. Ideal for pay per view TV subscriptions – US ones at least, for now.

Apple

Apple TV: Apps on tvOS

The 6,000 apps already available for Apple TV have had some great upgrades to make them even more TV focused.

Gaming on titles like NBA 2K16, Minecraft and Sketch Party are all more TV friendly. Now you can draw on an iPad or iPhone for Sketch Party and sit around TV to guess. Or browse potential new holidays using Airbnb or TripAdvisor so everyone can see the options on the big screen.

Support for more game controllers has also been announced.

Apple has updated the APIs so that more options are available like ReplayKit to record live TV, PhotoKit for third-party access to iCloud content, HomeKit access and more.

Apple TV: Extras

Apple Music has had a design update and that’s reflected in the tvOS app to give more clarity and ease of search.

Photos now supports Memories making navigating one’s photo library more easy on the big screen.

There is also a new dark mode that gives the menus and movies a cinema feel, ideal for when searching through your evening’s movie selection.

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