Apple today provided developers with the fifth beta of tvOS 10, the next-generation operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 5 comes one week after the release of tvOS beta 4 and approximately two months after the operating system was first shown off at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference

tvOS betas are harder to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.

tvossiritopics
tvOS 10 builds on features initially introduced with tvOS last October, bringing expanded Siri capabilities like topic-based search, Live Tune-In for automatically accessing live channels, and options for managing HomeKit accessories.

Single-Sign On allows users to sign in and authenticate cable credentials just once instead of requiring authentication in all cable-supported apps, games are now able to require controllers, and there are new features for Photos and Music.


A dark mode offers a better visual experience for darker rooms, universal apps are automatically downloaded, and there's a new Apple TV remote for iOS devices that mirrors the Siri Remote.

Over the beta testing period, Apple has been making slight tweaks and updates to the tvOS 10 operating system, but many of the changes are under-the-hood and not readily apparent to testers. Any outward-facing changes discovered in the fifth beta will be noted below.

For a full overview of all of the new features in tvOS 10, make sure to check out our tvOS 10 roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

satyrica Avatar
89 months ago
And, once again, no changelog... What's the point of this "article"?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SBlue1 Avatar
89 months ago
An Apple TV Store that can be viewed on a computer would be nice too.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blackcrayon Avatar
89 months ago
Finally a "dark mode." I can hardly believe that it's taken this long considering how many people watch TV/movies in the dark.
With the new color accessibility settings you can even simulate a "Night Shift" mode on the Apple TV and assign it to a triple click of the remote.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TurboPGT! Avatar
89 months ago
An Apple TV Store that can be viewed on a computer would be nice too.
Personally I would like to see a future iPad App that shows the entire Apple TV UI in mirrored/minature form, and allows the finding and initiating of playback of content.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
peterdevries Avatar
89 months ago
And, once again, no changelog... What's the point of this "article"?
In stead of complaining you could have watched the video which explains the new features pretty well.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
89 months ago
Finally a "dark mode." I can hardly believe that it's taken this long considering how many people watch TV/movies in the dark.
Apple Stores are always well lit. Perhaps they assume Apple fans model their homes after the stores?;)

And maybe that's "the future" of HomeKit too?;)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)