Apple Seeds Eighth Beta of Upcoming tvOS 11 Update to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

Apple today seeded the eighth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11 update designed for the fourth-generation TV, one week after seeding the seventh beta and more than two months after releasing the first beta during the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Registered developers can download the tvOS 11 update by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes.

tvos 11 beta
tvOS 11 didn't receive a lot of attention at the Worldwide Developers Conference because it's a modest update, but according to Apple's release notes, it does introduce a few new features to the operating system.

tvOS 11 brings automatic switching between light/dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options that keep multiple Apple TVs in a household in sync, new background modes and notification support, Focus API improvements, custom sound support, network-based pairing and development support, improvements to Mobile Device Management, and more.

The eighth beta of tvOS 11 most likely focuses primarily on bug fixes and other small refinements, as the first seven betas did. Apple's new tvOS 11 update is available for both registered developers and public beta testers. It will see a public release later this year.

Update: Apple has released tvOS 11 beta 7 for public beta testers.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
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Top Rated Comments

CarlJ Avatar
96 months ago
tvOS 11 didn't receive a lot of attention at the Worldwide Developers Conference because it's a modest update, but according to Apple's release notes, it does introduce a few new features to the operating system.
tvOS 11 didn't receive a lot of attention at WWDC because they can't talk about the interesting bits before announcing new hardware and new content deals, both of which are likely coming in the fall; Tim said Amazon Video would be coming to Apple's TV app and all Apple TVs in the fall, and he ended the 83 seconds they spent on tvOS (in a 2 hour and 19 minute keynote) with "That's tvOS, you'll be hearing a lot more about tvOS later this year" (that wasn't an offhand comment to fill time, they rehearse the keynote presentations extensively).
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