Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to its public beta testing group, a few days after providing the beta to developers and a week after releasing the tvOS 12.1.2 update.
The tvOS 12.2 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.
tvOS 12.2, paired with iOS 12.2, lets users ask Siri to play specific media on an Apple TV from an iOS device. You can, for example, ask Siri to play Modern Family on the TV in the living room. This works for music and TV content.
No other new features were discovered in the tvOS 12.2 beta as of yet, and it's often difficult to determine what's new because Apple does not provide release notes letting us know what's changed.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you.
Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Hopefully tvOS 12.2 or 13.0 will provide third-party developers with the capability to add support for Dolby Atmos. The Apple TV only support Dolby Atmos on-top of Dolby Digital Plus aka the "lossy" version of Dolby Atmos. Not all that surprising as the Apple TV and tvOS did not support the lossless formats such as Dolby True HD or DTS: Master Audio to begin with.
But the saddest part of the Dolby Atmos support is how there is no API for developers to utilise in order to get it supported within their apps. Firecore, the developers behind Infuse and Plex Inc the developers behind Plex Media Player are simply not allowed to add support for Dolby Atmos within these apps.
It's only Apple themselves, and chosen streaming provides working directly with Apple that are allowed to integrate with the Dolby Atmos capabilities within tvOS. This is such a shame and is really putting some stark discrimination on the developers.
Hopefully tvOS 12.2 or 13.0 will provide a API for all the developers to use. Why limit this in such a way? It's beyond me... [doublepost=1548700522][/doublepost]The Firecore team encourages Apple TV users to raise this issue with Apple;
Dolby Atmos support has been announced at WWDC for tvOS 12!
Unfortunately, the current implementation is only useful for VOD services like iTunes, Netflix, and Vudu. Enabling Atmos for local content is a change that needs to come from Apple, and as the old saying goes “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” So...we're asking you to be as squeaky as possible...within reason of course.
Ways you can help
[LIST=1] * Request a feature or enhancement through apple.com/feedback ('http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html') * Submit an suggestion bug report through bugreport.apple.com ('http://bugreport.apple.com/') (developers only, see steps below) * Encourage other people you know to do one of the above
A good template of the details to include with your request can be found below.
Dolby Atmos is now supported on Apple TV, which is great! However, the options provided for Atmos are rather limited and not very useful for those who wish to play their own local Atmos content.
Please allow tvOS applications (e.g., Infuse, Plex, DS Video, etc.) to provide more flexible audio options to their users either through the use of Dolby MAT v2.0 or full bitstream audio passthrough.
Devices like NVIDIA SHIELD, Dune 4K, and many other Android-based media players support this feature, and it would be fantastic if the Apple TV would as well.
Steps for filing a Radar.
[LIST=1] * Log in to: bugreport.apple.com ('http://bugreport.apple.com/') * Choose: Report a new bug * For product, select: tvOS + SDK -> AV Playback * Title: “Atmos Support for Playback from Local Network Sources” * Classification: Suggestion
All we need now is a new Apple TV! Hopefully, one without the ridiculous trackpad remote. JMHO.
I like the remote. The trackpad lets me move around quickly and scrub through a show. Easy peasy. And since it has siri built in to find and play shows I fail to see why I need that through my phone as well.
