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.
Wednesday March 19, 2025 6:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly. It has been three and a half years since Apple first announced the...
Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month.
In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Thursday March 20, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the first iOS 19 beta is still more than two months away, there are already plenty of rumors about the upcoming software update.
Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors so far.
visionOS-Like Design
In January, the YouTube channel Front Page Tech revealed a redesigned Camera app that is allegedly planned for iOS 19.
According to Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser, the Camera app...
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around a year and a half away from launching, there are already some early rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap some key iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far.
Under-Screen Face ID
In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a roadmap showing that iPhone 17 Pro models would feature under-display Face ID. In May 2024, however, Young said ...
Thursday March 20, 2025 6:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Is Apple experiencing a "Vista-like drift into systemically poor execution?"
That was a question posed by well-known technology analyst Benedict Evans, in a recent blog post covering Apple's innovation and execution, or seemingly lack thereof as of late. He is referring to Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, which was widely criticized when it launched in 2007 due to software bugs,...
Wednesday March 19, 2025 5:29 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Serial leaker Sonny Dickson today shared an image of what he claims is a first look at a third-party case for Apple's iPhone 17 Air. "If you didn’t know an Air was coming, you'd swear it was a Google Pixel case," he said.
Case manufacturers often obtain design specifications of upcoming iPhone models before their release by collaborating with Apple through official partnerships or...
All four iPhone 17 models launching later this year will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to analyst Jeff Pu.
In a research note today with investment firm GF Securities, Pu shared a chart in which he reiterated that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera. By comparison, all four ...
Thursday March 20, 2025 5:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson has shared more dummy models of Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 series, with the latest lot revealing a noticeable shift in Apple's iPhone Pro model design that goes beyond the much-talked-about new rear camera bar.
Dickson points out that the iPhone 17 Pro dummy models feature an outlined area on the back, beginning just below the camera module and extending to the...
Apple is planning some of the "biggest iOS and macOS redesigns in its history," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman reiterated that iOS 19 will have a visionOS-like design with more transparent interfaces:The new interfaces will adopt the design principles introduced in visionOS, the software for Apple's Vision Pro headset. That includes greater...
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.
