Apple Seeds Second Beta of iOS 12.3 With New TV App to Developers

Monday April 8, 2019 11:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 12.3 update to developers, a week and a half after releasing the first beta and two weeks after the launch of iOS 12.2, an update that introduced Apple News+, new Animoji, and more.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.


iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 introduce a new version of Apple's TV app, which has been updated with a new look and fresh functionality.

In the new TV app, Watch Now and Up Next are still front and center for keeping track of what you're watching, but there's a new machine learning-based recommendation engine that will suggest content based on what you like to watch.

The app's interface has been streamlined with sections for movies, TV shows, sports, and kids content, and on iOS, there's a separate bottom bar for the library, search, and Watch Now options.


There's a new "Channels" feature in the TV app, which is one of the major new components. Channels are subscription services that you can sign up for and watch within the TV app without having to open up another app.

So, for example, if you come across a show you want to watch on your iPhone or Apple TV that's on Showtime, you can tap to subscribe to Showtime right in the TV app, and then you can watch that show without leaving the app.

Some of the new Channels that will be supported include CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, HBO, Nickelodeon, Mubi, The History Channel Vault, and Comedy Central Now. During the beta, though, users can subscribe to Showtime, Starz, Smithsonian, and Tastemade.


You'll still get recommendations for content from services that aren't a part of Channels, you'll just need to watch non-channel content in a third-party app. When Apple debuts its ‌Apple TV‌+ service this fall, all of the company's original TV shows and movies will be accessible in the TV app.

iOS 12.3 will be in beta testing for the next few weeks ahead of a May launch, the month when Apple said the new TV app will be released.

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orbital~debris
11 months ago
I don’t think I like that Apple seem to have eliminated the traditional ‘movie poster’ style image for purchased movies…

It appears - from the screen shots here, and in previous example images from the ‘Show Time’ event - that movies’ posters are destined to be replaced with the ‘brick’ used to promote the film on the store.

This isn’t good for quick recognition when scanning the library visually, since a film’s poster (colours, layout, characters etc.) often becomes a visual shortcut aiding recognition, and the store ‘brick’ images are sometimes quite distinct from the movie’s original poster (not to mention landscape over portrait orientation, which, aside from cutting down on the number of assets for content, is the likely reason for this change as it allows more items to be displayed vertically).
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
fhopper
11 months ago
I wish Apple would do something that I could be excited about, this is so meh.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
DevNull0
11 months ago

Harry Potter and the G. Harry Potter and the D. Harry Potter and the P. That ol' theme. They waste all of that screen space with nothing but blank screen and then make titles like that all over the place. Music, TV shows, Movies. Some bunch of programmers at apple should be slapped HARD.


It wasn't that long ago that Apple would take someone else's crappy semi-functional product, refine it, make it magical and release something fantastic that "just works". Now they're taking other companies' decent products that "just work" and releasing an Apple version that breaks everything good.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
NMBob
11 months ago
Harry Potter and the G. Harry Potter and the D. Harry Potter and the P. That ol' theme. They waste all of that screen space with nothing but blank screen and then make titles like that all over the place. Music, TV shows, Movies. Some bunch of programmers at apple should be slapped HARD.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
stiligFox
11 months ago
I don’t have any bloody streaming services - I miss the old Videos app when I could open the thing without seeing any “suggested content” and only see what I synced to my device from my personal library.

At least let me turn it off! Same for Apple Music, you can turn it off but it’s always there haunting you in the Music app.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
Tozovac
11 months ago

I don’t think I like that Apple seem to have eliminated the traditional ‘movie poster’ style image for purchased movies…

It appears - from the screen shots here, and in previous example images from the ‘Show Time’ event - that movies’ posters are destined to be replaced with the ‘brick’ used to promote the film on the store.

This isn’t good for quick recognition when scanning the library visually, since a film’s poster (colours, layout, characters etc.) often becomes a visual shortcut aiding recognition, and the store ‘brick’ images are sometimes quite distinct from the movie’s original poster (not to mention landscape over portrait orientation, which, aside from cutting down on the number of assets for content, is the likely reason for this change as it allows more items to be displayed vertically).


Amen. And isn’t it time to move on from space wasting large poster layouts, if not also move on from the amateurish and unfinished looking light blue on all white look?
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
calstanford
11 months ago
So there is nothing new for people who live outside the US or don‘t want to pay for even MORE subscriptions?

Cool Apple...
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
cmaier
11 months ago
They sure as heck better do something in iOS 13 about multiple users. Especially given the TV app stuff.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Tozovac
11 months ago

I don’t think I like that Apple seem to have eliminated the traditional ‘movie poster’ style image for purchased movies…

It appears - from the screen shots here, and in previous example images from the ‘Show Time’ event - that movies’ posters are destined to be replaced with the ‘brick’ used to promote the film on the store.

This isn’t good for quick recognition when scanning the library visually, since a film’s poster (colours, layout, characters etc.) often becomes a visual shortcut aiding recognition, and the store ‘brick’ images are sometimes quite distinct from the movie’s original poster (not to mention landscape over portrait orientation, which, aside from cutting down on the number of assets for content, is the likely reason for this change as it allows more items to be displayed vertically).


It’s sadly too common with today’s Apple, where ellipses that provide no help to discern options are too often used in place of helpful text that’s instead pushed offscreen due to the mis-prioritization of fashion over form.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
cmaier
11 months ago

It’s sadly too common with today’s Apple, where ellipses that provide no help to discern options are too often used in place of helpful text that’s instead pushed offscreen due to the mis-prioritization of fashion over form.

I do wish that Apple would appoint a UX czar to fix this stuff. It doesn’t even matter what conventions they choose as long as they put a tiny bit of thought into it and actually make it consistent.
Rating: 2 Votes

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