Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of Upcoming tvOS 13 Update to Developers

Apple today seeded sixth beta of an upcoming tvOS 13 update to developers, a little over a week after seeding the fifth beta and two months after unveiling the tvOS 13 software at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the new tvOS 13 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌Apple TV‌ via a profile that's installed using Xcode.

tvOS 13 introduces an updated Home screen aimed at making it easier to discover new content. Apps are now able to play full-screen video previews right on the Home screen, similar to Netflix.

Multi-user support is available for the first time, letting more than one profile exist on the ‌Apple TV‌ so each family member can have their own customized ‌Apple TV‌ interface with separate recommendations, music playlists, and Watch Now lists.

Switching between profiles can be done with the new Control Center, which offers up profiles, the time and date, search, a Now Playing widget, AirPlay controls, and a sleep option.

tvOS 13 gets the ‌Apple TV‌ ready for Apple Arcade, Apple's new gaming service that's coming to the ‌Apple TV‌, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year. ‌Apple Arcade‌ will offer unlimited access to more than 100 new and exclusive games, for one subscription fee.

As part of the ‌Apple Arcade‌ preparations, Apple has implemented support for the Xbox Wireless Bluetooth Controller and the PlayStation DualShock 4 Controller, both of which can be connected to an ‌Apple TV‌ over Bluetooth.

There are new under the sea themed screensavers created in partnership with the BBC Natural History Unit, which also created "Blue Planet." There's also a new Picture-in-Picture feature. Picture-in-Picture lets you continue to watch TV shows or movies while using a different app, adjusting settings, or otherwise navigating through the tvOS 13 operating system.

tvOS 13 is available to registered developers and public beta testers at this time and will see an official public launch this fall alongside iOS 13, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, and watchOS 6.

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Top Rated Comments

JRobinsonJr

22 months ago

How do you want to use that?

Well.. how about Mom and Dad staying up late watching a movie while the kids sleep? Or maybe the kids watching a movie while Mom and Dad work? Or... any other conceivable scenario where more than one person wants to hears the sounds from an AppleTV while others do it. Seems a fairly unambiguous use case to me.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Kabeyun

22 months ago

Can somebody please tell me if tvOS 13 supports multiple Bluetooth pairing, at long last? It’s there for iOS 13, and there’s no imaginable reason why it shouldn’t be there for tvOS.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Kabeyun

22 months ago

That's nice to know, it should work then.
And what about the Apple TV generation before that?

Nope ('https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-hd/specs/'). And unfortunately I wouldn’t assume tvOS 13 will enable that function. Hopefully it will. iOS 13 will, so I’m hopeful.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

GIZBUG

22 months ago

This beta fix the bricking of ATV's?

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Kabeyun

22 months ago

How do you want to use that?

So two people can use BT headsets to watch TV. Imagine you have a kid with an early bedtime, and it becomes self-explanatory. :)

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

originalmagneto

22 months ago

Nope ('https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-hd/specs/'). And unfortunately I wouldn’t assume tvOS 13 will enable that function. Hopefully it will. iOS 13 will, so I’m hopeful.

I will try connecting multiple airpods and report back here...

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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