Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of tvOS 13 to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 13 update to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the fourth public beta and shortly after seeding the sixth developer beta of tvOS.

Public beta testers can download the new update 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.

tvos13
Those who want to beta test the software can sign up to do so on Apple's beta testing website.

tvOS 13 includes a new Home screen that's aimed at making it easier to find new content, with support for autoplaying videos to show off new TV shows, movies, and apps, similar to Netflix.

Multi-user support is new in tvOS 13, letting each member of the family have their own customized ‌Apple TV‌ interface with separate recommendations, music playlists, and Watch Now lists. A new Control Center lets you swap between profiles.

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.

‌Apple Arcade‌ preparations include 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.

Apple is also adding new under-the-sea themed screensavers made in partnership with the BBC Natural History unit, also known for "Blue Planet," and the new software brings support for a picture-in-picture mode that lets you watch TV while doing other things on the ‌Apple TV‌.

For more on what's new in tvOS 13, make sure to check out our tvOS 13 roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

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Top Rated Comments

FilmYak Avatar
84 months ago
A word of warning, I've had two 4K tv units bricked in the past couple of weeks. First one, I installed the beta, it worked for several days, and then died. Apple replaced it for me. I installed the beta on the replacement unit as well (Apple support assumed it was a hardware glitch), and the replacement unit died last night. Same issue. Apple is replacing it once more, but this time I had to point out it was likely the beta, and that the beta was released to the public so bugs could be found, and I'd clearly found a serious one .And to charge me money to fix the bug was unfair. They agreed, but asked me not to install the beta on this next replacement. I fully agreed to skip the beta this time. Sharing the warning in case anyone else is having second thoughts....
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GIZBUG Avatar
84 months ago
A word of warning, I've had two 4K tv units bricked in the past couple of weeks. First one, I installed the beta, it worked for several days, and then died. Apple replaced it for me. I installed the beta on the replacement unit as well (Apple support assumed it was a hardware glitch), and the replacement unit died last night. Same issue. Apple is replacing it once more, but this time I had to point out it was likely the beta, and that the beta was released to the public so bugs could be found, and I'd clearly found a serious one .And to charge me money to fix the bug was unfair. They agreed, but asked me not to install the beta on this next replacement. I fully agreed to skip the beta this time. Sharing the warning in case anyone else is having second thoughts....
Sadly posts like this fall on deaf ears around here.....
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)