Apple Releases tvOS 13 With Multi User Support, Control Center, Ocean Screensavers and More

by

Apple today released tvOS 13, the latest operating system designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. tvOS 13 comes after several months of beta testing.

tvOS 13 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌ by going to System -> Software Update. ‌Apple TV‌ owners who have automatic software updates turned on will be upgraded to tvOS 13 automatically. Apple has also released an ‌Apple TV‌ Software 7.4 update (actually version 8.4.3) for the third-generation ‌Apple TV‌.

tvos13
The tvOS 13 update brings an updated Home screen aimed at making it easier to discover new content. Apps are now able to play full-screen video previews on the Home screen, similar to Netflix, once developers have implemented support.

Multiple users are supported 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.

tvos13controlcenter
tvOS 13 brings Apple Arcade, Apple's new gaming service that's already available for the iPhone. ‌Apple Arcade‌ will offer unlimited access to more than 60 new and exclusive games, for one $4.99 per month subscription fee.

tvos13applearcade
For ‌Apple Arcade‌, 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.

game controllers ps4 xbox
Sign in with Apple, a feature also available on the ‌iPhone‌, iPad, and coming to Macs, is included in tvOS 13. With tvOS 13, apps that support Sign in with Apple will let you sign in with your Apple ID rather than requiring you to create a user name and password.

signinwithapple
Apple can even obscure your real email address and provide a fake one, which keeps your data and information safer than ever.

There are new under the sea themed screensavers created in partnership with the BBC Natural History Unit, which also created "Blue Planet."

tvos 13 underwater
With a new Picture-in-Picture feature, you can continue to watch TV shows or movies while using a different app, adjusting settings, or otherwise navigating through the tvOS 13 operating system.

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

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Read Full Article • 180 comments
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Read Full Article • 232 comments
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
Read Full Article • 24 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Read Full Article • 69 comments
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Read Full Article • 84 comments
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...
Read Full Article • 35 comments

Top Rated Comments

pooryou Avatar
pooryou
75 months ago
I don’t want “Netflix-like” forced video previews!

Sure hope we can disable that nonsense.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Solomani Avatar
Solomani
75 months ago
Xbox and DualShock controller support for Apple TV! A step in the right direction, Apple.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rigby Avatar
Rigby
75 months ago

Did you check under Accessibility? Sometimes they hide stuff like that there.
You, Sir, are a genius. ;) Under Accessibility/Motion the video previews can be turned off. The apps still rotate through still images, but that’s less annoying.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rigby Avatar
Rigby
75 months ago
Just updated one of my ATVs and encountered the first UI annoyance already: in the previous version, the "top shelf" of the TV app on the home screen would show the first few entries of may watch list. Now it shows some random movie poster fullscreen in the background (essentially an ad), so I can no longer directly jump to an item on the watchlist. Is there any way to configure this? Not a fan of the new home screen so far.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
unfunfionn Avatar
unfunfionn
75 months ago
I've been on the public beta for a couple of months. When I first saw the top shelf ads, I thought it can't be serious, but surely they'll make it optional by the GM. Turns out they were serious and they didn't listen. I'm sure some users will like this feature, but there is an ethical concern that makes me a little worried. This is a €200 device, the premium device in this market, and they're putting advertisements on the home screen. As long as that content is stuff you have to spend additional money on, they're ads. I was already annoyed that my Samsung TV makes it impossible to remove TV Plus (and keeps pinning it to my Home menu no matter how often I remove it), but it mostly stays out of the way. The tvOS ads are far worse.

But honestly it annoys me with the Music app more than the TV app. The TV app was barely useful to begin with. Its only useful feature for me was Up Next in the top shelf. Now it can just go into a folder and die. But I use Music heavily and instead of having a shortcut into albums I deliberately added to my library, I get video previews for Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers and Ariana Grande. I don't listen to any of those artists and have no intention to. They're not recommendations based on my listening behaviour either.

It's business goals being brute-forced onto a paying customer base. Yes, worse things can happen in an OS update, but this approach feels quite concerning.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaspitsjesse Avatar
gaspitsjesse
75 months ago

So we’re going to lose all of the birds eye videos? I love the NY and Dubai videos! And I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent waiting to see the Santa Monica amusement pier. Or wondered why the light over France is a different color than that over England.
I really wish Apple would let us pick and choose (up to ten?) Aerials screensavers to cycle, rather than get completely random ones, often times overwriting one's favorites.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments