Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 14.5 to Developers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 14.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the launch of the tvOS 14.4 update.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 14.5 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ via a profile that's installed using Xcode.

With tvOS 14.5, Apple will begin enforcing its App Tracking Transparency privacy feature, which will require app developers to ask for and receive a user's permission to access their random advertising identifier (known as the IDFA) to track user activity across apps and websites.

Going forward, when an app wants to access the IDFA on tvOS, users will see a prompt with options to "Allow Tracking" or "Ask App Not to Track." Selecting "Ask App Not to Track" will prevent the app's developer from accessing the user's IDFA, and developers will also have to respect the user's tracking preference and refrain from using other methods to track users.

Apple's tvOS updates are often minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. There's no word yet on what else might included in the tvOS 14.5 update, but we'll update this article should anything new be found. Though we don't often know what's new in tvOS during the beta testing process, we let MacRumors readers know when new updates are available so those who are developers can download it upon release.

The main tvOS 14 update released in September brought expanded Picture in Picture support, new HomeKit integration with HomeKit Secure Video cameras, support for multiple Apple Arcade profiles, and more, with details available in our tvOS 14 roundup.