Apple Explains How Spatial Audio Head Tracking Will Work on Apple TV
With tvOS 15, Apple is bringing Spatial Audio to the Apple TV when the set-top box is used with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. It has been unclear how this feature will work because the Apple TV does not have a U1 chip for head tracking purposes, but Apple recently gave an explanation to Engadget.
When you’re watching a TV show or movie on the Apple TV, the head tracking feature (powered by AirPods Pro or Max) detects that you’ve been looking in the same direction, calculates your probable head orientation, and activates the Spatial Audio effect. If you get up, it reactivates.
When you sit down to watch a movie or TV show, the included head tracking feature will lock in after it detects you’ve been looking in the same direction for a while. Once you get up to walk around, it will reactivate.
Spatial Audio will work with stereo, 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos content, and connecting the AirPods to an Apple TV that’s running tvOS 15 has been streamlined. When you’re wearing AirPods and are near the Apple TV, you’ll see an on-screen popup that will let you connect with a click of the remote.
Spatial Audio is designed to provide a theater-like listening experience with sound that seems to come from all around you. tvOS 15 is also gaining new SharePlay features for watching TV with friends over FaceTime calls and support for pairing two HomePod mini speakers to an Apple TV.
Popular Stories
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
Top Rated Comments