Apple Seeds Third Beta of tvOS 17.1 to Developers

Wednesday October 11, 2023 10:18 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 17.1 to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the launch of the second tvOS 17.1 beta.

Apple TV 2022 Feature Blue
Registered developers can download the tvOS 17.1 update by opting in to the beta through the Settings app on the Apple TV. A registered developer account is required.

tvOS updates are often minor in scale compared to other operating system updates, focusing primarily on bug fixes and smaller improvements rather than notable outward-facing changes. tvOS 17.1 adds a new favoriting option to the Music app on the ‌Apple TV‌, along with some other minor Music changes.

Apple shares some information on tvOS releases in its tvOS support document, which is updated after each tvOS launch, but Apple does not provide notes during beta testing.

Though we don't often know much about what's new in tvOS betas, we let MacRumors readers know when new updates are available so those who are developers can download new software upon release. Apple has also seeded a new beta of HomePod 17.1 software for developers.

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Top Rated Comments

Danilo - Italy

40 months ago

I was confused why the icons were smaller. I agree with you. Is this another case of Apple not doing adequate user testing, and making assumptions based on their own well-financed setups?

The new six mode works well only if you have a big screen, from 55 inch and up. I my opinion the clock is really small too. Maybe at Apple they have only 65/85 inch screens.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

GaryMumford

40 months ago

The new six mode works well only if you have a big screen, from 55 inch and up. I my opinion the clock is really to small. Maybe at Apple have 65/85 inch screens.

Maybe it's just me, But I only have a 49" TV and think the 6 icons are so much better than the 5. I think 5 icons are way too big!!!

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

coolfactor

40 months ago

Hopefully 17.1 adds a way to switch back to the 5 column grid .. (is there a setting that I'm missing?) the 6 column grid icons are too small on my parents TV..

Why isn't this a user-adjustable setting? Not everyone has a 75"+ TV FFS...

I was confused why the icons were smaller. I agree with you. Is this another case of Apple not doing adequate user testing, and making assumptions based on their own well-financed setups?

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bobscape

40 months ago

tvOS 17.1 DB3 broke the ability to swipe using my iPhone (running 17.1 DB3) as the remote.

Restart hasn’t fixed it.

Works fine on both my iPad and iPhone, both running 17.1. Just to be clear, the remote app has benn deprecated. Functionality has been migrated to the control panel.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

melapple

40 months ago

Maybe it's just me, But I only have a 49" TV and think the 6 icons are so much better than the 5. I think 5 icons are way too big!!!

Agree, and I own a 43” TV. What do people need huge tvOS app icons for? With 6 apps per row there’s less scrolling needed.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

RGPphotog

40 months ago

I'm just gonna drop a ProTip™ in here, that as a replacement to an actual remote App, a Shortcuts "app" button works quite well. I find that's easier/faster to get to than the control panel. I keep it in a "Favorites" folder on my dock.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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Apple Seeds Third Beta of tvOS 17.1 to Developers

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