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Apple TV New Features: Apps For tvOS, Siri, And Much More

By Kevin Carneglia

From the archive: published Sep 13, 2015, 11 years ago. Details may have changed since.

Apple TV, a device that played TV, music, and movies on the television, is getting an overhaul. The tvOS software on which Apple TV runs is being updated with a host of new features, perhaps the most useful of which is apps for the tvOS platform. As AppleInsider discovered, the new software update will make Apple TV very similar to the iOS interface iPhone and iPad users will be familiar with. The site also mentions that tvOS will add the ability to use apps in the background and download them from an App Store, just as users of iOS can already do.

As the world goes more and more mobile and becomes more dependent on apps for media streaming and gaming, the move appears to make sense for the new Apple TV, but did it come a bit too late? Competitors like Amazon Fire TV Stick and Google’s ChromeCast already have similar features, and seem to be adding new apps regularly. In addition to streaming, Amazon Fire TV Stick has popular games like Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga, already available on Fire TV, so the new move by Apple is not by any means a revolution. Rather, it seems to be playing catch-up to the ever-popular Smart TVs.

A Screenshot of tvOS 9 running in beta version.
MacRumors.comdiscovered that the new Apple TVwon’t be up for grabs until the end of October, 2015, and will cost either $149.99 for 32 GB memory, or $199.99 for TVs with a 64 GB memory capacity. In addition to the new iPad-esque App Store, we’ll also be seeing a Siri feature that lets users control their TV using their voice. For example, you can ask Siri to “Show me funny TV shows”if you want it to bring up comedies for you, or if you want Siri to skip the cheesy parts of a movie or show, you can tell it to “Fast-forward seven minutes.”

Somewhat comparable devices like the Xbox One can also be controlled using voice commands, but seriously, who doesn’t want Siri on their TV? Being that the iPhone is still one of the most popular smartphones in existence, it makes sense Apple would want to introduce an OS that makes their TV feel like a smartphone. Whether this move will pay off remains to be seen, but the new features introduced will certainly make iOS users feel right at home, and hopefully win new converts for Apple as well.

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