Stay up-to-date on the latest Apple TV news and learn how to get the most out of your device with our comprehensive tutorials and guides. Discover new features, troubleshoot issues, and explore the best apps and games for your Apple TV.
In addition to iOS 8, Apple has released a new version of its Apple TV software this morning. The update brings about a number of improvements, including a redesigned interface, a new Beats Music channel, and support for various new iOS 8 features.
Easily the most obvious change is the refreshed design, which now utilizes flatter images and thinner fonts. The makeover is long overdue, and it helps brings the design language of the Apple TV software more in line with the iOS and Mac platforms.
College football fans will be happy to hear that WatchESPN has expanded its NCAA coverage on Apple TV. The sports-focused streaming video channel now features programming from the SEC Network and The Longhorn Network.
The SEC Network is a joint venture between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN, and it will cover over 1000 live sporting events per year. And of course, The Longhorn Network is centered around the University of Texas athletics...
As expected, the National Football League launched the Apple TV client for its new 'NFL Now' service this morning. The service went live earlier this month on mobile and various streaming devices, and today it comes to Apple's set top box.
While the NFL Now channel won't deliver streams of live games (see NFL Sunday Ticket for that), it will provide a plethora of content for football fans. That content includes classic and recent highlights, breaking news, press events and more...
Good news Apple TV owners. Netflix has updated its client for the set-top box with its auto-play-next-episode feature, bringing it in line with its other apps. The feature, which has long been available on the web and other platforms, has been a top request among users.
Now, when a TV episode is finished playing in the Netflix app, users will have the option to quickly move to the next one in sequential order. Previously, users would have to back out to the 'Play' screen, then out to the 'Season' screen and manually select the next episode...
Apple today released a trio of major updates, one giving the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices improved iBeacon connectivity and the other enabling enhanced Wi-Fi performance and better reliability when waking up your Mac from sleep, among other changes.
The third update is focused on the $99 Apple TV media-streaming box. Now available in Software Update, the Apple TV 6.2 firmware brings no new features and appears to be a simple maintenance update accompanying the aforementioned iOS 7.1.2 and OS X 10.9.4 updates...
Apple released version 6.1 of its Apple TV software alongside iOS 7.1 on Monday. The update seemingly included little in the way of changes, outside of a new option that allows you to hide channel icons from the main menu.
But apparently there's a hidden feature in the new firmware that hasn't been talked about much, and it's actually a fairly big deal. According to a new report, ATV 6.1 enables you to discover AirPlay connections via Bluetooth...
In addition to launching iOS 7.1 for the iPhone and iPad today, Apple also rolled out new firmware to the Apple TV. The software, labeled as version 6.1, brings about a handful of improvements, including the ability to hide channel icons from the ATV's Main Menu.
While you could hide icons in previous versions of Apple TV software, the process was very convoluted, forcing you into the Settings menu > General > Restrictions > Hide. But with today's update, you can now skip all that and hide icons right from the home screen...
Following the release of an updated iTunes Festival app for iOS on Thursday, Apple has rolled out a new TV channel for its Apple TV. For us, the icon is showing up in the second row of icons, right in the middle, so it's almost impossible to miss.
Clicking on the icon takes you to the Festival channel, where you can get the low-down on all of the major acts that are going to be playing at Apple's SXSW event this week. You can also view their concert dates and listen to samples of their music...
Apple has added another new channel to the Apple TV this morning for customers in Sweden. It's called TV 4 Play, and it's a streaming channel for the major Swedish television network TV 4 and it features both live and on-demand content.
That content includes live broadcasting, original programming, and full episodes of TV4 shows. Most of the content is available for free, but the network says that premium (paid) subscribers will have access to additional shows and movies...
In addition to issuing a quick fix for a dangerous SSL vulnerability with last week's release of iOS 7.0.6 (you can apply the update without upgrading your firmware), Apple has also released a companion update for its $99 streaming box, the Apple TV.
The Apple TV 6.0.2 software update (hat tip to iDB reader Gil) carries a build number of 6646.81.1 and fixes the SSL bug which allows attackers to steal your usernames and passwords used on iTunes Store and other services, by posing as a legitimate site.
The exploit affects Apple's Safari browser so Apple TV users are not necessarily in immediate danger like their Mac counterparts...
Good news for Apple TV 2 owners who haven't updated to 6.0 yet. FireCore has updated its Seas0nPass utility to apply an untethered jailbreak to ATVs that are still running firmware version 5.3—which is essentially the equivalent of iOS 6.1.4.
The tool has, for a long time, been able to apply a tethered jailbreak to the 5.3 software. But thanks to recent developments in the community, it's now capable of an untethered hack, which means restarts and power up/downs will be hassle-free...
For those that missed it this morning, p0sixspwn was updated to fix a few major bugs from the previous release. The untethered jailbreak, released for devices on iOS 6.1.3-6.1.5 by winocm and iH8Sn0w, should no longer create issues with iMessage or LTE.
Interestingly enough, the update also adds support for the Apple TV 2 (still no Apple TV 3). So while I don't think you can use it to directly jailbreak the set-top box, it shouldn't be too long before a utility like Seas0nPass takes advantage of the new capability...