Roger Fingas
Owners of the fourth-generation Apple TV were on Friday greeted with an updated "What's New" splash screen, promoting "Live Tune-In," a feature letting people jump straight into the live TV feeds of select apps.
The screen notes that the feature is triggered via Siri commands, some given examples being "Watch CBS" and "Watch ESPN live." It's not clear how many apps actually support the technology, though Disney XD is mentioned as another option. In any case, a viewer must already be subscribed to the service in question.
Other items on the splash screen were contained in March's tvOS 9.2 update. It's unknown why Apple would only now be promoting Live Tune-In, but Apple may have been waiting until it could make server-side Siri improvements.
Siri-related changes can often be pushed out without a matching OS update. Earlier in April, for instance, the company silently upgraded Siri on iPhones and iPads with access to a large assortment of baseball statistics.
Live Tune-In should allow people to treat an Apple TV more like a conventional TV, quickly switching between live channels.
Christine McKee
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12 Comments
This is pretty cool. I'm all for new features on the ATV. I would love a way to see all the "Live Tune-In" shows at once. I'm a browser, so it would be cool to know what the 5-6 "Live Tune-In" apps were currently showing without launching each one. Maybe something like "Siri, what's live on ESPN?" Without the app launching: "NBA Basketball: Miami Heat vs Cleveland Cavaliers - would you like to watch live?" If you say yes, it launches. Save you from opening each app just to realize whatever is showing live at that moment is not of interest to you.
It’s becoming clear that Apple has big plans for the TV. But of course there’s that arrogant vocal crowd that wanted everything RIGHT NOW and trashed the device from day one without even understanding why some things take time to do right.
Hey look: I found a use for Siri. But how about a system level app that displays onscreen all the choices for live TV from the other installed apps? You know...like a cable box.
Wait was this an update? Because someone beat me to the Apple TV this morning and I didn't et to see the splash screen.
i just want them to fix Siri. Using the feature is embarrassing and a lot worse than iPhone. She's always saying "can't search the web here" when asking movies and makes annoying witty comments when you're trying to find certain things, completely ignoring your request.
I did both because I realize this device was released only so that Apple won't fall behind and please those who have been waiting years. The real revolution is coming.