Developer Steve Troughton-Smith continues to find interesting nuggets of info in Apple's tvOS that hint at future Apple TV capabilities, and on Wednesday discovered a way to bring app folder support to the new operating system.
Source: Steve Troughton-Smith via Twitter
As seen above, Troughton-Smith cobbled together code, or "abused llbd" as he says, to enable the creation of app folders in the shipping version of tvOS that mimic those found in iOS. Each created folder shows up on the tvOS home screen as one would expect, with its own title and nested app icon previews.
The folders come with customizable names and what appears to be full compatibility with tvOS, meaning stored apps can be repositioned and deleted by entering "wiggle mode." It is unclear how exactly apps are moved into and out of a given folder, or if that is even possible, and does Troughton-Smith elaborate on specifics like app limits. At this point the discovery serves as a proof of concept of what Apple could have planned for future updates.
Depending on consumer interest in third-party tvOS apps, there could very well come a day when folders make sense for Apple TV. For now, however, Apple's basic one-app-per-slot organization system offers sufficient support for the smattering of available apps.
Launched publicly alongside the fourth-generation Apple TV last week, tvOS is a distinct operating system that mixes and matches GUI elements from iOS and previous Apple TV software builds to form a cohesive OS ready for the big-screen. Apple is still building out functionality, though initial developer interest in the fledgling OS looks promising.
Earlier today Apple updated the tvOS App Store with a new Categories section, a content discovery enhancement that follows Monday's Top Charts addition.