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.