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All about tvOS 26

Table of Contents

  1. tvOS 26
  2. 1. Apple Music Sing with mic
  3. 2. tvOS 26 features

The Apple TV is a simple platform focused on entertainment apps and a handful of games, so updates are generally minimal. tvOS 26 brings the Liquid Glass design to the TV and there's not much else for the platform.

Apple tends to place its focus on other platforms during WWDC, but that doesn't mean tvOS is ignored. The Liquid Glass material does make a change to the look and feel of tvOS 26, but users won't notice much difference in the general interface.

The Apple TV app did get a slight design change that will emphasize poster art for media. There's also a new profiles function that lets users select a profile when the TV is powered on.

Apps will need to update with Liquid Glass materials, but Apple isn't enforcing that change until tvOS 27. So, it may be some time before apps like Disney+ or Netflix adopt the design change.

Apple Music Sing with mic

One of the more significant updates is a change to Sing for Apple Music — the karaoke mode that uses on-screen lyrics. Users can now use their iPhone to sing along and have their voice played through the TV speakers.

Red screen displaying song lyrics and album cover, with a smartphone interface featuring a microphone icon and settings for song vocals and mic reverb. Apple Music Sing gains a microphone via iPhone

It's a bit of a fiddly feature, as it requires audio to play directly from the wired sound system or TV speakers. The inherent lag of AirPlay is too much to overcome for live mic feedback.

Apple Music Sing has been a feature for a while, but the new update enables users to sing into their iPhone as if it were a microphone. The lyrics show up on screen while a highlight shows what verse is active — a classic karaoke experience.

When using Apple Music Sing and microphone mode, a new setting appears for a classic visualization mode. It works with any song in Apple Music, but only while the mode is active.

Mobile interface with emoji reactions, music playlist options, track suggestions, and a notification asking to reconnect iPhone for Apple TV mic usage. Neon pink geometric background. The mic mode on iPhone has several control options

Turn off the microphone mode or try to connect to HomePods and it'll disappear. It could be a sign that Apple is working to bring support for a classic visualizer in Apple Music, but may be limited by the number of active processes.

tvOS 26 features

There are a handful of new features in tvOS 26 outside of the Apple Music Sing updates. One users will appreciate greatly is granular control over which screensavers appear.

Go to the Screensaver settings in the Settings app and you'll find a toggle for each available screensaver. Choose which space views you'd like, or eliminate ever seeing a jellyfish again while still viewing sharks.

Some feature highlights in tvOS 26:

  • Liquid Glass design elements
  • Apple TV app with new poster art
  • Profile screen at power on
  • Sing in Apple Music gets a mic mode
  • FaceTime design update with Contact Posters
  • New Aerial screensavers
  • Designate any AirPlay speaker as a permanent speaker

WWDC 2025 has come and gone, and there are a lot of details to uncover about all of Apple's latest operating systems during the beta period over the summer. Stay tuned for more details on this page for tvOS 26.

Everything below this point has been preserved for historical purposes. It was written before WWDC 2025 and addresses the rumors and expectations around the new tvOS update.

The Apple TV is a mature platform that has a central focus on providing users access to streaming services. tvOS 26 likely won't radically move away from this paradigm, but it could get a fresh coat of paint that makes it resemble visionOS.

The tvOS design evolved from the classic Apple TV, which featured elongated icons that were large and easy to see from a distance. When the latest generations of Apple TV were introduced with the App Store, the design was modernized, but was still recognizable with its icons and layout.

Funny enough, tvOS was a big influence on parts of visionOS thanks to its focus engine. Whenever you rest your thumb on the trackpad of an Apple TV Remote, the icon or object you've highlighted can shift and move, emphasizing what you're highlighting.

visionOS works similarly by ensuring users can tell what their eyes are selecting with a glance.

Now, it seems visionOS will feed tvOS back some inspiration of its own, but this time in design. The transparent glass, reflective surfaces, and other interactive elements are likely to become a part of tvOS in some way with tvOS 26.

Beyond that redesign, there aren't many rumors, if any at all, regarding tvOS itself. Apple could be splitting its App Store into pieces, with one focusing on apps and the other focusing on games.

Apple TV already has an app called Apple Arcade, but it acts as little more than a launcher. The new Apple Games app will have Apple Arcade titles, App Store games library, social features, Game Center, and a game launcher all in one place.

One feature announced with tvOS 18 that never launched could arrive with tvOS 26 — Apple TV+ screensavers. Scenes from shows like Foundation or Murderbot could become slow-moving screensavers for your Apple TV.

There were briefly some hints that Netflix was working on integrating with the Apple TV app. It's one of the only major holdouts for the platform, and such an update would be perfect for WWDC.

Apple will reveal tvOS 26 during the WWDC 2025 keynote on June 9. The beta period will run through the summer and will result in a public release in September.