Submitted by Frank Macey on
While most of the buzz surrounding Apple's media event this week circled around the new MacBook and its Touch Bar, there were some other very interesting tidbits that surfaced. One major development for Apple TV owners is the announcement of a new app: TV. Apple claims this app will "completely change" how you watch TV with your Apple devices. Apple seeks to do nothing less than completely integrate all digital content sources in one place, vastly simplifying the process of watching your content.
The stated goal for Apple TV remains a "Unified TV experience". Apple has already achieved large portions of this goal by giving Siri universal search on its set top box. The TV app takes things a step further, capitalizing on the latest version of tvOS and its single sign on capability. Once logged into a cable, satellite or fiber optic provider account, the Apple TV takes care of the rest. This sign in process only needs to be executed once for it to automatically deliver authentication information across streaming apps.
TV unifies all of the content the viewer is interested in, aggregating everything into one interface no matter which app it's delivered by, or where the content actually comes from. Not only this, but a personalized "Up Next" collection will make it simple to resume watching content. All of these features are synced across Apple devices, including the iPhone and iPad for watching content on the go.
Of course, content discovery features are built-in, such as a Recommended section. There will also be areas for purchased content and access to the iTunes store. Siri gets additional powers to view live TV, which will be prominently featured in the TV app. Live sports is a highlight of how this feature can be used, with voice search results potentially leading directly to a live feed of the sporting event.
One drawback for Netflix users: current rumors indicate the TV app will not include Netflix as the service has not agreed to participate. Don't go looking in the App Store for the TV app. According to Apple, the new product will become available with the next iOS and tvOS update scheduled for December.