Apple Officially Releases tvOS 10 for Apple TV with Siri and UI Enhancements

Last week, Apple held an event in San Francisco, where they introduced the iPhone 7, the Apple Watch Series 2, and a pair of wireless earbuds called “AirPods”. Although the hardware releases were the highlight of the event, Apple also announced release dates for iOS 10, macOS Sierra, and watchOS 3. Just this morning, however, an OS update that flew a bit under the radar released for Apple TV users. tvOS 10 is now available, and it offers up several new features.

Siri gets a bit “smarter” with the tvOS 10 update – users can now combine multiple criteria in their searches. For example, a search for “horror movies starring Jack Nicholson” would yield The Shining and other relevant results. Users can also use Siri to search for movies about some pretty specific topics – “show me movies about dinosaurs from the 90’s” will bring up Jurassic Park and the awful 1998 remake of Godzilla among other movies. Users can also search several third-party apps with Siri, the most notable being YouTube. Finally, the “live tune-in” feature introduced at WWDC is also functional now – you can now ask Siri to go directly to a live channel within a supported app, i.e. “watch ESPN”.

tvOS 10 also allows users to manage their HomeKit accessories via the Apple TV now. Users with the appropriate accessories can use Siri on the Apple TV to turn on/off lights or set the temperature. The update also allows users to remotely control HomeKit accessories while away from home using the Home app on their iPhone or iPad.

A number of other minor features, including a dark mode that can be much less jarring on the eyes in a dark room, and a redesigned Apple Music app with the new Discovery and Favorites mixes have been added to the OS. The Photos app on the Apple TV now also includes the Memories feature, which automatically creates photo albums and short videos based on the date and location of each photo.

Notably absent, however, is the single sign-on feature that was introduced at WWDC. Single sign-on, when it finally does release, will allow users to enter their cable credentials once for use with multiple apps that require them – enter your cable authentication once, and watch ABC, HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, any other pay TV apps hassle-free. Single sign-on is certainly one of the more highly anticipated additions to tvOS, and many are disappointed that it wasn’t included in tvOS 10. The feature will reportedly be available later this fall, however.