Apple unveils Discover & Watch TV app
October 28, 2016
Apple has introduced the new TV app, offering a unified experience for discovering and accessing TV shows and movies from multiple apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad. The TV app provides one place to access TV shows and movies, as well as a place to discover new content to watch. Apple has also introduced a new Siri feature for Apple TV that lets viewers tune in directly to live news and sporting events across their apps. According to Apple, watching TV shows and movies its Apple devices has never been easier.
“Using apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad has become the primary way for so many of us to watch television,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The TV app shows you what to watch next and easily discover TV shows and movies from many apps in a single place.”
Key features include:
- Watch Now: Watch Now is where viewers will see their collection of available shows and movies from iTunes and apps. From Watch Now, viewers can then go to Up Next or Recommended to choose what to watch.
- Up Next: Users can enjoy the shows and movies they are currently watching, including recent iTunes rentals and purchases — all presented in the order they are most likely to watch first. For example, when viewers finish an episode, the next one will automatically appear at the start of the Up Next queue, as will any new episodes as they become available. At any time, users can simply ask Siri to continue watching a show and immediately pick up where they left off.
- Recommended: Viewers can explore a great selection of curated and trending shows and movies, including collections handpicked by Apple’s curators, and dedicated categories and genres such as kids, sci-fi and comedy.
- Library: Viewers can access their entire collection of iTunes movies and TV shows that they have rented or purchased on iTunes.
- Store: If users are looking for something new, they can check out the Store to discover great new content across video services that they have not yet downloaded or are not yet subscribed to, along with the latest releases on iTunes.
The TV app will be available for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad and always stays in sync so that when users begin watching on one device they can easily continue where they left off on their Apple devices.
Live Tune-In With Siri
Siri continues to gain powerful new capabilities, including making it really easy to tune right to live news and sporting events on Apple TV. Siri is now aware of live sporting events across apps so users can simply say things such as: “Watch the Stanford game” or “Which games are on right now?” Siri knows additional details of the games, can provide live scores and can take viewers directly to the live stream within the app that’s carrying it. Viewers can also tune directly to live video by just saying the name of the app, for example “Watch CBS News” without having to navigate to the live stream from within the app.
Single Sign-On for Pay-TV Apps
In addition to the new TV app, customers in the US will have a simplified way of enjoying their pay-TV video apps by using single sign-on. Starting in December, subscribers to DirectTV, DISH Network and more will just sign in once on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad to enjoy immediate access to apps that are part of their pay-TV subscription.
Apple says that since its introduction just a year ago, the latest Apple TV has revolutionised the experience in the living room with 8,000 apps, including 2,000 games and 1,600 video apps, across categories such as sports, news, fitness, education, kids, lifestyle and more.
The TV app and single sign-on will be available in December as free software updates for Apple TV (4th generation), iPhone and iPad customers in the US. Live tune-in with Siri is available immediately.