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Photos: With tvOS 9.2, Apple TV adds Podcasts app, Folders, Bluetooth keyboard support, new app switcher and more

With the new Apple TV tvOS 9.2 beta, Apple has added a whole host of new features to the tvOS platform. This includes support for pairing Bluetooth keyboards, Folders organisation for apps on the home screen, a new App Switcher UI and a native Apple Podcasts app.

There are also some enhancements to Siri and other improvements. Apple has added support for two new Siri languages: US Spanish and French Canadian. More images after the break …

When moving app icons, you can now drag and drop apps into Folders just like on the iPhone or iPad Home Screen. Pressing the Play/Pause button now brings up a series of options and controls for further management, including quick moves to folders or deletes.

The app switcher has also been overhauled to mirror the iOS 9 appearance. Rather than tiled screenshots, the apps now overlap and use the same blur effect seen on iOS.

The Podcast app carries over almost identically from the iPhone app, with tabs for Unplayed, My Podcasts, Featured, Top Charts and Search. Just click on podcast artwork to start playing.

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Comments

  1. that all sounds great to see. nice to see decent feature updates on the point releases

  2. taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

    Still wonder how many people even now how to activate the app switcher. Besides searching for things wonder how much Apps will make use of Bluetooth keyboard support. Still don’t see why keyboard support wasn’t available day one. Maybe in the next 6 months the 4th gen Apple TV won’t feel like a eat device. Seems like Apple spent a little to much time on perfecting Siri movie and tv searching features instead of other useful features.

  3. minieggseater - 8 years ago

    No podcast app for watch too ?

  4. o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

    The Apple TV clearly should have been released in March 2016 or WWDC 2016, not fall 2015. It is still getting features that should have all been available day one. You’d think Apple would have learned with Maps that you wait until a product is satisfactorily finished before releasing it.

    • Jonny - 8 years ago

      Excellent comment. Balanced, fair, and well thought out.

    • Robert Nixon - 8 years ago

      Blah blah blah. The device had a couple of shortcomings that are mostly ironed out less than three months later.

    • Speak for yourself… I bought on day one, I honestly couldn’t be more happy with the device. I think unrealistic 1%’ers are the ones unhappy.

      • iAlborz - 8 years ago

        Not having music support on Siri was a HUGE bummer for me. I basically decided to plug my phone to the speaker line instead of using the music app on the tv. but now I ONLY use the tv when at home and listening to music.

      • Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

        You’re easily pleased. Why is Siri search, which is the primary selling point of the device, not available to all apps? In fact why is Siri so basic on the ATV in general? He doesn’t even have a voice! Why wasn’t the SDK made available to developers long ago? – we have the farce of lots of incredibly crude ports of Apple TV 3 apps which look like MS-DOS apps, hardly a good advert for the platform. Where is Amazon Prime? Surely some sort of deal could be struck to bring one of the core, essential streaming services to the platform at launch.

        It has some potential, but the hardware feels slow, its still born as a games machine (due to the insistence on using the remote for gameplay, and perhaps also due to the very underpowered GPU), and there is a dearth of good apps. Yes there are lots of fireplace apps and other bilge, but many big streaming services are missing which were there at launch for the Fire TV.

    • aaronh - 8 years ago

      And yet I’ve been using mine happily every single day since it was released. It’s a really great device and a huge step up over the previous Apple TVs. Why should I have not had the ability to do use it for 6 months just so it could have some extra list of features only you deem important?

    • though that would have made for a more polished AppleTV…the idea of having these features on point releases is nice as well, it shows that they are still improving the AppleTV…not just sitting on it for 3 years like AppleTV3

  5. disconnectedchildblog - 8 years ago

    I’m hoping for a fix for the low volume output I’m experiencing while watching purchased iTunes movies that are stored on my iMac. I’d been using a 3rd gen model since it came out but the Ethernet port up and died on it, so I just picked up a new 4th gen unit yesterday. Unfortunately, the volume output from it while playing movies this way is MUCH lower than what I was getting with the 3rd gen model and it’s very annoying. Haven’t been able to find a fix for it, though I did find others talking about the same issue, after doing some Googling.

    I’m debating on whether I want to just return this one and pick up a new 3rd gen unit or not…

    • Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

      I noticed that too. Everything from iTunes is super quiet. I have to crank my amp up to levels no other device or even ATV app requires.

  6. anybodym - 8 years ago

    Is the photo library finally supported in this?

  7. robertsm76 - 8 years ago

    I just want the one step login. Shouldn’t have to sign into every app.

    • o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

      Absolutely right. It’s embarrassing that Apple didn’t do this. I mean wouldn’t it just need to be an API built into each app that checks for the Apple ID? That way each app is authenticated based on the Apple ID and you don’t need to redo it all each time for every new Apple TV or iOS app.

  8. bullittman (@Bullittman) - 8 years ago

    I purchased the new Apple TV a week ago and cancelled my $175 a month Directv service. It works great and the Netflix and Hulu apps are easy to use. I am using a regular antenna attached to my TV to watch local news and live network shows. The CBSNews app isn’t as good as a live CNN feed, but I was probably watching too much crappy cable news and talking heads anyway. The remote for the iPhone makes it much easier to enter info when needed too. The Siri search functions are pretty accurate and a major time saver when searching for shows or movies. Overall the new Apple TV is a great product and I am happy they are updating the software on a regular basis. I expect we will see many more new updates and apps in the future too.

  9. larry bic (@larbic) - 8 years ago

    What can I add? As a long time shareholder, app development tester and cord-cutter, Apple should NEVER have released the TV4 until ALL of the stuff that is now “ready for prime time” was, well, built in and ready to serve. The TV team should be embarrassed at what they did, or were forced to put out before it was ready. Sure, the device was OK for what it did, but no better and actually a lot less sophisticated than the competition. That IS NOT the Apple way. So now they play catch-up. There’s still plenty wrong with some of the apps, probably not Apple’s fault, although their micromanaging and coding limitations and controls on the apps ARE the cause of some of those issues. –end rant–

    • pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

      I’ve learnt that Apple is slowly changing – for better or for worse – the previous way was JOBS way…I can see they are trying to move away from him, not in a bad way, but to stop working in his shadow etc… They dont have a man watching their every move, demanding perfection, making them work work work etc – they have a bit more relaxed approach… they are still producing decent stuff, and are trying to innovate and venture into new areas – the apple tv was probably difficult for them because this was also one of jobs projects…

      I agree with what you are saying though – they should have finished products at release, not nearly finished stuff that they add to after…

      But i guess you can view the early months as “beta testing” – even with finished products it’s never 100%

    • lowtolerance - 8 years ago

      Nobody gives a shit, Larry.

  10. Robert Wilson - 8 years ago

    Still wish Siri would work with stuff we already have in our own collection. I have a ton of music and movies on my NAS tied into a low power dedicated computer running iTunes serving up my media so any device I got can see it. But sadly if I ask Siri to play something I have she can’t. She thinks I don’t have anything. Sorry Apple I’m not going to rebuy everything again get frome you just so you can see it. I’m sure there are many like me that have collections we have built up frome other sources such as we bought the cd or DVD or digital download from Amazon or other.

    That was my biggest disappointment when I got the new Apple TV and Siri couldn’t do any of that. Sadly this has also been a gripe with the iPhone as well if music on the device cool if you connected to home share forget it.

  11. yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

    GREAT… Now i can stop screaming about folders…..
    Now lets work on organizing favorite shows and notifications of when those shows become available within user created folders . Scifi faves… Comedy Faves Series faves.. Etc
    Not within each app.. But Through a universal, user definable , inteligent interapp folders at the heart of TVOS .

  12. pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

    I recently bought the Apple TV last week – I must admit that I was expecting more, but I didn’t have buyers remorse…
    I think for streaming it works very well – I find it very easy to use as a second screen, to stream amazon prime from my phone, and to watch youtube etc.
    I am getting used to the games (i never owned the wii, but loving the tennis game)…

    For me I do find that the lack of certain apps was a bit disappointing – I was hoping for Facebook and Amazon Prime (both of which i heard rumours of an app in the works)…i was also hoping for a web browser…

    Siri has been a bit of a let down – i havent tried it for movies etc, but i was hoping it would allow me to use it for voice to text in the search boxes (the typing system with the remote is time consuming, and the iphone app was worse)…also with music it was frustrating – i would say “play next song” – couldnt do it…i would say “next” still wouldnt do it… i said “skip” – finally it worked…

    I also have issues with youtube – trying to skip a video is not easy without a next button.

    I know the TV is new – but these are just a few issues i have and im sure over time they will be fixed…

    I would love to have notification synced with my phone as an option… or even use some apps (such as twitter, facebook etc) in PIP mode.

    It was also super easy to set up too…

    Initially the size bothered me when it first came out, but now that i have it I barely notice it…

    i look forward to more updates :-)

  13. Tom Benton - 8 years ago

    Any homekit support for siri? would be nice if she set my lighting scene

  14. motilon79 - 8 years ago

    Nice features that should have been also available since day one.
    What still bothers me is the high price point (unrealistic) and the lack of good quality apps (i guess developers have not had enough time).
    Hope this new Apple tv becomes a higher priority for Apple! It definitely has great potential!

  15. chopingman - 8 years ago

    They could add a Super lotto ticket and price it at $99. I’m still not buying till the thing supports 4k. :)

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.