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tvOS 13.3 adds setting to put back the Up Next queue on the Apple TV Top Shelf

Apple redesigned the Apple TV home screen with tvOS 13 allowing for full screen panoramic previews in the Top Shelf area. However, at the same time, it also changed the content of the Top Shelf for the TV app from the user’s personal Up Next queue to ‘What to Watch’, a selection of top television shows and movies chosen by Apple (essentially, a form of advertising).

This naturally caused a lot of complaints from users. Apple appears to have listened. In tvOS 13.3 beta, there is now an option in Settings to change it back.

To change the setting, update to tvOS 13. Then, go into the Settings app. Select Apps, then select the TV app.

The new setting is under the ‘Home Screen’ section. You can switch between showing ‘What to Watch’ or ‘Up Next’ in the Top Shelf. Click the remote to switch between the modes.

When going to the Up Next mode, the design of the interface is almost a carbon copy of tvOS 12 and earlier. The design uses the ‘old’ style row of scrollable tiles, which lets multiple items in the Up Next queue be visible at once.

You can simply swipe to select something to watch and tap to start playing from the home screen, without needing to launch the app.

tvOS 13.3 beta 1 was released earlier this week. Apple hasn’t confirmed a release timeframe but it is expected to be available to everyone before the end of the year.

tvOS 13’s full-screen Watch to Watch mode for the TV app’s Top Shelf

For comparison, here’s what the current tvOS 13 Top Shelf looks like. It shows full screen trailers of featured TV shows and movies. You can swipe up and tap to go to that item in the TV app but you can only see one thing at a time and crucially the appearance of the content is not personalized in any way.

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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.