Apple has released iBooks StoryTime for Apple TV (requires tvOS 10.0.1 or later).
The new app gives your family a different way to experience classic kids’ books and discover new favorites. With Read-Aloud narration and beautiful illustrations, every handpicked title in the app transforms Apple TV into an engaging place for young readers to enjoy the stories they love.
• Experience your favorite Read-Aloud books on a large screen.
• With Read-Aloud narration, pages flip automatically as you go.
• Turn Read-Aloud off to read the story aloud to your child.
• iBooks StoryTime works with Siri Remote, making it easy to swipe between pages.
• Buy additional Read-Aloud books on iBooks, from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
• Any Read-Aloud book purchased by you or your family will appear in your iBooks StoryTime library.
More info and screenshots here.
MacDailyNews Take: This looks like a great new addition to Apple TV for parents and kids!
I think my 2 year old son will love this. Can hardly wait to try it out tonight.
U.S. Only. That’s a bit odd!
I hope there is no way that Siri will read it for them. If so, this will become another electronic baby sitter.
That’s fine for children. What we really need is the full
iBook app for Apple TV. What I do now is mirroring
from my iPad or iMac through Apple TV to a 55″ LG
OLED TV and not being able to navigate using Apple TV
remote.
👍👍👍
Would be nice for schools, but most will not buy the new Apple TV with the confusingly same name as the versions 2 and 3 Apple TV. Those were previously available for 1/3 the price of the current Apple TV and without all the unneeded functionality. The primary need in schools which have purchased MacBooks and iOS devices for their staff and students is to mirror those devices to an LCD display or projector in the classrooms, which the previous Apple TV 3 rev A accomplished well for under $50. It is now in danger of being unavailable in the near future (Apple’s plans have not been made clear). Don’t know what this all has to do with anything — just every time I see something cool for “Apple TV,” I get my hopes up that Apple will pay some attention to the older Apple TVs. Never mind.
With Chromebooks already having the ability to cast to smart TVs/Chromecasts built in, it seems to me Apple TVs role is much less relevant to the Education sector.
For crying out loud, read to your kids. It’s one of the most important things you can do.
I love technology and generally think its benefits outweigh its negatives. In this case, however, I am horrified. Reading to your children is too important to outsource it to a television screen.