“Apple has released the third tvOS 9.2 beta software update to registered developers for testing,” Zac Hall reports for 9to5Mac. “Previous versions of the pre-release Apple TV software update have added major changes to the new device including app folders similar to iOS and OS X, Bluetooth keyboard support, a redesigned app switcher, and even full iCloud Photo Library support.”
“tvOS 9.2 also lets you organize apps or channels into groups by creating folders similar to those on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac,” Hall reports. “The Apple TV update also changes how the app switcher appears similar to the change between iOS 8 and iOS 9. Rather than seeing full screens of app previews, the new method stacks several screens over each other and scrolls in the opposite direction.”
“The fourth-gen Apple TV also gains Bluetooth keyboard support,” Hall reports. “And iCloud Photo Library support is something brand new to the Apple TV experience with tvOS 9.2… [and] “you can now use Dictation to search in text boxes using the Siri Remote… [Also] Siri can now search the App Store.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dictation in text boxes using the Siri Remote is a big deal! Better late than never, right?
Fantastic.. Quick progress on what should have been part of the launch package.
One more critical feature that still needs to be implemented..
Interapp Consolidation of favorites and notification In user definable folders. Like my fave scify or comedy etc.. … With each folder notifying the user of the availibilty of a content for rent of watching …etc. (like little nitifucation numbers on ios folders now )
Then we will be getting over the fragmented nature if the present TVOS usability.
Meant fir rent OR watching.
Meant little notification.
I am having a tough time allowing only certain photos and certain music from my iCloud account onto my Apple TV.
I have photos in my photos and music in iTunes on my mac/icloud account that I don’t want on my Apple TV.
Ios and its derivatives have a long way to go before their organizational features grow beyond Jurassic. Sorry to say Apple ..but is the truth!
No core visible file system, no core user organizational tools, no folder permission levels (lock , unlock, password.. Etc)
The hidden ios file/folder design philosophy is nothing short of a disaster and a huge handicap for more controlled, intuitive user experience and even worse for pro level use.
I hope Apple is prioritizing this in their efforts.
Clearly the last discussion of this on another thread was pointless. This was where the perfectly logical argument was made,not by me, that most people most of the time do not want to suffer the quicksand of a traditional file system on their iPad. Some very good arguments were made about having access however through suggested methods from both MDN and others including myself, for those who do want one or pros who need the flexibility of duel device syncing, without bastardising the simplicity and intuition of the basic iOS interface. A complex visible file structure always in your face is niether intuitive for many, or a pleasant thought for doing 90% of what most people do most of the time on a tablet. If it were it would be a Mac. It defies all logic for the iPad and what has made it such a success bringing computing power to many who despised traditional computers.
What was pointless about it is that you only listened to what you wanted to hear.
Most users don’t have problems with a traditional file system.
You seem to think that all anyone needs is the simplest of netbook, social media, and email, with occasional read/write access to shared documents stored in some random place on some random unidentifiable server in Cupertino or Redmond or whatever. You are wrong. Small companies like ours care foremost about security, privacy, and efficiency. The answers to all of the above are Mac, Mac, and Mac. There is no substitute.
So all the people who you think are just elated with iOS are really just using it for media consumption as part of their suite of tools. For real work, for most people, iOS doesn’t cut the mustard. They have problems with software that doesn’t work as advertised, wifi and bluetooth problems, inability with new Apple software to work effectively offline or transfer files between devices directly. People hate artificial restrictions, monthly fees, and inability to work multi platform with their other platform-agnostic friends and coworkers. They hate confusing GUIs and a million other limitations that iOS gadgets have that prevent iOS from ever becoming a primary computing device. If you are in business, you ought to know how your bread is buttered. Despite the incessant iOS fellation here on mdn, the truth remains. You can cover your arms with Apple Watches and put a dozen Apple TVs in your house with an Airport in every room, iPhones and iPads in each of your employees hands, and you will STILL be outcompeted by a small smart team of Mac-toting professionals … or, dare i say it, even by people using Windows machines. That is why the world doesn’t run on iOS, and it never will. Apple would be wise to learn that.
Wrong , wrong and wrong. At every level. …(also if by “point” you mean agreeing with you.. Then yes it was pointless, and many did not and do not agree either )
As i suggested before “You dont like it don’t use it”…… Dont handicap those who want it or Need it.
3rd party, inconsistent organizational tools which are not fully compatible with all apps is not a solution at all…. Icloud drive is a partial solution but only online and it costs.
The system has to be in the CORE of ios.. And consistant Across the board.
file/folder system in other os’s that i use or have used “productively”are not or have never been “in my face” ….why should io’s be?
Its like saying one does not need drawers on his/her desk to organize their stuff.
Not having drawers handicaps orginization.. Having them does not handicap those who just like to use the desk top. It is as simple as that.
Its a screwup on a grand scale, a bad decision .. Stubborness is not going to fix it. Just Like many other issues that are ‘in one’s face ‘ wrong with some of apple decisions but wont get fixed. Pure stubbornness.
Ios and its derivatives need CORE, CONSISTENT AND COHERENT organizational tools!
Absense of them is a disaster in every way one looks at it.
This is not inventing the wheel… This is putting the wheels back on.
Ical this post .
Lets revisit down the line .
I have complained about this issue on this site and to Apple many times, but this problem is getting worse. Apple’s iCloud implantation with iOS is either all files get uploaded to the cloud or no files get uploaded to the cloud. Notes is the only exception, which allows some notes to be stored on the device instead of the cloud.
Apple Music is one of the worst offenders. iTunes syncing between a computer and an iOS device allows the user to choose which songs, albums and playlists get uploaded to the iOS device, but when Apple Music is turned on ALL music from the PC is synced to the cloud and then to the iOS device. There is no picking and choosing. This is a serious flaw, which cost be about forty hours of work to fix.
I have hundreds of duplicates in my music collection that are original copies, which I want to reside on the computer, but not on any other device. When I turned on Apple Music on the computer ALL the music (including the hundreds of duplicates) got merged into the cloud. Luckily, I had a backup copy of my iTunes file. Since most Apple cloud files can not be managed properly, the solution to the issue was to create a dummy iTunes file and merge this blank music file with the cloud. I then turned the Apple Music cloud off on the computer and then reimported all the music into iTunes. Then I had to cull the duplicates that I didn’t want on the cloud. Next, I turned on Apple Music on the computer again, but then other issues became apparent with the music on the phone. So, I had to repeats the time consuming steps. Before turning Apple Music on the final time, the correct songs, playlists, etc. should be manually synced with the iOS device. After this is done Apple Music can be turned on at the PC. Then Apple Music being turned on at the iOS device. It should be noted that any songs, playlists, etc. downloaded or created in Apple Music will be deleted when a dummy iTunes file is merged. It’s a good idea to screen cap all the albums, playlists, etc. created with Apple Music before attempting to fix the cloud.
The user should have the option to decide which files get uploaded to the cloud.
On this I totally agree more options are urgently required and in all honesty one has to wonder what for about 2 years Apple was doing in introducing obvious needs and functions to iOS across th various iterations of it.
Sorry for my hack of the English language. The all or nothing cloud approach and the file management inconsistencies across the operating systems are my biggest pet peeves regarding the platform and it gets me flustered.
By the way – kudos to the tvOS team. These look like nice improvements.
Siri integration with the iTunes library is a must.
Siri integration with EVERYTHING is a must
Siri search for Home Sharing movies and TV shows.
For those that have the EyeTV app with the SiliconDust HD HomeRun box, this is a must have.