Apple today talked about new features headed to the Apple TV.
To start, Apple is refreshing the Apple TV remote application so that it mirrors the tools and functions that are available to the Siri Remote for Apple TV 4.0. This will allow iPhone owners to access Siri and the same navigation functions directly on their handset.
Siri has been improved for tvOS, too. For example, Siri can now search for movies via category. Siri can also be used to search through YouTube for videos via keyword. The new build of tvOS solves a major pain point for Apple TV users: signing into cable-based apps or television stations.
The refreshed tvOS will provide a single sign-on process that allows people to register with their cable TV provider once and then automatically access all cable-controlled content in any app on the Apple TV.
Apple is releasing new tools for developers, too, such as ReplayKit for streaming and recording games, and PhotoKit for better photo/video management. The developer preview of tvOS is available starting today and the general release is scheduled for the fall.
