WWDC 2016: Apple updates tvOS with features such as single sign-on, live channels and more

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, was on stage to unveil the brand new tvOS update at the WWDC 2016 keynote today. Apple tvOS brings new features in the form of single sign-on, a reworked iPhone remote app, Siri support and more. Apple said that it has over 1300 video channels and over 6000 native apps on Apple TV. The Siri remote features will be brought on to iOS with the new iPhone remote app which includes the same features that are accessible on the Siri remote. This lets you search for content using your voice on your phone. Siri’s universal search has also got added support for YouTube content. Cue demoed the search prowess of Siri by asking it, “Find high school comedies from the ’80s,” and he got a list of movies from the 80s which belonged to the high school comedy genre. Apple is adding on the much requested feature of Single sign-on for paid TV apps, which lets you enter you signing credentials just once to gain access to multiple apps from big TV networks. Initially you had to sign in everytime you fired up any of the paid TV apps. Single sign-on will also be coming to iOS said Cue. The next major feature announced for the tvOS was Live Tune-in. This feature lets you get into live program streams on your Apple TV by simple voice commands asking Siri to put the content on. Dark mode has been added for those who are not fans of the bright background on the app grid. With tvOS, you can also download apps on iOS as well as tvOS. For instance, if you have downloaded a game on iOS, then if there is a Apple TV synced with your account, that game will also be available on tvOS. Sketch party is a new app which lets users draw a sketch on the iPad and see it on the TV. Other apps include Sling, Fox Sports Go, NBA 2K, Minecraft Story Mode and more. In addition to the TV features, Apple TV will also let you control HomeKit enabled accessories. You can ask Siri to ‘Turn on the lights’ or ‘Set the temperature.’