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Apple Announces tvOS 17, Including FaceTime and New Control Center

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Apple today announced tvOS 17 which brings FaceTime to the Apple TV 4K for the first time, includes a new Control Center, and lets you use your iPhone to locate a misplaced Siri Remote.

tvos-17.jpg

Control Center now displays system status, including the time and active profile, and expands with other helpful details based on a user's personal activity.

Users will be able to launch the Apple TV remote inside Control Center on iPhone to find their Siri Remote (2nd generation or later). As users get closer to the remote, an onscreen circle grows in size to guide their movement.

Apple TV 4K users can take advantage of the new FaceTime app on Apple TV and initiate calls directly from Apple TV, or start calls on iPhone or iPad, and hand them off to Apple TV. FaceTime on Apple TV takes advantage of Continuity Camera support to wirelessly connect to the user’s iPhone or iPad, and leverages the device's camera and microphone to bring participants together on the TV.

Center Stage keeps everyone in the room framed on the screen, even as they move around, while new gesture-based reactions allow callers to use their hands to generate onscreen effects, such as hearts or fireworks. The introduction of Split View for Apple TV lets users enjoy watching shows or movies together during a SharePlay session while also seeing everyone on the FaceTime call.

Apple says that video conferencing apps like Webex by Cisco and Zoom will launch on tvOS later this year, bringing their communications capabilities to Apple TV 4K. In addition, Apple Music Sing – which lets users sing along to their favorite tracks – will integrate Continuity Camera, so users can see themselves onscreen and add entertaining filters.

Apple-WWDC23-tvOS-17-Memories-230605.jpg

There are also enhancements to screen savers, so users can now view curated Memories from their personal library, shared library, or both on the big screen. Aerial screen savers will also feature a collection of new locations, including Arizona's Monument Valley and California's coastal redwoods.

Additional features coming in tvOS 17 include:
  • Enhance Dialogue, which lets users more clearly hear what is being said over effects, action, and music in a move or a TV show (Apple TV 4K and HomePod 2nd generation required).
  • Dolby Vision 8.1 support, offering Apple TV 4K users a more cinematic visual experience with dynamic metadata.
  • Apple Fitness+ enhancements, including "Custom Plans," a new way for Fitness+ users to receive a custom workout or meditation schedule based on day, duration, workout type, and more; "Stacks," which allows users to select multiple workouts and meditations to seamlessly do back to back; and "Audio Focus," which gives users the ability to prioritize the volume of the music or the trainers' voices.
  • Third-party VPN support, which enables developers to create VPN apps for Apple TV.
"tvOS 17 transforms the biggest screen in the home with FaceTime and new video conferencing capabilities, giving Apple TV 4K users the ability to easily connect with anyone right from their living room," said Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "New features and enhancements make Apple TV simpler to use and even more enjoyable, reinforcing it as the absolute best option in the living room for Apple customers."
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The tvOS developer beta is available for Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta program will be available to Apple TV users next month at beta.apple.com.

Article Link: Apple Announces tvOS 17, Including FaceTime and New Control Center
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/05/tvos-10-facetime-control-center/
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For FaceTime in a large room, an iPhone microphone located at the screen won't be powerful enough. Hopefully there is support for additional microphones using other Apple devices.

Edit: For those who disagree, I use a Mac mini right now with that setup, so I know it required me to buy more microphones before people can be heard.
 
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But no Lossless audio API support… JFC.

I’m hoping all the other OS features are being sidelined for Vision Pro and will be announced later.
 
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I like that tvOS is getting some attention from Apple, but the tvOS App Store is in bad shape, and needs an update.

It is worse under tvOS 16, than any previous tvOS version.
 
Man, I'd be happy with Screentime functionality or at least let us have separate user accounts. That's one thing I'd wish on every OS, separate user accounts.
 
There's no mention of tvOS 17 on the Apple product pages but they do have a press release that says "tvOS 17 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD" for those that still have an ATVHD. I wonder when support will drop from the HD box.
 
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Apples Apples Everywhere said:
For FaceTime in a large room, an iPhone microphone located at the screen won't be powerful enough. Hopefully there is support for additional microphones using other Apple devices.

Edit: For those who disagree, I use a Mac mini right now with that setup, so I know it required me to buy more microphones before people can be heard.
Click to expand...

They should let you use the microphone built-in to the remotes as the mic for calls. So it's not an iphone 15ft away picking up the audio, but a nearby remote that is on your lap or on the coffee table.
 
McKodiak said:
I just want the option to force profile selection when awakened.
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I find multiple users on tvOS to be lacklustre. The feature needs to get expanded and enforced in a much bigger way. As you say, tvOS should prompt you about whatever user it should log in to upon waking. And everything should be separate per user. Each user should be able to have its own set of apps, home screen layout etc.

As it currently stands its a complete mess as pretty much nothing else other than first-party apps like Music, TV+ etc is ignoring it altogether. So when launching YouTube, Netflix, HBO etc. You still have to fiddle with another set of user profiles for each app.. In our household, my wife is the default user logged in by default. And every time I use the Apple TV, I forget to even switch to my own user as it has no benefit for me doing so.

And hand-off, continuity or whatever the branding would be should be able to detect when you use the remote on iOS or iPadOS and automatically switch to the corresponding user. This would make us default to the remote on iOS and iPadOS over the Apple TV remote just because of how seamless it would be.
 
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Along with the microphone being far away, can we zoom in the picture that the camera is grabbing for the call? My solution would be to have the iPhone on a coffee stand that is between me and the television, much closer to me.
 
They only showed the update for like 2 seconds. But I like the new look. Good improvement ☺️
 
I wish there were more dedicated TV OS games. Like monopoly, or trivia games where the board is displayed on screen and you use your iphone to control each person.
 
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