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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.1 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third tvOS 10.1 beta and more than a month after launching tvOS 10.

Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, tvOS 10.1 beta 4 can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a registered developer account via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.

tvos-10.1-Beta-800x500.jpg

Many Apple TV owners have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a promised Single Sign-On feature that will allow Apple TV users to sign in once with their cable credentials to access all available live cable content, and the feature was introduced in the first tvOS 10.1 beta. Single Sign-On is currently available for DirecTV, Dish, GVTC Communications, Hotwire, and Sling TV.

Shortly after the release of the third beta, Apple unlocked the new "TV" app, which is designed to make it easier for users to discover new content across the dozens of television and movie apps that are available.

It serves as a sort of Apple-designed television guide, giving customers a way to find and watch TV and movies across multiple devices. It features a dedicated store, recommended content, and cross-device syncing.


tvOS 10, for those unfamiliar with the operating system, brings features like improved search, expanded Siri capabilities, a dark mode, a Continuity option for using the iPhone for text input, automatic app downloads, quicker access to live TV, and more.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of tvOS 10.1 to Developers
 

jyen

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2012
105
126
I miss the days when you didn't have to update the software on your TV/watch/phone...
 

ATL0921

macrumors newbie
Aug 6, 2015
21
29
Has anyone else been having issues with the Sling TV app in the latest beta updates? Every time I open the Sling app and select a channel to watch, the app crashes. I've reached out to Sling support and they tell me to delete the app, hard reset the device and reinstall to clear the cache, but this isn't working either...Just curious if anyone else was having a similar issue
 

ThatGuyInLa

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2012
853
1,143
SC
Roku or WebOS3 stomps all over ATV.

TVOS and CarPlay (which appears to be all but abandoned) need to have their entire team(s) shown the door.
 

dugbug

macrumors 68000
Aug 23, 2008
1,929
2,147
Somewhere in Florida
Love this over roku and webos3. No question apple tv is better.

I wonder if directvnow snaps in yet.

Problem with TV app is the viewing history within the integrated apps such as hulu are not taken into consideration.
 

freediverx

macrumors 65816
Feb 19, 2006
1,010
1,022
not gonna lie, that TV app is a POS

Agreed. Utterly useless.

Apple you had one job!

What we wanted:
A place to track all the shows I WATCH, and only those I watch, so I can easily see when new episodes are available and watch them with a single click, without having to parse through a bunch of unwanted and annoying promotional content.

What we got:
A place where I can track shows I watch, provided I don't watch any shows on Netflix, HBO Go, or any of the countless other networks that aren't supported, and assuming I'm ok having to navigate through a ton of promotional garbage that feels like my old cable box interface I abandoned years ago.

Instantly deleted.
 

nightowl

macrumors member
Jan 22, 2003
43
18
Sacramento, CA
Agreed. Utterly useless.

Apple you had one job!

What we wanted:
A place to track all the shows I WATCH, and only those I watch, so I can easily see when new episodes are available and watch them with a single click, without having to parse through a bunch of unwanted and annoying promotional content.
Agreed. I want a single place to see all of the shows I want to watch, and what episodes I still need to watch. Add in a way to set up a movie watchlist or library, so that I can see, at a glance, all of the movies I've tagged as favorites are available, wheither that's from my iTunes collection, HBO, or other service.

If WatchAid can do this in their app, why can't Apple do it, but better?

It would also be awesome to have profiles or iCloud family sharing enabled so that each person in the family can have their own list of shows and movies, to truly offer a unique experience no matter who is in control of the TV.
 
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freediverx

macrumors 65816
Feb 19, 2006
1,010
1,022
Agreed. I want a single place to see all of the shows I want to watch, and what episodes I still need to watch. Add in a way to set up a movie watchlist or library, so that I can see, at a glance, all of the movies I've tagged as favorites are available, wheither that's from my iTunes collection, HBO, or other service.

If WatchAid can do this in their app, why can't Apple do it, but better?

I also use WatchAid. It's exactly what people are looking for, minus the ability to automatically sync watched shows - something only Apple could do in this case.

I'm starting to feel that everything at Apple under Eddy Cue turns to ****. He seems to be the Apple executive who's most tone deaf to the needs and wants of their customers.

What was Apple's biggest flop in a recent history and the most cringeworthy and least anticipated segment of Apple's presentations? Apple Music's initial launch. And who's in charge of Apple Music?

What is the most dysfunctional and non-Apple like of their services? The App Store, which seemingly can't handle a task as simple as finding an app by searching for its name and which, until taken over by Phil Schiller recently, had developers waiting for weeks or months to get their apps approved.
 
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freediverx

macrumors 65816
Feb 19, 2006
1,010
1,022
Agreed. I want a single place to see all of the shows I want to watch, and what episodes I still need to watch. Add in a way to set up a movie watchlist or library, so that I can see, at a glance, all of the movies I've tagged as favorites are available, wheither that's from my iTunes collection, HBO, or other service.

If WatchAid can do this in their app, why can't Apple do it, but better?

It would also be awesome to have profiles or iCloud family sharing enabled so that each person in the family can have their own list of shows and movies, to truly offer a unique experience no matter who is in control of the TV.

That's right, I forgot to mention the fact that the TV app has no way of tracking watched TV shows for individuals, something which isn't exactly rocket science and which Netflix figured out years ago. Worse yet, if you share an account login with family members using separate Apple TVs, the TV app doesn't differentiate between favorite and watched shows across different devices. I can't believe they released this thing as-is. It's an embarrassment not even worthy of a "beta" or "hobby" label.
 

spazzcat

macrumors 601
Jun 29, 2007
4,163
5,969
Agreed. I want a single place to see all of the shows I want to watch, and what episodes I still need to watch. Add in a way to set up a movie watchlist or library, so that I can see, at a glance, all of the movies I've tagged as favorites are available, wheither that's from my iTunes collection, HBO, or other service.

If WatchAid can do this in their app, why can't Apple do it, but better?

It would also be awesome to have profiles or iCloud family sharing enabled so that each person in the family can have their own list of shows and movies, to truly offer a unique experience no matter who is in control of the TV.

Isn't this what watch now does?
 
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BornAgainMac

macrumors 604
Feb 4, 2004
7,337
5,355
Florida Resident
It seems to support some of my devices like the AppleTV, iPhone, iPad. But not any of my Macs. And I would like to watch TV on my watch but I realize I should have just gotten a cheap sports watch instead of the Apple Watch.
 

Born Again

Suspended
May 12, 2011
4,073
5,341
Norcal
finally got around to playing with the new apple tv. The remote is a tad too sensitive. Also the menu is a mess.

Honestly i find my amazon fire stick work just as well and for much cheaper.
 

mariusignorello

Suspended
Jun 9, 2013
2,092
3,168
That's right, I forgot to mention the fact that the TV app has no way of tracking watched TV shows for individuals, something which isn't exactly rocket science and which Netflix figured out years ago. Worse yet, if you share an account login with family members using separate Apple TVs, the TV app doesn't differentiate between favorite and watched shows across different devices. I can't believe they released this thing as-is. It's an embarrassment not even worthy of a "beta" or "hobby" label.
It uses iCloud Family Sharing. When you switch accounts in Settings, you see only your watch history.
 
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cdodge03

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2015
21
6
Has anyone else been having issues with the Sling TV app in the latest beta updates? Every time I open the Sling app and select a channel to watch, the app crashes. I've reached out to Sling support and they tell me to delete the app, hard reset the device and reinstall to clear the cache, but this isn't working either...Just curious if anyone else was having a similar issue

yep, I opened a support case with Sling and they basically told me to that they won't help. I understand they don't support betas but it would have been nice to at atleast hear that they will look into it. I signed up for Directv now and will no longer be a sling customer.
 
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Braderunner

Suspended
Oct 2, 2015
1,488
3,345
Tralfamadore
The TV app is a mess, just like tvOS. It's amazing how many basic features are either missing, or difficult to use. The whole Apple TV experience just isn't right. And, Apple doesn't seem to be addressing the software issues with these betas. It makes me wonder if they're ever going to get it right, and if so, how many years is it going to take?
 

daveup2bat

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2009
65
85
California
Does anyone know if you are already a Directv subscriber, can you use those credentials to login to the DTV Now app? Or is it only a separate subscription?
 

jimbobb24

macrumors 68040
Jun 6, 2005
3,470
5,593
Maybe they will fix the ICloud Photo Library inability to do a slideshow of your whole library. Maybe.
[doublepost=1480537635][/doublepost]
The TV app is a mess, just like tvOS. It's amazing how many basic features are either missing, or difficult to use. The whole Apple TV experience just isn't right. And, Apple doesn't seem to be addressing the software issues with these betas. It makes me wonder if they're ever going to get it right, and if so, how many years is it going to take?
They will get it right then introduce a new model that has 20% of the features and slowly introduce a few that people really complain about.
 
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