Apple TV Getting New Video Player Features and More With tvOS 15.4

[turbineseaplane]

I just wanna my Apple TV to run Safari browser.

My conspiracy theory on this is that Apple knows a lot of their casual users might find that an Apple TV w/ Mouse/KB (if enabled) is all they need for computing (all cloud/web based)

Those folks are now buying much more expensive iPads and MacBooks

In an ideal world, Apple would do this and make their platform the go to place for a casual web machine..

But... "hundred dolla bills y'all"


Also -- I think they are just lost on tvOS and don't really know what to do with it.

When the whole plan of them having their own YouTubeTV type of thing never happened they got off track. The product has basically languished from then on as a very overpowered and overpriced streaming box.

 

[tkaravou]

Give me audio passthrough. That's all I want.

 

[Berti10]

Curious where you buy concerts from?

iTunes Store. Go to Genres > Music and then Live Concerts. There is a lot. Or search for an artist and go through the „you may also like…“ row of items

 

[GriffinCorp2]

Why can't we get a favorites option for movies or folders to group movies in? I can't understand why we don't have it. Kids folder, 80's action movies, James Bond, etc. All seem like no brainers - scrolling through 450 plus movies... Isn't fun.

 

[sos47]

am i the only one who wants losless audio in atv apple music? my speakers are connected via hdmi 2.1 to the tv and via optical to the amplifier. this should be enough.

 

[Realityck]

am i the only one who wants losless audio in atv apple music? my speakers are connected via hdmi 2.1 to the tv and via optical to the amplifier. this should be enough.

Digital optical audio can only support channels up to Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound via AVR or preamp/amp. It all has to be done using HDMI connections from a player to get lossless audio provided the source provides that.

From apple online doc

Apple has developed its own lossless audio compression technology called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). In addition to AAC, the entire Apple Music catalog is now also encoded using ALAC in resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD Quality) up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

Using the current tVOS. see also this doc

How to turn lossless on or off

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
2. Select Music.
3. Select Audio Quality.
4. Select or unselect Lossless. Apple TV 4K currently doesn’t support Hi-Res Lossless (sample rates greater than 48 kHz).

What the iTunes movies provide is lossy Dolby MAT 2.0, which is about the same Dolby Digital +, it can contain Atmos information so that you can get those immersive effects, but is not the same as playing from Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray.

 

[sos47]

It all has to be done using HDMI connections from a player to get lossless audio provided the source provides that.

optical supports losless (44.1khz 16-bit) from the beginning in the early nineties.
why has it to be done with hdmi? not every premium pur audio amplifier supports hdmi, only those home theatre like bling bling ones.

 

[George Dawes]

I wish I could arrange subscriptions without having to go to my Mac . Current system is very cumbersome having to access iTunes all the time.

 

[Realityck]

optical supports losless (44.1khz 16-bit) from the beginning in the early nineties.
why has it to be done with hdmi? not every premium pur audio amplifier supports hdmi, only those home theatre like bling bling ones.

A optical connection (Toslink) could set a generation flag for content to be able to play, but the industry doesn't permit that (Blame Dolby), because it can in no way prevent copy protection.

So they make use of the hardware implemented HDCP to make sure everything up the HDMI path from a source is compliant to HDCP before it will pass the lossless audio to the TV.

Now if you had a BD player HDMI output going to a 4K TV and that 4K TV supported eARC then it could run another HDMI to a AVR and play all those high bitrate formats currently available on Blu-ray discs, 4K Blu-rays and some streaming services – Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and object-based formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X – will all be compatible.

The chief problem here is the Apple TV HD or Apple TV 4K is a digital streaming source. All they can provide is 4K HDR Video + PCM that has Dolby Atmos info (Dolby Mat) and that only available via HDMI so you are stuck with the usage of HDMI HDCP for all paths. It you use a optical it falls back to the 48Khz limit along with 5.1 DD or DTS because gear is now not supporting HDCP.

 

[svish]

Looks like some minor but useful improvements

 

[m0dest]

I hope for a proper HD Audio pass-through support TrueHD AND DTS-HD MA for local content streaming.
Ingfuse and other apps added support for HD Audio pass-through BUT APTV does not! It is time APPLE!

HDMI passthrough audio just isn't going to happen. They can't mix system audio in passthrough mode. No system sound effects + Long delays when switching to other audio types + Incompatible with switching to AirPods and other audio output devices. All for what? To make some pirates happy?

Infuse et al are taking the right approach by decoding those codecs in the app and sending lossless audio to the OS. License fees aside, there are no real downsides to that approach. The fact that your AV receiver doesn't show the "DTS-HD" light on its little LED display is irrelevant.

 

[m0dest]

My conspiracy theory on this is that Apple knows a lot of their casual users might find that an Apple TV w/ Mouse/KB (if enabled) is all they need for computing (all cloud/web based)

Those folks are now buying much more expensive iPads and MacBooks

In an ideal world, Apple would do this and make their platform the go to place for a casual web machine..

But... "hundred dolla bills y'all"


Also -- I think they are just lost on tvOS and don't really know what to do with it.

When the whole plan of them having their own YouTubeTV type of thing never happened they got off track. The product has basically languished from then on as a very overpowered and overpriced streaming box.

Please understand that the main reason why tvOS has high-quality video streaming apps is because tvOS apps are not allowed to use WebKit.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Please understand that the main reason why tvOS has high-quality video streaming apps is because tvOS apps are not allowed to use WebKit.

Has no impact on the desire to have a browser on AppleTV.

A dedicated browser and the underlying technologies would not need to be allowed for any third party apps.

 

[sos47]

It you use a optical it falls back to the 48Khz limit

thank you very much for your explanations. thats great. i am only interested in good audio quality and i am minimalistic with my high end pair of speakers. no need for 2.1 or 5.1 etc.

dolby works great for my setup (i use amazon prime)

my complaint was, that i cannot get atv music app to stream losless. i ll check your tips for setting up the atv.

EDIT the tips from @Realityck works. thank you so much 🙏🏻

 

[PsykX]

Google, please watch and learn a few things from the UI champions at Apple.
Their YouTube player interface on tvOS is insanely intrusive. It takes half of the screen...

 

[jam9]

They haven’t fixed Atmos yet.

 

[Jim Lahey]

One of these days Apple might get around to investing a few billion dollars into the incredibly high-end experimental ‘mark as unwatched’ feature that some other video playing systems are just starting to offer ?

 

[stevet]

You rarely need it these days due to the increasing ubiquity of the ATV app

The sign in for hotel networks etc is a welcome addition however.

I try this once in a while and I always go back to the Apple TV. The apps on the Apple TV are always more stable than the ones on the smart TV in my experience.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

We have a dedicated "travel" Apple TV and just this week I spent 15 minutes with the company that handles the Marriott's network, getting them to whitelist my ATV in my hotel room so I could watch it. Not a huge deal, but it will be nice to not have deal with that in the future, knowing "it just works".

 

[Duncan-UK]

I try this once in a while and I always go back to the Apple TV. The apps on the Apple TV are always more stable than the ones on the smart TV in my experience.

I can only speak of the app on the LG platform or the firestick and I’ve never had any problems. As I’ve said, I use physical 4K ATVs in my lounge and office but use the app on the LG tvs in my dining room and gym room.

 

[SBlue1]

Wouldn't it be incredible if we could just plug in an external drive and have the ATV itself be the Plex server?

Hardware could do all that no problem - just hobbled by software (and lack of connectivity)

Imagine if Apple would allow the Apple TV to rule your home. Attach a drive to it and let everyone at home and every device use it, not just the Apple TV itself. Make a home cloud. Your photo library on your Apple TV NAS, your music library, your time machine, your iPhone backup...

 

[Johnny907]

Pah, thought we we’re getting native NAS / SMB support for a minute.

It’s fine, VLC is more stable anyway.

 

[ridgezin]

We have a dedicated "travel" Apple TV and just this week I spent 15 minutes with the company that handles the Marriott's network, getting them to whitelist my ATV in my hotel room so I could watch it. Not a huge deal, but it will be nice to not have deal with that in the future, knowing "it just works".

See my Roku post above. I love the Apple Tv and have one on every TV in my home. However, the Roku streaming stick+ is by far the best solution when on the road.

 

[residentgalah]

Fixed years-old bugs on black bar flicker video playback, for example.

Wow I really hope this is true

 

[Star Brood]

Wow, captive network support after more than 10 years of people requesting it. I’m glad they’ve finally come to their senses, but to neglect their user base for so long for no reason shows a complete disrespect for the user.