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How would you improve tvOS?
- Thread starter 2010mini
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I'd really like the Movies app/experience to get some attention. I only have around 90 movies but it's already getting annoying to use.
One particular beef I have: the genre categorisation that Apple use. As my son watches movies on there I tend to keep it on the "kids and family" selection but Apple have deemed some of his movies to be different genres e.g Planes 1 is in K&F and Planes 2 is in Adventure (or something) - now I don't particularly want him to see some of the movies in the other sections so I'd like to be able to change that categorisation myself.
I'd quite like folders, or at least the option to "collapse" a movie series e.g. the seven Harry Potter movies so the list isn't quite so long when I'm scrolling the whole collection
I hate the fact that when I want to watch movies I own I still need to go through what is essentially Apples sales process before I can start watching; by which I mean the splash screen where it has the synopsis and then suggested/related movies that they'd like me to buy. Speaking of related movies, it would be nice if they actually showed the related movies, so when I finish watching Toy Story it shows me Toy Story 2 in the related section so I can click on it there, rather than having to go back to my library.
One particular beef I have: the genre categorisation that Apple use. As my son watches movies on there I tend to keep it on the "kids and family" selection but Apple have deemed some of his movies to be different genres e.g Planes 1 is in K&F and Planes 2 is in Adventure (or something) - now I don't particularly want him to see some of the movies in the other sections so I'd like to be able to change that categorisation myself.
I'd quite like folders, or at least the option to "collapse" a movie series e.g. the seven Harry Potter movies so the list isn't quite so long when I'm scrolling the whole collection
I hate the fact that when I want to watch movies I own I still need to go through what is essentially Apples sales process before I can start watching; by which I mean the splash screen where it has the synopsis and then suggested/related movies that they'd like me to buy. Speaking of related movies, it would be nice if they actually showed the related movies, so when I finish watching Toy Story it shows me Toy Story 2 in the related section so I can click on it there, rather than having to go back to my library.
One simple request: prioritize my own media library over the iTunes store.
I believe it has already been mentioned but I would like to see the media of "Movies," "TV Shows," "Music" and Computers combined. No more distinction between content in the cloud and local content in my iTunes library that is being accessed via Home Sharing. Also I want to be able to edit metadata for video content in the cloud, just like we can for music.
Also, if I download a movie with iTunes Extras to my local iTunes library then the Extras should still work.
Also, if I download a movie with iTunes Extras to my local iTunes library then the Extras should still work.
- Open Siri to work with more Apps like Infuse and VLC
- Alarm clock notification capability
- 2 player Wii like games (I believe all are 1 player only, due to controller constraints.
- Let the ATV do more than just stream stuff, it makes a great hub to do more with it.
- local movies in iTunes should appear in My Movies not Computers, same goes for TV Shows, the UI now is designed to make you pay for new rentals and purchases with zero focus for content you've already paid for which is a shame.
- HEVC with HDR support.
- We need the Optical Audio port back, we don't buy a new 5.1 speakers system each couple of years!
- HEVC with HDR support.
- We need the Optical Audio port back, we don't buy a new 5.1 speakers system each couple of years!
True but I'm more interested in the "Wii like" sports games like the Tennis 3 for example. I emailed the developers asking if they plan to support two players and they said no.
For
- More modern audio codec support than 1991's Dolby Digital (doesn't matter to me if any of that appears in the online store)
- Make fundamental functions like fast forward and rewind work near flawlessly as one expects
- Resurrect great features of the
TV OS from prior models. Even little stuff like using the "Show" tag to better group serialized movies (Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc) rather than listing each "episode" in a single long list
- Go back to putting our own movies in a Movies menu, our own TV Shows in a TV Show menu, etc. "Computers" is not intuitive.
- Quit prioritizing rentals & purchases.
- Universal (across all apps) on-screen guide to anything live streaming via any app, all at-a-glance rather than requiring us to hop app to app in search of something to watch when we don't already know what we want to watch
- 4K playback support to make video shot on iDevices "just works" playable on anyone's 4K TV (without forcing anyone to buy new TVs or download only 4K videos, etc)
- Support attached or network storage for those that desire to cut the "always on" cord with some computer elsewhere in the house
- Support for some kind of DVR-like functionality (cloud or local drive)
- Normalize the USB port so that third party players can expand the hardware capabilities of the device in ways that Apple doesn't want to do themselves.
- Plethora of discrete codes for universal remotes so that those can work better and control the unit in traditional ways.
- Full web browser (Safari?) for
- Dedicate talent to this hardware & software to fully compete with the dedicated talent at work for competitors. Apple has more money than any of them, yet those other guys seem to be making the strides with this kind of product. Why? My guess: FOCUS... as in, focused talent.
I'm sure there's more than these but that's just top of (my own) mind wishes.
- All of the above plus 4K 60fps HDR support at least on par with video quality of 4K HDR blu ray (whether there's any 4K in the iTunes store to rent or not, whether every single person's broadband connection is upgraded enough or not, whether "I" can see the difference or not, whether seating distances vs. screen size is true or not, whether "the chart" is valid or not, etc) And note (before this gets a bunch of pushback): making hardware capable of doing more doesn't force anyone to throw out perfectly good televisions, nor download only the biggest file size video, etc. Instead, it's just an OPTION for those ready to enjoy it now. Hardware capable of more than any one consumer needs does not force anything on those consumers.
- Add back in an stereo analog audio out option for those with zone 2 receivers that require analog input
- Launch the
This. I'd say add an Email and Calendar app, but my fear is they wouldn't let us turn off notifications.
- TouchID for single sign-on, or at the very least easier sign-on of each app
- Unified subtitle control for all apps with the ability to default to subtitles being turned on (PBS being the worst offender)
- Lightning audio support in the Siri remote so we can use our new Lightning earpods with the remote for audio
- Homekit control of the AppleTV itself, tell my phone: "Hey, Siri, show the latest episode of This Old House on the AppleTV"
- On-screen clock/weather/battery in the Home screen or live app tiles to achieve the same
- Instead of showing content of the current app at the top of the Home screen, show a chronological listing of the 6-8 most recent episodes of your favorite'd shows from all apps that support a shared "favorite" setting
These are the responsibility of their respective company's but Apple could help grease the wheels:
- Amazon Prime Music/Video app
- Twitch app
- Vudu app
- Computer/console remote play apps for Steam, PS4, Xbox One, etc...
- Nintendo Virtual Console for their classic games (wishful thinking)
I think profiles are more integrated in the Apps like with Netflix. Thought adult content is band from the app store....
When I say adult, I don't mean NC-17. I mean anything over whats rated for kids. So in essence PG and below for the kids. Yes the individual apps do have filters or profiles. But what if when your child logs into their Apple TV profile. And they select Netflix, it then only shows their Netflix profile? And if they select HBO, all the content out of their rating age does not show up?
USB port > FaceTime Camera\Microphone and FaceTime App for ATV: Extend FaceTime to enable a full function, multi user video conference. Add an API to FaceTime to allow participant feedback, quizzes, content download (from iCloud) and participant audio only via FaceTime on iOS\Mac (and Android\PC - a stretch) with moderator controls to chose which participant's audio is active. iCloud storage for recorded conferences for later replay.
This could put ATV (and Mac\iOS) into a dominant place in classrooms, lecture halls, corporate conference rooms, with obvious benefits to consumers.
Add Airport Express\WiFi Hotspot capability to ATV: Allow ATV to extend existing networks, create a classroom\conference room WiFi for participants, and facilitate a closed network for a conference room (i.e. classroom which would restrict students from accessing the web).
This could put ATV (and Mac\iOS) into a dominant place in classrooms, lecture halls, corporate conference rooms, with obvious benefits to consumers.
Add Airport Express\WiFi Hotspot capability to ATV: Allow ATV to extend existing networks, create a classroom\conference room WiFi for participants, and facilitate a closed network for a conference room (i.e. classroom which would restrict students from accessing the web).
Just tvOS software?
Only things I can think of would be bug fixing and speed enhancements.
When I close an app and go back to the home screen I need to wait a couple seconds before I can do anything. Trivial, but annoying none the less.
Also I have an annoying and persistent bug. Autoplay in Youtube will stop functioning, requiring me to restart the ATV. While it sounds like an app bug (although closing the app doesn't fix it, I need to restart the entire ATV) when that happens the screen saver (aerial) will stop working, it just goes to a black screen.
Aside from that I'm happy with the tvOS.
Hardware on the other hand is a different story.
Only things I can think of would be bug fixing and speed enhancements.
When I close an app and go back to the home screen I need to wait a couple seconds before I can do anything. Trivial, but annoying none the less.
Also I have an annoying and persistent bug. Autoplay in Youtube will stop functioning, requiring me to restart the ATV. While it sounds like an app bug (although closing the app doesn't fix it, I need to restart the entire ATV) when that happens the screen saver (aerial) will stop working, it just goes to a black screen.
Aside from that I'm happy with the tvOS.
Hardware on the other hand is a different story.
This isn't Apple TV - only, but is my #1 request and would make my Apple TV experience soooo much better: give the Videos app on iOS devices the real iCloud treatment and allow locally-stored videos in that app to sync to iCloud, and thus be viewable on the TV/Movies apps on the Apple TV. I'm thinking of something along the lines of how iCloud for iBooks is handled, only with videos. I have many family videos that I've recently digitized from tape and it's very important to me that they're easily viewable on my Apple TVs. I know they're probably not gonna do this for a while due to their fear that it could be used for piracy and/or reduce iTunes sales, but man, it would be soooo useful to me.
And yeah, I could use iCloud Photo Library for this I know, but I'd rather my personal photo library not be accessible on the tv. Using the videos apps would be better.
Other than that, support for W1 headphones without having to manually pair them, along with the rumored multi-app TV guide would make the Apple TV so much nicer to use. Outside of tvOS and on the hardware side, I'd also like an option for a white Siri remote - the darn thing is impossible to find in my dark brown couch at night, and I prefer the white-on-silver look anyway.
And yeah, I could use iCloud Photo Library for this I know, but I'd rather my personal photo library not be accessible on the tv. Using the videos apps would be better.
Other than that, support for W1 headphones without having to manually pair them, along with the rumored multi-app TV guide would make the Apple TV so much nicer to use. Outside of tvOS and on the hardware side, I'd also like an option for a white Siri remote - the darn thing is impossible to find in my dark brown couch at night, and I prefer the white-on-silver look anyway.
In addition to the suggestions above, I would like a "third" category of video content when organizing iTunes libraries: Fitness videos. They aren't movies, and they aren't TV shows. They are their own unique category and should be organized as such.
While adding categories of video content, I also wouldn't mind separating out concerts and sports. Again, these things are difficult to fit into the typical TV show or movie categories.
With apps, I would like an option to automatically refresh apps on open, or to disable app switching/resuming. Multi-tasking is important for ipad, good on iphone, but seems to be more trouble than it's worth on tv.
While adding categories of video content, I also wouldn't mind separating out concerts and sports. Again, these things are difficult to fit into the typical TV show or movie categories.
With apps, I would like an option to automatically refresh apps on open, or to disable app switching/resuming. Multi-tasking is important for ipad, good on iphone, but seems to be more trouble than it's worth on tv.
100% I think thats one of my biggest gripes is how our purchased content is displayed on the Apple TV. They use to have this in the first Gen Apple TV so not sure why they had to change it.