Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Apple TV Hacked to Run Native tvOS Web Browser

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
65,912
34,661



Dutch developer jvanakker has hacked the new Apple TV to run a native tvOS web browser using a private API based on Apple's UIWebView class, sharing the code on GitHub as a fork of developer Steven Troughton-Smith's tvOSBrowser project. The demo video below shows Apple's website running on the fourth-generation box.


The simplistic tvOS web browser allows you to scroll through pages with the Siri Remote, and pressing the center of the touch surface brings up a cursor for clicking. Pressing the Menu button returns you to the previous page, while the Play/Pause button allows you to input URLs, according to GitHub.

Apple does not allow Apple TV apps to have UIWebViews, so this web browser would not be approved on the tvOS App Store, but the project is a good proof of concept. Apple TV users interested in testing the web browser can follow iDownloadBlog's guide to sideload the app using Xcode and modify a tvOS file to build it successfully.

Earlier this week, it was discovered that tvOS also includes support for iOS-like folders.

Article Link: New Apple TV Hacked to Run Native tvOS Web Browser
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/11/06/apple-tv-4-web-browser-tvos-hack/
  • Like
Reactions: appledefenceforce
What is it about the ATV3 then that means that after all this time they still can’t hack it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jezbd1997
Would it be possible to get DTS pass through and 1080 24p with a hack? or is that limited on the hardware side
 
  • Like
Reactions: kyjaotkb
nepalisherpa said:
I don't understand why Apple is against having a browser. This would make it so perfect.
Click to expand...

Have you tried a browser on a TV? It's not a particularly enjoyable experience. Both the Wii and Wii U have a browser... but I rarely use it because most websites just don't work well on a TV with a controller/remote?

Even this browser looks like a miserable experience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keane16, chrisbru, mattDC5R and 11 others
H2SO4 said:
What is it about the ATV3 then that means that after all this time they still can’t hack it?
Click to expand...

I think because tvOS has a proper development SDK that they're simply building an app that is being installed that has access to this API.

With the ATV3 I don't think it was ever jailbroken, so no way to run any home built app.

I could be wrong..
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamesnajera
BAH! I thought with the new APP SUPPORT we were done with not having web on the Apple TV. Was looking forward to some legit browsers!!!
 
uid15 said:
"Apple TV" the clue is in the title. If the functionality afforded by a product is expanded too far, the purpose for said device becomes confused and cluttered (see Android TV boxes a a prime example).
Click to expand...


So, in other words we have to buy tablets, laptops, and desktops that are all highly overpowered just to view simple web pages? I have to say that makes little sense to me, other than perhaps Apple is focusing a little too much on profit and not enough on consumer experience. What is going to happen now is a proliferation of tvOS 'apps' that are basically browsers dedicated to a single web page. Talk about clutter...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost and NMBob
nepalisherpa said:
I don't understand why Apple is against having a browser. This would make it so perfect.
Click to expand...

It would be useful to have for a very few people in a very few situations. But the vast majority of people would never have a need for an awkward, keyboardless, giant browser (that takes the TV away from other uses) instead of the better browsers all around them that they're already used to. And for the vast majority of people who (think they) would use it, it would turn out to be terrible and they'd end up not using it anyway. And they'd blame Apple for remote-control web browsing being poor, and the media would run with it.

Plus, it would let developers deliver additional awful experiences to users: apps could launch out to the web browser for certain things; or even just not MAKE an app and decide AppleTV users can just go to the site.

I think Apple made the right call. Tech nerds like me want a bullet list of "everything a person can think of," but some things are just poor, and not worth the complexity of including. Every feature has a cost—skip this one.

It's also possible Apple has a browser coming... but I really hope not!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reikochan, uid15, xmichaelp and 5 others
nagromme said:
It would be useful to have for a very few people in a very few situations. But the vast majority of people would never have a need for an awkward, keyboardless, giant browser (that takes the TV away from other uses) instead of the better browsers all around them that they're already used to. ...
Click to expand...

Well, let's see: Let us start with the visually impaired who might appreciate the big screen. And why wouldn't it be possible to use Siri to direct actions in the browser? Most of the arguments against browsing in tvOS are about performance. Apple supposedly have great engineers, so why haven't they engineered in the performance?

This is not about the consumer experience. It is about profit making. Apple used to stand for enabling people to do things. Now they seem to be focused on telling users what they cannot do....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bare, Benjamin Frost, Shirasaki and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back