On Wednesday , Apple introduced a young version — the third propagation — of its Apple television receiver media instrumentalist , adding support for 1080p television and debut a major update to the equipment ’s user interface with a number of Modern software features . But just as welcome to many Apple TV fans was the promulgation that all of the software improvements in the new framework are also useable instantly to the previous theoretical account viaApple TV Software Update 5.0 . Which entail that if you have a 2nd - contemporaries Apple TV , even though you wo n’t be able play 1080p video , you ’ll benefit the rest of the new characteristic of the latest mannikin without drop a cent . ( Your Apple TV should notify you that the update is available ; if not , you’re able to navigate to preferences : General - > stay For Updates . )
We ’ll have a full review of the third - generation Apple TV once we get our hands on one , but here ’s a warm look at what the new Apple TV software brings .
The Apple TV ’s one-time ( odd ) and novel ( right ) interface
The Apple TV’s old (left) and new (right) interface
Interface overhaul
The first clip you take off up an Apple TV go Software Update 5.0 , it ’s obvious that Apple has revamped the user user interface considerably . There ’s still a row of images across the top of the screen , represent whatever content you ’ve selected below , but the old drop - down , textual menus — Movies , TV show , Music , Internet , Computers , and setting — have been replaced by orotund , iOS - app - like icons , one for each content source : Here in the U.S. , those are Movies , boob tube show , Music , Computers , Netflix , NBA , NHL , Trailers , MLB.TV , WSJ Live , YouTube , Vimeo , Podcasts , Radio , Photo Stream , MobileMe , and Flickr . There ’s also a configurations ikon .
You voyage these icons , using the Apple Remote or Remote iOS app , just as you did the old menu , using the arrow button ( on the Apple Remote ) or swiping your iOS gimmick ’s screen door ( using the app ) to move the selection up , down , leftover , or good , and then squeeze Select ( on the Apple Remote ) or tapping the cover ( using the app ) to launch the selected particular . Pressing Menu takes you back up a level or , in some screens , brings up the card / spread over row at the top of the screen . ( For the latter , another closet of Menu takes you up a level in the menus . )
You ’ll find all the same options and sub - menus as in Apple TV 4.4.4 ( the last software update prior to Wednesday ) , but most thing are easier to access . For example , instead of having to voyage to the Internet menu to access Netflix , NBA , NHL , WSJ Live , YouTube , Vimeo , Podcasts , Photo Stream , MobileMe , Flickr , or Radio , each of those items is accessible with a single clink from the home screen . Similarly , whereas pic trailers were buried at the bottom of the Movies menu , there ’s now a big Trailers button — that looks exactly like Apple ’s Trailers app for iOS — right on the home covert .
The new Movies screen
The young Movies screen door
For most of these content channels — pitiful , Roku , it ’s the good word here — the experience is like , if not incisively the same , as it was under Apple TV 4.4.4 . However , the Movies and TV Shows item have each lose their home plate - screen menu of alternative , with each menu item lead to a different blind . or else , each of these two channel has combined its various screen into a single one , with the menu of option — buy , Top , Wish List , Genius , Genres , Networks ( for TV show ) , and Search — across the top of the screen . This makes it easier to switch between options , as you no longer have to back out of , say , the Top Movies screen to get to the Search filmdom ; alternatively , you just scroll to the top of the concealment and take Search . Selecting an token from this horizontal menu , or scrolling down the Movies or idiot box show screen , hides the carte du jour ; pressing Menu or scroll back to the top of the screenland displays it again .
The new interface is already inspiring debate among users — I’ve view tidy sum of online praise and complaint . But overall , I mean it ’s an advance , as it make particular content easier to rule — you do n’t have to remember which top - floor menu server the subject matter you require to access — and it have previously buried content more discoverable . ( Did n’t realize the Wall Street Journal has its own video channel on the Apple television set ? Now you ca n’t lose it . And my phratry loves that Radio is now a top - level item . ) And when viewing the dwelling screen , a down - pointer press conceal the poster rowing to show just the 18 message icon . In fact , my grownup ailment is that whenever you fall to the home CRT screen , the poster / figure of speech region at the top of the screen is seeable . I ’d choose to always see the all - icon vista .
I also find that the new interface makes using the Apple Remote — one of the Apple TV ’s biggest weaknesses — a slimly better experience , thanks to the heavy ikon and reduce menu piloting . And a change that appear in a premature version of the Apple TV software is just as utile now : Pressing and hold the Menu button at any time takes you all the agency back to the home ( top - level ) blind , saving you from have to press Menu , Menu , Menu , Menu when you ’re deep in a particular computer menu ramification .
The Apple TV ’s new home screen , showing just icons
Opening the door?
Of course , one look at the Modern iOS - home - screen - corresponding layout , and your mind starts imaginingothericons — like , say , one for Hulu , and another for HBO — sate up outer space in the storage-battery grid . Indeed , this new UI seems to me like an obvious first step towards allowing content - supplier - specific apps , as well as perhaps other types of apps .
That say , the new home projection screen already feels a bit crowded , and if Apple does eventually allow additional content sources or apps , it ’s only going to get more cramped . The society will eventually have to let users make do those sources and apps — which I appear , which are hide , and how they ’re coif — the way Roku did when it introduced channels to its medium player . Otherwise , you ’ll end up navigating eternal filmdom of image . ( expect , this is starting to vocalize familiar … )
Movies in the cloud, account setup improvements
One new addition to the Movies menu is a purchase choice . This option debuted on Wednesday for both Apple TV 5.0 and 4.4.4 , and it provides immediate access to a tilt of movies you ’ve purchase , have you rain buckets previously buy movies straightaway over the cyberspace , rather than requiring you to rain buckets those movies from a calculator on your local connection running iTunes . you’re able to also now buy movies straightaway from your Apple TV . ( These features have been around for telecasting show and music for a while . ) One hitch here is thatmovies from Fox and Universal are n’t presently eligible .
Another new feature relating to online accounts is that you’re able to now sign up for an account for some third - political party depicted object provider — such as Netflix — straightaway from the Apple TV , and pay for those subscriptions using your Apple ID ( iTunes report ) . For those setting up a new account for usage primarily with the Apple TV , this is likely more convenient than having to use your estimator and the supplier ’s own frame-up and billing system of rules .
Other changes
Going through the Apple TV Software Update with a mulct - toothed combing , there are a few other changes and improvements that are n’t immediately obvious . Here ’s a quick list :
Note that although Applelists Genius recommendations for movies and TV shows — based only on previous iTunes rentals and purchases — as a new feature of speech in Apple TV software package 5.0 , that feature actuallyappeared under Apple telly computer software 4 back in February . Similarly , although Apple noted during Wednesday ’s event that Photo Stream pic are automatically pushed to the Apple TV , that feature debut with iCloud , not with Apple TV 5.0 . Finally , a bit of other interface changes , such as those to the Netflix channel and movie - dawdler screen , are do by on the server side and are thus being pushed out to both the previous and new Apple TV software program versions .
Stay tuned for our full recap of the new Apple TV ironware .
