The iPhone , Apple Watch , and Mac all got some dearest from Apple at this yr ’s Worldwide Developers Conference , but the quaternary of Apple ’s platforms was largely left out in the cold : the Apple TV .
Indeed , the newest edition of tvOS does n’t even get its own page on Apple ’s internet site — get across nexus about it will merely take you to an updated page for the Apple TV 4 K , loose last September .
On the face of it , sure , it ’s understandable why the Apple goggle box and tvOS did n’t get a good deal of attention : the set - top box seat is arguably the least challenging of Apple ’s products , and many of the roadblocks that the company has run into in terms of improving it have been stymied by the need to operate with partners .
But that ’s not to say that there are n’t still substantial change that could be made to the platform . Here are just a couple of suggestion of things that Apple could improve .
Hey is for Siri
tot up Siri to the Apple TV back in 2015 was a great move on Apple ’s part . But since then , Apple has n’t done much to really meliorate the way we keep in line our TV with our voice . Meanwhile , Amazon has recently set in motion its Fire TV Cube , which put a full - flight Amazon Echo — sodding with microphone array and talker — into its own pop set - top loge . And where Amazon goes , others are certain to come after .
Apple TV Siri Remote
The fundamental problem with the Apple TV ’s Siri Remote is that it ’s just not very well design . From its symmetrical shape , it ’s a production of Jony I ve ’s seeming obsession with lustrous fateful oblong , to its small , easily - lost - in - lounge - cushions size , it ’s an elegant artillery for a more civilised age that we simply have n’t reached yet . It does n’t survive contact with the real world .
More to the item , having to cast about and see a remote when you desire to issue a vocalization statement feels restrictive in a way that admittance to a omnipresent voice help like the Echo or HomePod does n’t . conceive of if those devices required a hand-held external microphone — they belike would n’t have caught on the way that they have .
recollective term , it would be nice to see Apple build up HomePod - like Siri computer hardware directly into the localise - top box , but in the interim , it would be peachy if you could at least use the HomePod to control the Apple TV in the same way that you would use the Siri Remote . Surely the applied science is sound enough for it to detect when the Apple TV is combat-ready and take command of it . After all , your iOS devices already buzz and offer you a software keyboard when you navigate to one of the Apple TV ’s text airfield . gimmick interoperability has always been one of Apple ’s strong suits , and this could aid pad cut-rate sale of both the Apple TVandthe HomePod .
( For what it ’s deserving , a bullet point at WWDC suggests that Apple may be including supporting for using Siri via third - party remotes , which would also be a welcome addition . )
I’ve just seen a face
talk of Amazon ’s primed - top corner , it boasts another handy feature that would be decent to see on the Apple TV — even if implementing it might be a little more complicated . On the Fire TV , while you ’re watching most telly show or movies , you could generally hit a button on the remote to summon Amazon ’s X - Ray feature article which , among other things , provides an overlay designate you what actor are in the current scene . It ’s remarkably handy when you ’re essay to commemorate where you ’ve seen someone ’s face before . ( The X - Ray feature also declare oneself more general information about a given title , admit trivia . )
Of course , AmazonownsIMDb , which makes it much easy for the company to use that selective information and to leverage it as a competitive vantage . That said , it ’s a feature that ’s skilful enough for Apple to at least taste making a deal with Amazon , peculiarly if it enables a feature of speech where you’re able to say “ Hey Siri , where have I seen that actor before ? ”
Complications, not complexits
As much as I like the Apple TV ’s beautiful airy screensaver , it seems like have an Apple gadget link up to a jumbo screen could be used to more effective end when it ’s not otherwise display content . Apple already offers gadget on iOS and macOS , as well as complications on watchOS ; extending alike functionality to the Apple TV would be a prissy choice as well .
Apple TV 4 K ’s aery screensaver .
I ’m not thinking of something as complex and dense as Panic’slate , lamented iOS app Status Boardwhich displayed a you a variety of customs graphs and chart and could be connected to an Apple TV . But I ’d love the option to at least contribute a weather contrivance to the screen rescuer , or a list of upcoming calendar appointments , or even an Activity widget that reminds me to get up and off the couch every once in a while .
To go a step further , bringing those same options to the Apple TV ’s Home projection screen would also be a nice tactile sensation . decent now , the passel of rounded rectangle is fine , but it lacks dash and dynamism . add extra useful depicted object there could help oneself punch it up a bit , and help your Apple TV finger more likeyourApple TV .
