Apple
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced software updates across its Home products that supercharge entertainment and deliver greater everyday convenience. With tvOS 18, intelligent new features like InSight – and updates to Enhance Dialogue and subtitles – level up cinematic experiences, while new Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, and FaceTime capabilities get even better on users’ biggest screen. The Home app gains new features with iOS 18, like guest access and hands-free unlock with home keys, delivering effortless and secure access to the home. tvOS 18 and iOS 18 are available as developer betas today, and will be available as free software updates this fall.
“We design our Home products to elevate users’ everyday lives, and our latest updates reinforce that goal by delivering even more convenience and connection,” said Stan Ng, Apple’s vice president of Apple Watch, Audio, Health, and Home Product Marketing. “This fall, tvOS 18 and our services take entertainment in the home to the next level by bringing timely information to fans about their favorite characters and scenes.”
tvOS 18 Takes Home Entertainment to the Next Level
This fall, the Apple TV app introduces InSight, a feature that displays timely information about actors, characters, and music from Apple TV+ movies and shows onscreen in real time. Users can simply select an actor to view their background and filmography page, or quickly view the song that is playing in a scene and add it to an Apple Music playlist. Viewers can also see InSight information on their iPhone when using it as an Apple TV remote.
InSight displays timely information about actors, characters, and music from Apple TV+ movies and shows.
Enhance Dialogue gets smarter with tvOS 18, leveraging machine learning and computational audio to deliver greater vocal clarity over music, action, and background noise on Apple TV 4K. In addition to HomePod speakers, users can now enjoy Enhance Dialogue when listening through built-in TV or HDMI-connected speakers, AirPods, and other Bluetooth-connected devices, and when playing supported content on iPhone and iPad.
Enhance Dialogue in tvOS 18 leverages machine learning and computational audio to deliver greater vocal clarity. Users can stream The Instigators on the Apple TV app with a subscription, available beginning August 9, 2024.
Subtitles allow users to stay engaged with their favorite content. For even more convenience, subtitles now automatically appear at just the right moments with tvOS 18, including when the language in a show or film does not match the device language, when users mute, or when they skip back while watching something.
Subtitles now automatically appear at just the right moments with tvOS 18.
tvOS 18 also brings 21:9 support for playing movies and shows on projectors, and introduces stunning new screen savers like Portraits, TV and Movies, and even Snoopy, who takes over the screen with Woodstock in a delightful animation before coming to a rest in various locations, including his doghouse.
Stunning new screen savers, including Snoopy, come with tvOS 18.
Apple Services and Experiences Get Even Better in the Home
This fall, anyone can share control of music playing from HomePod and HomePod mini using SharePlay and Apple Music. To join a SharePlay session, users can simply bring an iPhone close to another iPhone – or scan the QR code in the Apple Music SharePlay window on another iPhone – to add songs to the playlist and control playback, even if they do not have an Apple Music subscription.
New updates to FaceTime with Continuity Camera come with tvOS 18, making it more accessible than ever. With the introduction of Live Captions for English in the U.S. and Canada, users can read what others are saying on a FaceTime call – all from the biggest screen in the home.
Apple Fitness+ has been redesigned in tvOS 18 to help users make the most of its robust library, stay motivated, and keep consistent with their fitness routine. Updates include a personalized For You space, Explore and Library spaces, search features, and enhanced awards.
A redesigned Apple Fitness+ helps users make the most of its robust library on the biggest screen in the home.
Home Entry and Understanding Electricity Use Get Even More Convenient
With iOS 18, the Home app introduces guest access, providing users with convenient ways to grant guests control of locks, garage doors, and security systems; schedule individualized or time-based access to the home with smart locks; and view Activity History for guests. Additionally, hands-free unlock with home keys allows users to instantly open supported entry locks as soon as they are six feet away from their door, for an even more effortless home entry experience.
Guest access in the Home app offers easy ways to grant guests control of select smart home accessories and more.
The Home app also makes it easier for users to access, understand, and make more informed decisions about their home electricity use in partnership with leading utilities, beginning with Pacific Gas & Electric Company in California. Eligible users can easily view their electricity usage in the Home app’s Energy category when they connect their utility account.
In the Home app’s Energy category, users can now easily view their electricity usage when they connect their utility account.
Additional features coming to the Home app and Apple TV include:
- Robot vacuum cleaners are now compatible with the Home app, so they can participate in automations and scenes, and can be activated by a user’s voice using Siri.
- AirPlay adds Spatial Audio so users can get an immersive audio experience, including support for Dolby Atmos, when using AirPlay to stream audio from iPhone and iPad to HomePod and compatible third-party audio equipment.
The tvOS 18, iOS 18, and HomePod software version 18 developer betas are available for Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and public betas will be available to users next month at beta.apple.com
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