Apple has announced software updates across its Home products, including some cool enhancements to tvOS for its Apple TV set-top box.
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, according to Stan Ng, Apple’s vice president of Apple Watch, Audio, Health, and Home Product Marketing. The Home app gains new features with iOS 18, like guest access and hands-free unlock with home keys, delivering 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.
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.
Ng says that 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.
Subtitles now automatically appear at just the right moments with tvOS 18, including when the language in a show or film doesn’t match the device language, when users mute, or when they skip back while watching something.
tvOS 18 also brings 21:9 support for playing movies and shows on projectors, and introduces new screen savers like Portraits, TV and Movies, and even Snoopy, who takes over the screen with Woodstock in an animation before coming to a rest in various locations, including his doghouse.
Apple Services and Experiences 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 just 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 don’t have an Apple Music subscription.
Ng says that 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.
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, Ng says. Updates include a personalized For You space, Explore and Library spaces, search features, and enhanced awards.
Home app improvements
With iOS 18, the Home app introduces guest access, providing users with 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.
Ng says that 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. What’s more …
- 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.
Availability
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.
New software features will be available as free updates beginning this fall. For more information, visit apple.com/tv-home and apple.com/ios/ios-18-preview. Features are subject to change. Apple notes that some features may not be available in all regions, all languages, or on all devices, and compatible hardware and software may be required. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.
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