Apple Provides First Beta of tvOS 11 to Developers

Following today's WWDC keynote event that saw the debut of iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, and watchOS 4, Apple has seeded the first beta of the new tvOS 11 operating system for the Apple TV to developers for testing purposes.

Registered developers can download tvOS 11 by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes.

f1496682992
tvOS 11 saw little screen time at today's event, and in fact, it wasn't even officially announced on stage. The new operating system was largely glossed over, with the exception of an announcement for an upcoming Amazon Prime Video app.

According to Apple's release notes, tvOS 11 brings automatic light/dark appearance switching, Home screen syncing options, new background modes and notification support, Focus API improvements, custom sound support, network-based pairing and development support, and improvements to Mobile Device Management.

tvOS 11 is only available for registered developers at the current point in time, but Apple's beta site now includes tvOS 11, suggesting a public tvOS beta is coming.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
ipad pro 2024

New iPad Pro Reportedly Launching This Year

Tuesday January 21, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously. After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...

Top Rated Comments

CalZephyr Avatar
100 months ago
I, for one, am excited there will finally be an app for Amazon Prime Video.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
i hate phones Avatar
100 months ago
Was that said in the keynote? I was too busy fuming about the first of the sixth major updates being the launch of a US only video app
Yep :) that's how they ended the tvOS part of the presentation.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyJimmyYam Avatar
100 months ago
Ooh, potions!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
100 months ago
Anyone have any more detail on what this might mean...

Home screen syncing potions
Potions? Assuming typo, maybe "positions"? But does that make sense?

Wait a minute, "options": Home screen syncing options? But then what might that be? Synching with what? First thought: other :apple:TVs within the house... but would a family want multiple :apple:TVs to have a synced home screen? Speculation or hard information?

Then again if we can call an OS "High" maybe another can have "potions":

* "Sure dude, it's 4K." and
* "Here... try this. Now it's 8K." and
* "No try this. Now it's a Star Trek Holodeck";)

And what do we think this might mean...

custom sound support
...such as what? First thought: new audio codecs (Dolby Atmos, DTS). But then I get real and started wondering if this is interface beeps and similar, meaning we can pick different click sounds. Something else? Speculation or hard information?

Jokes aside: glad they're still trying with tvOS. :apple:TV has such potential. I wish they would give it some major focus (akin to the focus much smaller competitors with much less cash seem to apply to their versions of these little boxes).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)