tvOS 9.2 now available for Apple TV with features like folders, voice improvements & more

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
As promised, Apple on Monday released the finished tvOS 9.2 update, making a broad assortment of improvements to the fourth-generation Apple TV.




Users can now, for instance, use the Siri Remote to dictate text into text boxes, including login screens and search fields. Input has also been made easier through support for Bluetooth keyboards.

Elsewhere the software has gained an iOS 9-style app switcher, and support for grouping apps into folders, cutting down on home screen clutter.

Some other enhancements include the ability to ask Siri to "search the App Store," and better video scrubbing. A video must now be paused before scrubbing will work, whereas users could previously bring up the option accidentally simply by touching the Siri Remote's touchpad.

tvOS' Photos app has been hooked into iCloud Photo Library, letting users see photos and videos uploaded from other devices.

Although tvOS can be set to fetch 9.2 automatically, users can also force a download by going into the Settings app and locating Software Updates under Maintenance.

Apple has separately released OS X 10.11.4, iOS 9.3, and watchOS 2.2.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member
    A video must now be paused before scrubbing will work, whereas users could previously bring up the option accidentally simply by touching the Siri Remote's touchpad.
    Thank goodness! "Accidental scrubbing" has been a major complaint by me. Now that Bluetooth keyboard support is back, I should now finally be able to enjoy my ATV4 four months after its release at least at much at my ATV3 from four years ago.
    roger wadelevilostkiwi
  • Reply 2 of 17
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    The 8 people who have Bluetooth keyboards in their living room will be happy. Seriously just the image of someone sitting on their couch with a bluetooth keyboard balanced on their lap...I can understand why Apple put it at the very bottom of the priority list for release.

    The other improvements in this update are huge. Dictation makes all the difference and really completes the puzzle when it comes to the Siri remote. And the change to the scrubbing behavior with the remote is huge. Not a single user out there that wasn't annoyed by having to delicately pick up the remote to prevent accidental input.
    dementuschikanfruitstandninjalkrupplatifbppropodargonautnolamacguyapplepieguy
  • Reply 3 of 17
    Will Siri now work for appletv4 use in NZ?
  • Reply 4 of 17
    Yawn.........
    roger wade
  • Reply 5 of 17
    "Thank goodness! "Accidental scrubbing" has been a major complaint by me. Now that Bluetooth keyboard support is back, I should now finally be able to enjoy my ATV4 four months after its release at least at much at my ATV3 from four years ago."

    I'm with you, brother.

    I was using my old Apple TV remote half the time because I was accidentally scrubbing. About time.
    zroger73
  • Reply 6 of 17

    pmz said:
    The 8 people who have Bluetooth keyboards in their living room will be happy. 
    I have spare bluetooth keyboards all over the place. WTF wouldn't I use it?
    Blasterzroger73
  • Reply 7 of 17
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,851member
    antoniosk said:
    Will Siri now work for appletv4 use in NZ?
    Hold it upside down.  ;)
    avidthinkerlevipropodargonaut
  • Reply 8 of 17
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member

    pmz said:
    The 8 people who have Bluetooth keyboards in their living room will be happy. 
    I have spare bluetooth keyboards all over the place. WTF wouldn't I use it?
    The very idea of a lap keyboard on the couch for the TV is a UI failure.
    lkruppargonautapplepieguy
  • Reply 9 of 17
    Using since this afternoon. The folders and Siri duration are great. Navigation has been a breeze 
    leviargonaut
  • Reply 10 of 17
    latifbplatifbp Posts: 544member

    pmz said:
    The 8 people who have Bluetooth keyboards in their living room will be happy. 
    I have spare bluetooth keyboards all over the place. WTF wouldn't I use it?
    To be cool of course
  • Reply 11 of 17
    BlasterBlaster Posts: 97member
    pmz said:
    The 8 people who have Bluetooth keyboards in their living room will be happy. Seriously just the image of someone sitting on their couch with a bluetooth keyboard balanced on their lap...I can understand why Apple put it at the very bottom of the priority list for release.

    The other improvements in this update are huge. Dictation makes all the difference and really completes the puzzle when it comes to the Siri remote. And the change to the scrubbing behavior with the remote is huge. Not a single user out there that wasn't annoyed by having to delicately pick up the remote to prevent accidental input.
    So what happened to:

    pmz said:

    The absurdity of this situation cannot be overstated.

     

    Why in the actual **** would they disable Bluetooth Keyboards and the iOS Remote App? Are they completely fucking bonkers?

     

    You can't even say its to promote Siri because Siri doesn't work for most of the interface and apps, and there is NO SIRI DICTATION on any of the key entry fields.

     

    This is one of the biggest head scratchers yet from modern Apple.


    pmz said:
    Eddie Cue or Tim Cook really needs to respond to this. They can respond to fucking Taylor Swift, but they can't respond to their own users. 1) No iOS or ? WATCH App. 2) No Bluetooth keyboard support 3) No Dictation support for any text field, despite the misleading emphasis on Siri. They literally went out of their way to make it difficult to use the product. Any of the three ways that would have satisfied text entry, for now, are all missing. Absolutely unbefuckinglievable.

    singularityargonautzroger73
  • Reply 12 of 17
    I can understand why Apple put it at the very bottom of the priority list for release.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    zroger73 said:
    A video must now be paused before scrubbing will work, whereas users could previously bring up the option accidentally simply by touching the Siri Remote's touchpad.
    Thank goodness! "Accidental scrubbing" has been a major complaint by me. Now that Bluetooth keyboard support is back, I should now finally be able to enjoy my ATV4 four months after its release at least at much at my ATV3 from four years ago.
    weird, we've been enjoying our ATV4 the day we got it. Siri and real-time scrubbing have been great (and impossible on my ATV3). tho the accidental scrubbing was annoying. nice to see the new feature tidied up. 
    applepieguy
  • Reply 14 of 17
    lostkiwilostkiwi Posts: 640member
    antoniosk said:
    Will Siri now work for appletv4 use in NZ?
    Nope.  The Siri icon is greyed out. 

    Sadpanda. 

     Maybe one day we will get Siri on the TV,  Apple News & of course Apple Pay. 
  • Reply 15 of 17
    peteraltpeteralt Posts: 155member
    Two annoying things about this release:

    1. Dictation, when naming folders, results in all lowercase letters, which is annoying because I like all my folder names to begin with capital letters! Curiously, select words do start with capital letters, such as "New".

    2. To move an app into an already-created folder, you can't simply drag and drop it to the folder. Instead, you must hold it down until it wiggles and press the play/pause button and selected from a drop-down menu that lists every folder (in addition to options such as New Folder and Delete which are included on that same list).
    edited March 2016
  • Reply 16 of 17
    jonyojonyo Posts: 119member
    I think there's a bug with the screensaver. I tried setting "my photos" as the screensaver, but it doesn't seem to stick. Instead you can navigate to individual photos, which is sort of pointless. You select any photo, it pops up, but all you can then do is back out, and the screensaver stays set to whatever it set to last, like Aerial or whatever else.
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