Apple TV gets Dolby Atmos support, 'zero sign-on' for cable with tvOS 12
Apple at WWDC 2018 teased a series of planned upgrades to tvOS, the Apple TV operating system, including Dolby Atmos compatibility.
Coming this fall, the tvOS 12 update will deliver long-delayed Dolby Atmos surround sound, which can locate sounds in 3D space instead of just relying on discrete channels. A number of movies on iTunes will be upgraded with support, and people who already own those titles will get the altered versions automatically.
Several TV services will be using the Apple TV as a cable box replacement, including Charter Spectrum in the U.S. starting later this year. The company has already partnered with Canal+ in France, and Salt. in Switzerland.
A related concept is "zero sign-on," which will detect a provider's network and automatically sign users into channel apps. Charter Spectrum will be the first company on board.
Home control system makers Crestron, Savant, and Control4 will link their remotes to the Apple TV, including support for Siri.
One minor addition is that when looking at Aerial screensavers, users will be able to switch between locations with a swipe, and bring up location information with a tap. A new Aerial, "Earth," was filmed aboard the International Space Station and should be available later on Monday.
![Earth Aerial for Apple TV](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/26294-37154-tvos12-aerial-l.jpg)
Apple will also enable cross-device AutoFill, bringing over passwords from iPhone and iPad apps, and add the Apple TV Remote app to Control Center automatically. At the moment it's an optional download.
Coming this fall, the tvOS 12 update will deliver long-delayed Dolby Atmos surround sound, which can locate sounds in 3D space instead of just relying on discrete channels. A number of movies on iTunes will be upgraded with support, and people who already own those titles will get the altered versions automatically.
Several TV services will be using the Apple TV as a cable box replacement, including Charter Spectrum in the U.S. starting later this year. The company has already partnered with Canal+ in France, and Salt. in Switzerland.
A related concept is "zero sign-on," which will detect a provider's network and automatically sign users into channel apps. Charter Spectrum will be the first company on board.
Home control system makers Crestron, Savant, and Control4 will link their remotes to the Apple TV, including support for Siri.
One minor addition is that when looking at Aerial screensavers, users will be able to switch between locations with a swipe, and bring up location information with a tap. A new Aerial, "Earth," was filmed aboard the International Space Station and should be available later on Monday.
![Earth Aerial for Apple TV](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/26294-37154-tvos12-aerial-l.jpg)
Apple will also enable cross-device AutoFill, bringing over passwords from iPhone and iPad apps, and add the Apple TV Remote app to Control Center automatically. At the moment it's an optional download.
Comments
They never mention the numbers Streamed cable is doing or the rate or drop off of the cord cutters who return to cable. You know why ? Because they’re tanking. On Quality - they’re all abysmal. On the Guide - Americans want the scroll back. On remembering my sign in - fail. On cost ? On the final cost of for cutting - when u add Netflix and Hulu and Prime and an app based attenna (channels) that receives OTA local cable ?
Well over over a month of cable with a set top box u rent not buy.
Its all bullshit. Also where’s the content? Not for nothing if Disney can pump out 4 Star Wars movies in 3 years but the most profitable company in the world can’t produce a single hit show 3 years in let alone just buy one... something is seriously wrong.
It’s just not this hard.
Great you booked the Amazing Stories reboot. Where is it?
Yea ! You booked a DR DRE rap drama - where is it?
...seriously, you've having a pooping fit in every thread.
Anyway -- nonsense. I cut cable in 1999, paying only for internet service and buying the few shows off iTunes I wanted. Later I added Netflix, and Prime I already had for shipping so I don't count it. I have saved a vast amount of money. Your claim that I'm paying the same as a $150+/mo cable bill is absurd. Most TV is garbage and I have no need for the all-you-can-eat buffet.
PlutoTV, for example. That’s free (with ads) and seems to have an array of content. But is it easy to GET to the content on an Apple TV? Can I use Siri search to ask for movies and have ANY movie app show up now? Or ask for sports and have ESPN and NFL and (etc.)... show up side by side? That’s why I also like the idea of the “TV” app in iOS, as an aggregate for all the apps’ services for which you may pay. But it has to be seamless for people. It has to be at least as easy to SEARCH as it is to be programmed by cable/satellite.
I hope Infuse can leverage this for the full Atmos experience from one’s one library, though the devil is in the details...
Charter Spectrum is the 2nd largest cable provider in the US. Who has Charter?.... many.
I would like to be able to use a HomePod to control Apple TV and my TV via Siri without ever touching the remote. 3.1 , 5.1, or 7.1 Home Thearer would be great. Probably can’t get the. Whole Atmos experience with HomePods because they fire downward and reflect the sound of the table it’s on-not down from the ceiling.
tvOS updates disappoint every time.
Yet another great feature that few people will be able to use because the gatekeeper that is their local cable monopoly won't support it, just like single sign-in.