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Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of tvOS 18 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the sixth beta of the upcoming tvOS 18 refresh to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the fifth beta came out.

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Registered developers are able to download the tvOS 18 update by opting in to the beta through the Settings app on the Apple TV. A registered developer account is required.

tvOS 18 adds an InSight feature to the TV app, and it is able to provide real-time information about actors, music, and more in ‌Apple TV‌+ shows and music. Enhanced Dialogue has been refined with machine learning and computational audio so it is better able to boost vocal clarity over background noise and music, plus it is now available on built-in TV speakers, AirPods, and other Bluetooth devices.

Subtitles will now show up automatically when relevant, such as when the TV's volume is muted, a show or movie is rewound, or when the language of a show doesn't match the device language.

Other new features include 21:9 aspect ratio support for projectors, new screen savers and improved controls for swapping screen savers, and support for Live Captions during FaceTime calls through an iPhone or iPad.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
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Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater

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Top Rated Comments

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BetaTester99
24 months ago

Do you think this option would work on TVs too?
Yes, it should work on anything that has a 21:9(ish) screen.

21:9 is just an aspect ratio, so it should work on any device capable of displaying it. The thing is, they've never said "what" they mean by 21:9. Content that is in 21:9 (2.40:1, 2:39:1, 2.35:1, aka 'Scope') is distributed in a 16:9 wrapper that has black bars on the top and bottom so that it will be displayed correctly on most TVs (The same way "letterboxed" movies were distributed in a 4:3 wrapper before widescreen TVs were prominent). There are almost no native 21:9 projectors. The way it works is you use an anamorphic lens that sits in front of the projection lens to squeeze the projected image into the scope format (21:9). Obviously using an anamorphic lens will distort a non-scope image, so most projectors have anamorphic modes that compensate for this.

My hope is that what Apple means by 21:9 is twofold: 1. That all menus will be able to be displayed, unstretched and undistorted in 21:9. 2. That their software, once told that you are using a 21:9 screen, will be able to move any subtitles on 21:9 content out of the bottom black bar and into the displayed area. Both of these should be really easy for Apple to implement. My media player from Zidoo, a very small manufacturer with far fewer resources, has both of these capabilities already.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaximus Avatar
gaximus
24 months ago
Does it have Snoopy screen saver?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
BetaTester99
24 months ago
Yes, I have a projector with a scope screen. Having my ATV4K Gen3 display menus in 21:9 would be awesome.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
BetaTester99
24 months ago
Have they implemented the 21:9 support? I have gone through every beta they've released for TVOS 18 and have yet to see it (or I'm looking in the wrong place).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gimmesomemo Avatar
gimmesomemo
24 months ago

All sorted. It wasn't the update. I just had to off and on it all 🤣
The answer to literally all receiver problems 🥴 (with some added cable unplug/replugs)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JeffPerrin Avatar
JeffPerrin
24 months ago
So far the public beta seems pretty solid as far as Atmos/surround support. I wouldn't ever recommend folks getting the developer beta unless, well, they're a developer. 😛
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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