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tvOS 26 Now Available With Liquid Glass UI and Enhanced Apple TV Features

Apple today released tvOS 26, the latest version of the tvOS operating system that runs on the Apple TV 4K.

tvOS 26 Feature
tvOS 26 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software. ‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌ owners who have automatic software updates activated will be upgraded to tvOS 26 automatically.

tvOS 26 uses the same Liquid Glass look that's available in Apple's other operating system updates, providing a unified design language across the company's platforms.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app has new poster art and an interface that displays more movies and shows at once, and profiles can be shown when the ‌Apple TV‌ wakes, making it easier for each person to select their personalized settings and recommendations.

When using Apple Music Sing, the iPhone can serve as a microphone, and it supports Lyrics Translation and Lyrics Pronunciation. The FaceTime app supports customized photos for each contact, and Live Captions now support French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish.

There are new Aerial screen savers captured in India, an option to personalize screen savers by selecting specific categories, and the ability to designate any AirPlay-compatible speaker as a permanent speaker for the ‌Apple TV‌.

tvOS 26 is compatible with the original ‌Apple TV‌ HD from 2015 as well as all ‌Apple TV‌ 4K models. Liquid Glass requires the second-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K or later.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)

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Top Rated Comments

TruthAboveAllElse Avatar
15 months ago

It's crazy that Liquid Glass is only on 2nd gen 4k and later. Like tvOS 26 Basic and tvOS 26 Ultimate lol.
It's not crazy, it requires much more processing power than prior UIs.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
15 months ago

my 2nd gen ATV 4k is sluggish on tvOS 18 ... could it be any worse???
Yes. In my limited experience absolutely
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
15 months ago
I just updated my 2nd and 3rd (latest) ATV4ks to tvOS 26 and my goodness on 2nd gen ATV4k the open and close animation is absurdly sluggish and not smooth.

Does anyone test these devices out?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
15 months ago

Curious to know if your Apple TV performance has improved since you posted. On the fence whether to update my box
If you open YouTube app and look at your search history it really slows down. Even after resetting history.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hedkandi Avatar
15 months ago
This gives you double vision when pressing the Edit button.
What are they thinking, especially with Accessibility options?

Attachment Image
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
15 months ago

Hope this can help!
Thank you. None of that had worked, but weirdly today was a different matter.

I decided to just give it another go (I had been trying everything a few weeks ago to no joy), and it updates.

Standard Settings update. Maybe Apple temporarily signed 13.4.8 again?

It updated fine to 13.4.8, brought me back to the Home Screen, and is now updating to 26 as we speak.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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