The Apple TV world had been pretty quiet until Apple’s March 25, 2019 special event that announced some major new things coming to the Apple TV: * A redesigned TV app, redubbed Apple TV, that’s built around services, integrates live TV, and will even be available on most popular smart TV platforms, such as Roku…
Author: Josh Centers
What’s New with iOS
There have been some welcome improvements in iOS 12 since the version 1.1 update of Take Control of iOS 12, but none that warrant a new edition of the book just yet. iOS 12.1.1, released in December 2018, made it so that you no longer have to press the ellipsis button to swap cameras during…
Updated Presets in HandBrake 1.0
Video-ripping app [HandBrake][1] has finally reached version 1.0 — actually 1.0.2 as of this writing. With that comes a few minor changes, but the most significant for readers of “Take Control of Apple TV” are the new presets. The now-legacy AppleTV 3 preset I recommended in the book is still there, but you should instead…
Sierra Users: Don’t Edit PDFs in Preview
macOS 10.12 Sierra has been plagued with PDF problems. First, there were problems with PDFs created using ScanSnap scanners, but those issues turned out to be relatively mild and Apple addressed them in the 10.12.1 update. Unfortunately, 10.12.2 Sierra ushered in even more troubling issues with PDFs. Developers have reported a number of PDFKit problems,…
Single Sign-on News
At Apple’s recent “Hello Again” event, the company announced that Single Sign-on is coming to the Apple TV at last, and the feature is available in the most recent tvOS betas. Unfortunately, it works with only two major providers so far: DirecTV and Dish. Thankfully, my earlier prediction about Single Sign-on being based on TV…
The TV App Is Coming to tvOS
At Apple’s October “Hello Again” event, the company announced a major paradigm shift for tvOS, in the form of the soon-to-be-released TV app. The TV app will aggregate content from multiple apps, help you track your favorite shows, and suggest new content. Unfortunately, Netflix isn’t on board in the app and Amazon is still nowhere…
MyMac’s Review of “Take Control of Preview”
Apple Releases New Remote App
Apple has released its new Apple TV Remote iPhone app, designed specifically to emulate the physical Siri Remote that controls the fourth-generation Apple TV. Because the new Apple TV Remote app controls only the fourth-generation Apple TV, it does not replace Apple’s previous Remote app, which remains in the App Store with a new name:…
Changes to Plex Authentication on Apple TV
When we published “Take Control of Apple TV, Second Edition,” the Plex app still required you to enter your username and password to sign in to your Plex account. Thankfully, Plex has now been updated to use browser authentication instead, so you don’t have to type or dictate your credentials with the Siri Remote. When…
Apple TV 7.0 Update Brings a New Look and a New Beats Music App to the Third-generation Apple TV
Apple has updated the Apple TV software to version 7.0. This new version works only on the third-generation Apple TV. It refreshes the interface with an iOS 7-style aesthetic, though the steps for navigating in the interface haven’t much changed, just the look. Apple has also rolled out the new Beats Music app, which is…