It was just a day back when we saw the tvOS 9.1 update hit the fourth-generation Apple TV across the globe with support for iOS Remote app for the first time, and now an Apple official has confirmed that the company is actively working on developing a brand new Remote app with Siri support built into the app for the set-top-box, thereby turning your iPhone or Apple Watch into a full Siri Remote alternative of sorts.
tvOS 9.1 already packs Siri support for Apple Music, and has additionally added support for the iOS Remote app which basically allows you to control a host of Apple TV functions, including navigation and text entry, directly from a paired iOS device or Apple Watch. The app is nifty and pretty useful given the task at hand, but it does lack that critical function which makes the new Apple TV 4 standout – support for Siri.
Now thanks to a confirmation by Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, he and his team is working on developing an app that would help cover that gap, and expects it to be released in the first half of 2016. “We’re working on a new Apple TV remote app that will give you the full functionality of the Siri Remote on your iPhone”, said Cue.
It remains unclear if Apple would actually attempt to revamp the existing Remote app for iOS, or whether it would be an entirely new app tailored for the new Apple TV. It would also be interesting to see just how much functionality the app brings to the table when compared to the actual physical Siri Remote. If the app offers complete control of the set-top-box essentially becoming a full Siri Remote alternative as Cue says, it would be great given the fragility of the Siri Remote.
Beyond this exciting revelation, Cue also talked about how successful the new Apple TV has been because of tvOS. “We’re seeing tremendous developer interest. Already we have over 2,000 apps live in the store. And on the customer side, things are going great. What we’ve found is that a little over half of transactions are coming from people upgrading from the last Apple TV and just about the other half are coming from new customers that are buying their first Apple TV.”
(Source: BuzzFeed)
You may also like to check out:
- Apple TV 4 tvOS 9.1 Download Released, Here’s What Is New
- Pair Remote App On iPhone Or Watch With Apple TV 4, Here’s How
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