WWDC 2025 is now live, and Apple has finally renamed all of its operating systems to version 26. This year, we have tvOS 26 for the Apple TV, featuring the freshly-baked Liquid Glass software design.
Apple explained that Liquid Glass brings a fresh and vibrant look to Apple TV, "delivering a fresh and expressive design that beautifully reflects and refracts its surroundings using real-time rendering." Content is the primary focus of the experience when you fast-forward, rewind, or change a setting from the Control Center.
The redesigned Apple TV app now features new poster art for movies and TV shows, with a touch of Liquid Glass. Users can now choose whether to display the profile switcher UI when their Apple TV wakes up, allowing them to quickly access their Watchlist and recommendations in the TV app, as well as playlists in Apple Music.
Speaking of Apple Music, your iPhone can now double as a handheld microphone for Apple TV. The new karaoke mode allows multiple users to queue up songs from their iPhones and sing along, with support for lyrics translation and pronunciation.
Apple has updated the FaceTime experience to make it consistent with iPhone. Contact Posters introduced with iOS 17 are now available on Apple TV, which display a contact's customized photo and name when starting a FaceTime call.
Live Captions support on FaceTime now includes French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish. FaceTime on Apple TV has been updated to display phone and voice call notifications for active profiles. Users can use their connected HomePod speakers or iPhone to answer them.
Apart from that, tvOS 26 also brings new Aerial screen savers, featuring India's Goa and Kerala. Users can also personalize their screensaver experience and designate any AirPlay-enabled speaker as the permanent speaker for Apple TV.
tvOS 26 has also made the sign-in experience a bit easier for users. Developers can link app logins to an Apple account, making it quicker for users to access their apps and content when setting up a new device.
The new tvOS update is now available for testing through the Apple Developer Program, supported on Apple TV 4K (2nd generation and later). Meanwhile, the updated sing-along feature is available on iPhone 11 and later with Apple TV 4K (3rd generation).
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