O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Apple TV

  • Black Friday: Apple offers six months of Apple TV streaming service for $5.99/month to new and returning customers

    Black Friday: Apple offers six months of Apple TV streaming service for $5.99/month to new and returning customers

    It’s a little ahead of Black Friday, but Apple is offering its Apple TV streaming service to both new and returning subscribers, wherein eligible customers can receive six months of the service for $5.99 per month.

    After the six-month period, the subscription price will increase to $12.99, which is the regular price for the Apple TV service.

    The deal will be available from November 21 to December 21 via the Apple TV website.

    Existing subscribers are not eligible for the discount, nor are customers who have subscriptions billed through a third-party service.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Apple

  • Apple releases visionOS 26.1 update, addresses assorted bugs, security issues

    Apple releases visionOS 26.1 update, addresses assorted bugs, security issues

    It may not be a huge update for the Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS operating system, but it could offer some neat stuff.

    Apple on Monday released its visionOS 26.1 update, which offers a few bug fixes, but not much else.

    What little was provided in the beta release notes during testing suggests Apple is working out the last few significant bugs before PSVR2 controllers go on sale at the Apple Store and the launch of the Logitech Muse. Both are Apple’s first push into controlling devices in visionOS outside of hand gestures.

    As with its other 26.1 updates, users will noticed that Apple has changed the Apple TV icon to reflect its more vibrant colors hidden behind the lettering. This also marks a shift from the Apple TV+ name to simply calling the service “Apple TV.”

    Even if the update isn’t momentous in scope, it’s recommended that users download and install the update to ensure apps operate normally and security issues are patched.

    The visionOS 26.1 update can be located, downloaded, and installed by going to the Settings app, General, then Software Update.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider

  • Apple releases iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1 updates

    Apple releases iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1 updates

    Similar to Apple’s macOS Tahoe 26.1 update, Apple on Monday also released the long-awaited iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1 updates.

    The updates include the following:

    Liquid Glass toggle: Apple has added the option to choose between clear and tinted user interfaces. The tinted option changes the opacity level behind things like notifications and tab bars. Other Liquid Glass visual elements, like optional clear app icons, are still present.

    The toggle can be found in Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass on iPhone and iPad. The Mac also gains the toggle in Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass, although the differences on macOS aren’t as apparent.

    Lock Screen Swipe: With this option, it’s possible to disable the swipe to open Camera gesture on the iPhone lock screen. The toggle can be found in Settings > Camera > Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera.

    Newer iPhone models feature a Camera Control button, adding a third way to open the Camera feature. Prior to that, the Action button introduced another method. The swipe option still remains, including the ability to toggle it off in Settings.

    Other new changes include the following:

    • Apple Intelligence gains support for Chinese (traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
    • AirPods Live Translation adds support for Chinese (Mandarin simplified and traditional), Italian, Japanese, and Korean. The feature launched with iOS 26 on AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4 with support for US and UK English, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
    • Apple TV icon: Apple is rebranding its streaming video service from Apple TV+ to just Apple TV. The rebrand is being accompanied by “a vibrant new identity,” according to Apple. The first sign of vibrancy comes with the new icon for the Apple TV app.
    • Settings app now includes a Local Capture section under General. The setting lets you change where Local Capture files are saved. You can also toggle Local Capture to only include audio.
    • iOS 26.1 also improves how alarms are dismissed with a Slide to Unlock interface, adds a swipe gesture for changing songs in the Music app, and much more.
      Availability

    iOS 26.1 is available for iPhone 11 and later, iPhone SE 2 and later, and iPhone Air models, while iPadOS 26.1 requires an eighth-generation or later iPad, a fifth-generation or later iPad mini, a first-generation or later iPad Pro, or a third-generation or later iPad Air to install and run.

    If you’ve had a chance to try iOS 26.1 or iPadOS 26.1, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via 9to5Mac

  • Apple releases macOS Tahoe 26.1 update, includes bug fixes, new features, improved AI support

    Apple releases macOS Tahoe 26.1 update, includes bug fixes, new features, improved AI support

    You’ve been hankering for the first major update for macOS Tahoe 26 and it’s here.

    Apple on Monday released macOS Tahoe 26.1, complete with a slew of bug fixes and performance improvements. Here’s what you can expect to find:

    • Apple has added MCP support to its macOS, iOS, and iPadOS operating systems. MCP is an open standard developed by Anthropic, which allows AI models to interact with user-facing platforms and tools. While there are back-end changes that allow for this support, Apple has yet to publicly comment as to when or how this will be implemented.
    • The Image Playground application has received some underlying changes, including support for third-party image generation models beyond ChatGPT.
    • If you’re not a fan of Apple’s much-hyped Liquid Glass user interface, there’s a new option to either keep the standard Liquid Glass appearance or switch to a Tinted mode, which slightly adjusts the visuals to improve contrast. On macOS, the visual changes are subtle, but they become more noticeable on iPadOS and iOS.
    • Apple has somewhat modified its Macintosh HD icon, removing the ports and holes that made it to macOS Tahoe 26.
    • The Apple TV app icon has been updated, hinting at Apple’s promised new, more vibrant design language alongside the Apple TV+ rebranding to simply Apple TV.

    As usual, the update can be located, downloaded, and installed by navigating to System Settings > General > Software Update.

    If you’ve had a chance to play around with the macOS Tahoe 26.1 update, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via 9to5Mac

  • Rumor: Apple to begin incorporating ads into Maps app “as early as next year”

    Rumor: Apple to begin incorporating ads into Maps app “as early as next year”

    You’re probably not going to love this.

    Following up on three years of speculation initially published by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is apparently moving closer on a plan to bring additional advertising to iOS. This could include Apple Books and Podcasts, he said, along with a cheaper tier of Apple TV streaming.

    Per the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, the first priority is Apple Maps, and Apple could begin introducing ads into the app “as early as next year.”

    The idea is that running a search for “restaurants” or “Mexican food” or “shoe repair” or whatever will produce the same list you currently see, organised according to Apple’s criteria of relevance, proximity, rating, and so on. More prominent slots at the top will be given over to paying advertisers, as is currently the case when searches are performed on the App Store.

    Gurman noted that Apple is likely to see pushback from customers when ads appear in Maps, as occurred when ads surfaced in the News and Stock apps back in 2022, and in other instances. Still, the pushback didn’t change Apple’s mind before, and it Apple may just plow ahead with the change either way.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via Macworld and Bloomberg