Apple tvOS 17: New Features, Improvements, Compatibility, And More...

Since Apple’s WWDC23, everyone’s talking about the all-new mixed reality headset – Apple Vision Pro – that is going to launch next year. However, the WWDC saw announcements of multiple operating system updates too, which got a bit sublimed due to the “One More Thing”. But, being the curious streamers ourselves, our eyes got stuck to Apple tvOS 17 – the updated version of tvOS, the OS that runs Apple TV.

For those of you who are currently using tvOS 16, let us clarify beforehand that tvOS 17 is a minor update, not a major update. So, the base operations remain the same. However, some new (and rather additional) features like the FaceTime App, third-party VPN support, find your remote feature, a revamped and improved control center, and others. We will talk about all these and more in this blog.

tvOS 17 is the latest update for its operating system tvOS designed specifically for Apple TV media box and other streaming ecosystem devices of Apple. It is an upgraded version of Apple tvOS 16, which currently runs on the Apple TV ecosystem.

Now, for those not familiar with Apple TV, it is a smart set-top box that lets you stream content from multiple streaming platforms like Apple TV+, Netflix, Hulu, and others on your TV, even if your TV is not a smart TV.

You just need to connect the Apple TV Box to your TV through either HDMI or Bluetooth and then access everything that Apple TV has to deliver. The Apple TV will use your home WiFi connectivity to stream content from the internet and different streaming platforms.

You will even get the Siri Remote to control its operations. You can read our blog What is Apple TV to know more about the functioning and features of Apple TV.

Now coming back to tvOS 17, there are no major changes when it comes to the overall functionality of Apple TV. Rather, it is more of an add-on, that brings in some cool features and apps to the already well-structured tvOS 16.

Apple TV – tvOS 17 comes with many small performance improvements, along with four major talking points. Let’s take you through them one by one.

If you are familiar with FaceTime, then you might be surprised to know that tvOS 17 will be supporting FaceTime! That too, is for the first time in the Apple TV ecosystem. So, now you can enjoy your FaceTime calls on a larger screen, and hence experience more life-like interactions.

But, now you must be thinking, what about the camera? Because video calls are not possible without a camera, and Apple TV (or at least the current versions of it) does not have a camera yet. Actually, Apple is using the Continuity Camera technology here.

Continuity camera is a technology where any Apple device can “Borrow” or “Use” any other Apple device’s camera. Let’s say, you can use your iPhone camera to make or join FaceTime calls on your Apple TV. And it is not restricted to iPhones only. Actually, the FaceTime app will search for any nearby device which has a camera in it, and then use that to let you