This fall, yourApple TVis getting more personal and connected with a sleek new design, stunning aerials, iPhone call alerts, upgraded FaceTime features, and a brand-new Games app. Follow along as we explore everything coming to your screen with the tvOS 26 update.
12A Glassy Design Overhaul
tvOS 26 brings a refreshed design via a new material Apple calls Liquid Glass. Don’t worry, Liquid Glass just updates the looks without changing functionality, so there’s nothing new to learn about navigating your Apple TV. The design changes are subtle rather than drastic, such as simulated light refractions around icon edges on the Home Screen, animated in real-time.
You’ll notice overall sheen and light reflections across the user interface elements, such as buttons and lists in built-in apps and third-party apps you download from the App Store.
tvOS 16 also makes heavy use of translucency to stimulate a glass-like material in places like the Control Center. This enables content to shine through even as you’re interacting with the various Control Center options, such as switching audio or choosing a scene preset.
The Liquid Glass interface is one of the two tentpole features of tvOS 26 that are limited to newer Apple TV hardware, the other one being the new iPhone karaoke mode.
You’ll need at least asecond-generation Apple TV 4K, released in April 2021, to enjoy Liquid Glass on the biggest screen in your home. Apple also released thethird-generation Apple TV 4Kin November 2022, but hasn’t updated it since. If you’re coming from the original Apple TV 4K or the fourth-generation Apple TV HD model, anupgrade indeed makes sense.
Not only will you get the Liquid Glass interface, but you will also enjoy a much zippier performance (especially in games), stream HDR10+ video which boosts peak brightness and preserves more detail in the highlights and shadows, charge the Siri Remote via USB-C, have a more reliable smart home experience with Thread support, as well asmake FaceTime calls and use Continuity Camera, among other perks.
If your budget is tight, consider the 2021 Apple TV to save some cash, as the differences between it and the latest 2022 model are marginal. However, you may want to hold off on a purchase because a new Apple TV 4K should drop later this year.
11iPhone Karaoke Mode
The tvOS 17 update, released in 2024, brought a karaoke feature to the Music app (also available on the iPhone and iPad) that allows you and friends to sing along to your favorite tunes with features like adjustable vocals and real-time lyrics. The Apple TV version of this feature even supports using an iPhone as a camera to see yourself singing karaoke on a TV for a truly immersive sing-along experience. tvOS 26 takes the karaoke feature to the next level by turning your iPhone into a wireless handheld microphone.
You can pair your and your friends' nearby iPhones to use as handheld microphones. The feature takes advantage of onboard microphones and algorithms that suppress background noise. It records audio and sends it to the Apple TV, which plays the vocals through the TV over the base music track. But that’s not all! The iPhone interface brings fun modulation effects to change your voice if you don’t like how it sounds. And everyone participating in the karaoke session can queue songs using their iPhones and react with emoji.
Using the iPhone as a microphone in karaoke mode requires the third-generation Apple TV 4K, released in 2022. Older Apple TVs only get the standard Apple Music Sing experience. Karaoke mode requires an Apple Music subscription.
To start a karaoke session, just play a song from the Apple Music catalog. Then, select the lyrics icon in the bottom-right corner and click the microphone button to start jamming. If you don’t see the microphone icon, karaoke mode is unavailable for that song.
10Lyric Translation and Pronunciation
The Music app on tvOS 26 can now translate beat-matched lyrics into your language in real-time. Aside from live translation, the lyrics even show pronunciation for supported tracks, which can be helpful when singing along to foreign songs. Moreover, the TV app (along with other built-in apps) rocks an updated look and menus thanks to Apple’s glassy design overhaul, as evidenced by the screenshots below.
As a matter of fact, lyric translation and pronunciation guides are also available in the Music app on the iPhone and iPad with Apple’s iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 software.
9An Overhauled TV App
The TV app now fits more content on the screen by switching to vertical artwork for shows and movies instead of horizontal, resulting in more items per row. Your Continue Watching queue now uses cards with text descriptions and playback progress. The app feels more immersive thanks to various Liquid Glass elements that refract and distort light. The video player has been tweaked with translucency and shimmering, glass-like effects.
Performing actions like fast-forwarding or rewinding, toggling subtitles, turning on the Enhance Dialog option, using the InSight feature, and more now feels more fluid because the scrubber appears naturally integrated into the video experience. And if you choose to display the new profile selector when your Apple TV wakes from sleep, everyone in your household will be able to quickly access their personalized recommendations in the app.
8A New User Profile Picker
In tvOS 18 and earlier, switching between user accounts on the Apple TV requires holding the TV button on the Siri Remote to open the Control Center. tvOS 26 presents you with a redesigned profile picker every time your Apple TV wakes from sleep. This makes sense as the Apple TV is a family device used by multiple members of your household.
Selecting the user profile automatically activates personalized viewing recommendations and Watchlist in the TV app and playlists in Apple Music for that account. You can toggle this feature in Settings > Users and Accounts > Profile Picker.
The feature works as advertised in the TV and Music apps, but third-party streaming apps must implement Apple’s new API to link logins to an Apple account. The idea here is that signing in with an Apple account when setting up a new Apple TV or switching user profiles should automatically sign you in to your favorite streaming apps, shows, and movies.
But before third-party streaming apps such as Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and others are updated with this functionality—which won’t happen until after tvOS 26 is publicly available in the fall—they won’t be able to react to profile switching. As a result, there’ll be an adjustment period before the new profile picker realizes its full potential. Also, developers are not obliged to implement the API, so some apps may never support this handy feature.
7New Aerials Captured Across India
tvOS 26 brings eight new aerial screen savers shot all across India, including in Goa and Kerala. These and other aerials are truly stunning, and you can activate them at any time by double-clicking the Home button on the Siri remote, like before. Then, swipe left and right to cycle through your aerials or swipe up to change the screen saver.
However, tvOS 26 also permits you to cherry-pick the aerials to include or exclude from the rotation, including landscape, cityscape, underwater, and Earth. To do so, venture into Settings > Screen Savers > Current Selection > Aerials > Choose Aerials.
6FaceTime Improvements
FaceTime has an updated layout to match Liquid Design changes in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions. It now shows prominent contact posters, and real-time live captions for calls are available in more languages (French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish).
5iPhone Call Notifications
Your Apple TV can display notifications for incoming FaceTime calls, including caller information. you’re able to also answer via your iPhone or HomePod right from the notification.
To enable this feature, navigate to Settings > Users and Accounts, select your account, and turn on the “Show Incoming Calls” setting. You can also manage this setting on your iPhone in Settings > Apps > Phone > Calls on Other Devices.
4AirPlay Speakers as Permanent Audio Output
You can already route Apple TV audio to your HomePod, but tvOS 26 improves upon this significantly by permitting you to set any AirPlay speaker as your permanent audio output. You could connect to AirPlay speakers before, but only as temporary audio outputs.
But now, your Apple TV remembers the AirPlay connection, so your speakers won’t disconnect when the Apple TV goes to sleep. As evidenced by the screenshot above, I set my MacBook Pro as a permanent AirPlay speaker for my Apple TV in Settings > Video and Audio > Audio Output.
3Single Sign-On for Streaming Apps
tvOS 26 will let you sign in to streaming apps on one device, like your iPhone, with access details automatically shared across your other devices, so you won’t have to re-enter usernames and passwords on your Apple TV, iPad, and other devices.
A big caveat here is that this feature requires developers to use Apple’s newAutomatic Sign-In API. Which is to say, a single sign-on experience won’t arrive until streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and others have been updated with this functionality.
