Apple TV speculation — fall edition

Post-event update: We nailed it (pretty much)

Update: As a follow up from Wednesday’s event, we’ve updated this post to comment on each prediction.

The TL;DR is that, with this update, Apple has reasserted itself at the top of the TV streaming device food chain. And it’s now in the game console market. Without wanting to sound too gushy, it was pretty much everything we’d hoped for :-)

At Axonista, we’ve already started work on updating some of our apps to work on tvOS and we can’t wait to get our hands on an actual device. Apple is giving developers a chance to get a head start with an option to get hold of the device before the public launch and we have our fingers crossed that we get one.

After June’s spectacular let down, rumors once again abound of an update to Apple’s “hobby” device at its press event next Wednesday. Here at Rerun, our hopeful smiles from June have been replaced with folded arms and tapping feet, but we genuinely believe we’ll see something this time.

While the subscription TV content service has once again been punted months into the future, we believe that Apple has lost so much ground to competitors that at this point, it really has to ship new hardware or go home.

While there are several things we’ll likely not get in the first iteration of an updated Apple TV (4k support for example), here’s a roundup from our grapevine along with a couple of our own observations of what we do expect to see on Wednesday.

Update: We were not let down by our friends from Cupertino. We were right about the lack of 4k support, but the update we’re getting more than makes up for that.

App Store

This is the real money shot. This is effectively the single feature that, if done right, could catapult Apple TV firmly back into the lead, past all of the other devices that have begun to really pull ahead. Even Amazon’s Fire TV is now selling more than Apple TV.

Currently Apple selects which TV apps make it onto the platform and all of these apps are built using the same clunky, dated templates. An App Store loaded with games and unlimited video and TV options, crafted by the legion of iOS designers and developers hungry to get started on a more open Apple TV would instantly set it apart from the competition.

Update: Yes !

With the addition of games and a lifting of the restriction on TV and video apps, a content explosion is set to come to Apple TV. We can’t wait to see what our fellow designers and developers bring to the device.

The first looks (especially MLB’s At Bat) are interesting and we can see a unique style beginning to form. We’re delighted to see the break away from the dated looking cookie cutter templates that have been used for pretty much all ATV apps up to now.

Of course, with an open App Store, comes the potential for a flood of second rate apps, so we’re hoping that the discovery piece of the puzzle is done very well. Time will tell on this one…

In order to get there, they will need our second item…

Full Developer SDK

For app developers, like the iOS team at Axonista, this is an unbearably juicy prospect. Apple TV will be an entirely new category of device for designers and developers alike to come to terms with. A variable sized display that will typically be anything from 8 to 20 feet from the user and controlled by whatever update comes to the very minimal Apple remote is not something that most app developers will be used to.

By announcing an SDK earlier in the year, as we had originally predicted, Apple would be able to launch the device next week with a well stocked App Store. No doubt there will be some launch titles, but without having given the wider developer community the lead time to build anything, it will be some time before there’s a critical mass of apps to really make the Store a killer day-one feature.

For this reason, we’re wondering if Apple will announce the SDK and simulator on Wednesday, but not release the device (or possibly just not release the App Store) until later in the year.

Update: tvOS — so much yes !

We’ve been waiting for this since AppleTV first launched and now it’s finally here. We’ve already had customers on the phone asking about porting iOS apps to Apple TV and we’ve begun the R&D process to make those requests happen.

All we need now is an actual device to test on, but we were right in our prediction about the device being made public later in the year. Thankfully Apple is making a limited number of devices available to developers right now and we have our name down — and our fingers crossed !

Game controllers

With a full App Store comes games. And with games + TV comes the potential for Apple to compete in the console market with Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. This means proper game controller support.

Game controller support on a TV-oriented device also brings forward the possibility for TV content with audience interaction at its core. Of course at Axonista, we have something up our sleeve for this eventuality that we can’t wait to share :-)

If only Apple was getting into original TV content. Oh wait.

Update: Check !

The new remote itself doubles as a game controller, and with gesture recognition, could be just as capable a device as Nintendo’s Wiimote. But real gamers need real controllers with dual analog sticks and tons of buttons.

MFi, Apple’s connectivity standard has meant that game controller support has been available for Apple devices for years, but none represents as clear and obvious home as the new Apple TV.

From Ars:

“The Nimbus and other MFi controllers work with nearly 800 existing iOS games, all of which should be relatively simple to port to the Apple TV as Universal apps with full controller support. That list includes some well-known names, too, from Angry Birds Go and Asphalt 8 to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreasand Lego Star Wars. If even a small proportion of these titles get Apple TV support, it will represent a very decent lineup of legacy titles for a new console launch.”

Nice.

Revamped UI

The Apple TV user interface has had only minor, barely noticeable, updates since day one. It was fine for just a small number of tasks, but with the addition of dozens of TV and video apps, it’s become an unruly mess.

We’d love to see a completely fresh, revamped UI, but we’d settle for folders. OK, and better hierarchy organization… and improved overall navigation… and a rethink of content discovery… and don’t just jam all the new stuff onto the home screen.

Actually, come to think of it, we’ll settle for nothing less than a completely fresh, revamped UI.

Update: Until we get a device in our hands the jury is still out on this one. At first glance it just looks like a spruced up version of the old layout, but a journey through Apple’s UI guidelines shows that they’ve definitely expanded the UI in nice ways, while also adding some trademark Apple polish and animation. And of course now developers have the freedom to implement their own designs.

The biggest difference is Siri, which you now sense is ever present and just waiting to be called upon. It can search globally across all your apps which will make hunting and pecking through menus a thing of the past.

As for folders, we’ll wait and see. The Siri integration, powerful search and improved remote may have removed any need for them.

New remote

There’s such a thing as too minimal and Apple’s TV remote is too minimal.

Update: Yup !

It seems like Apple has agreed with our take that the current remote is too minimal. Not only did they add more buttons, they added a touch area that covers about a third of the remote’s surface. It now features dedicated buttons for features like Siri and it separates out functions like Home and Menu. The touch area uses Apple’s new 3D touch technology, and the entire remote can be turned on its side to act as a game controller. All-in-all, they’ve made it simpler to use and also a lot more useful.

Siri

We’re pretty sure that the new Apple TV will feature Siri voice control and, while there is some obvious low hanging fruit here around using commands like ‘Siri, fast forward’ and ‘Siri menu’, there are some less obvious but far more exciting uses to consider.

For example ‘Siri, what should I watch tonight?’. Maybe Siri might ask us what mood we’re in when we arrive home and start presenting options from all available sources. We could filter and refine the options through natural language conversation.

“Nah, I’m not into Tom Cruise right now…”

“Ooh, deadly viruses wiping out the world sounds interesting…”

“Hmm, ‘Quarantine’ ? … Tell me more about that one…”

Update: Another big yes from us !

We were thrilled when we heard the words ‘Siri, show me something new’ opening the Apple TV presentation. And delighted when we saw Siri automatically rewinding back a few seconds and displaying captioned subtitles temporarily when asked ‘What did she say?’. Though we were gutted to see that Siri will be restricted to just 8 countries at launch — hopefully that’s rectified very quickly.

Natural language conversations with Siri were even more specific than we predicted for example “show me Modern Family episodes with Edward Norton”.

With Siri working this well — and continuing to improve all the time — the discovery challenge should become a little easier.

Apple Music

The new Apple Music app is notably absent from the current Apple TV device and we’re expecting to see it included as part of the revamp. Bringing the Beats Radio service to TV as a 24 x 7 live stream from the studio seems like a great starting point.

Using the insight gained from family sharing, Apple Music playlists could be tailored to the musical tastes of combinations of family members present in a household at any given time.

Experience in recommendation, curation and audience measurement that’s gained via the Music service could inform the TV service coming next year.

Update: It’s here, but right now it still feels like an MVP.

The Apple Music app has the same features as its siblings on iOS and Macs — access to your own music library, personalized playlists, Beats 1 Radio, and 30 million songs. But we were hoping for something more video-based to make Beats Radio more at home on TV.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this one — it has so much potential.

New name ?

Apple has a history of renaming products when the old name becomes too narrow (iPhone OS -> iOS, Passbook -> Wallet). Perhaps an updated device with games, music and home automation warrants such a name change.

Apple Home anyone ?

Apple Core ?

We’ll get our coat.

Update: we always knew that this would be a long shot, but while Apple didn’t rename the device itself, we do get a new name in the operating system: tvOS.

And since we’re scoring this ourselves, we’ll chalk this up as another win :-)

Can’t wait !

As is always the case for these events, the Axonista Screening Room will be packed with Apple nerds and, with a start time of 6pm in Dublin, we’ll be watching with beer and popcorn — hopefully the last time we’ll be doing so on the current v3 Apple TV.

Whatever happens on Wednesday, as usual, we can’t wait !

Update: in summary, we were not let down by this update — and as makers of TV and video apps, this was one of the most exciting Apple events for us in years. Now to stop writing and get back to the SDK … thanks for reading !