Apple has today officially made final version of tvOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1.1 available for download on all compatible Apple TV and Apple Watch devices.
The public availability for both platforms comes after a series of pre-release seeds were issued to registered developers for testing and feedback. Carry on reading below to see exactly what you can expect to find embedded in these two new releases, tvOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1.1, for Apple TV (fourth generation) and Apple Watch, respectively.
tvOS 10.1 for Apple TV (fourth-generation)
tvOS has been one of Apple’s fastest growing platforms when you consider that it has actually only been in existence for a single generation of hardware. This latest release, which makes tvOS 10.1 the latest firmware available for the platform, once again pushes what is possible with the set-top box, and introduces more new features into the living room on the fourth-generation Apple TV. One of the biggest introductions, which Apple has been teasing for a while, is the inclusion of Single Sign-on, allowing Apple TV owners to authenticate once and enjoy content from multiple services, such as Sling TV, DirecTV and GVTC Communications. Single-Sign on though is now also available on tvOS 10.0.x.
tvOS 10.1 also proudly ships sporting Apple’s new TV app, designed to work across tvOS and iOS to instantly make media recommendations to users based on their current and past browsing history. It’s not exactly a monolithic improvement to the platform, but definitely one worthy of an install, even if to get access to the new TV app that was proudly shown off during the recent “hello again” Mac event.
Apple TV owners are able to head on over to the software update mechanism (System > MAINTENANCE > Software Updates > Update Software) on the device right now and grab the latest tvOS 10.1 release as an over-the-air update.
watchOS 3.1.1 for Apple Watch
tvOS 10.1 may introduce a few outward-facing changes for users to sink their teeth into, but the same can’t be said for watchOS 3.1.1 for Apple Watch.
In fact, this is very much an incremental point update to the platform that looks to progressively streamline the watchOS experience on all available Apple Watch models. In fact, there’s actually very little going on with this latest Apple Watch firmware update, meaning that 3.1.1 is entirely about performance improvements and enhancements that should make the watchOS experience a much more pleasant one.
As is always the case, any Apple Watch owner, whether that be first-generation, or Series 1 or Series 2, is able to update to watchOS 3.1.1 right now via the accompanying Watch app on iPhone.
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