Apple and its surrounding enthusiast community are gearing up for WWDC in a little over a week, and I’d like to stake my claim as The Only Person On The Internet That Cares About tvOS.

 

Firstly, I’ll take a being-right-point from my previous post about what they should do with custom video players on the platform, as John Gruber at Daring Fireball recently posted about how terrible some of the custom video players are on tvOS.

 

Secondly, essentially everything I wrote about remains true, with the exception that evidently there is already a way to connect Apple TV profiles to profiles within apps. Its just that no apps use this feature. I’m not sure whether or not its onerous, or there just isn’t demand for it. In any case, Apple should make it easier for developers to use, and then enforce it!

 

The one new thing to add to my list came across my radar as I’ve been looking at some indoor smart-bikes for services like Rouvy and Zwift. Evidently Apple TVs only support 2 bluetooth connections at time, so this industry has found a market in what are essentially bluetooth relays that can package data from multiple sensors on the bike (cadence, power, heart rate, etc), and feed it to the Apple TV in a single bluetooth connection. Apple should fix this. What an embarrassment for a $129 device.

I love my Apple TV. It’s better than any smart TV interface, or any Roku I’ve used while traveling or visiting friends. However, it seems that Apple has let the platform stagnate over last three years or so, in part, I’m sure, because they have effectively zero competition. I’d like to see Apple care about this product, like its fans do. If Apple really cared about this product, these are the sorts of things they’d be working on.

1) Connect Apple TV Profiles to Profiles within apps

My Apple TV has three user accounts: one for me, one for my wife, and one for my child. My Netflix App has three use accounts: one for me, one for my wife, and one for my child. My HBO app has three profile: one for me, one for my wife, and one for my child. Are you getting it yet? Have Netflix just know which account to go to based on the Apple TV user. I am sure there are going to be examples where there is an app Profile that isn’t represented in the Apple TV and vice versa. Thats fine, but allow me to connect them to one another.

 

2) Disallow custom video players

It seems that every app has a custom video player, and they are all crap. Disney+’s is terrible, HBOs is terrible, Amazon Prime’s is terrible, and the list goes on. The video player in the Apple TV app for Apple TV+ and iTunes purchases is genuinely good! Third party video players often don’t use system features, like “reduce loud sounds”, and imagine how great SharePlay could be if there was system-level integration from the control center all the way down to the video player. People might actually use it! Now, perhaps Apple needs to build in some APIs so that third parties can build in their own proprietary features, like Amazon’s X-ray, or YouTube’s pause-screen ads. Apple needs to listen to these developers as to why they’re not using the default.  It’ll be the platform better for everyone.

 

3) Add widgets

Why not? Weather, family calendar, things like this. They’d be great. Make them show data from users iPhones, like the Mac does, and like the rumored HomePod with a screen is rumored to work. 

 

4) Provide major changes to Up Next

Up Next used to be the primary thing when you launched the Apple TV app, and it displayed a great poster for the item listed. In the last 3-4 years, Apple moved to an auto-playing trailer for the latest thing they’re Promoting from Apple TV+. This is bad! I already paid $200 for this hardware. Let it serve me first, and let you advertise Apple TV+, which I also already pay for, second.

 

I have a few other ideas regarding Up Next that I’m going to just quick-fire below:

 

a) Separate out TV shows from Movies.

b) Allow me to create folders in Up Next. Imagine having easy watching shows separated from hard-hitting dramas, or scary movies from fun comedies, so that when October comes around, I know what are the best movies to watch get me in the season.

c) Allow for shared users for an up next list. This way my wife can keep track of what we’re watching with us, with our, kid, and we can separately track lists of what we’re watching separately

 

5) Netflix support in the Apple TV app

We know they built it, and they’re just waiting for… something. Just pay them. Pay them what they want, get them in the ecosystem. Again, this will make it better for everyone.

 

6) Better support for sports

Apple has done a great job with MLS support in the Apple TV app. For instance, if you’re late to a match, it can play a highlight reel catching you up. Thats great! Do it for other sports! Open it up! Apple heavily promoted the F1 app for their F1 movie this summer. Add Practices, and qualifying to my Up Next! Do the same thing for Formula E, and IndyCar

 

7) Add in Shortcuts

This would be great for Home automation. I’m not sure what else you’d do with it, but why not? Could be fun.