The App Store in iOS will now automatically play video previews of apps while you navigate through the App Store on an iPhone or iPad. These video previews can offer a helpful look into what an app does or may look like, but they can also be distracting, cause battery to drain faster than otherwise, lead to unintentional bandwidth and data usage, and be annoying if you’re not inclined to enjoy automatically playing videos of iOS apps you may or may not have any interest in.
Users can disable video auto-playing in the iOS App Store by adjusting the appropriate settings on their iPhone or iPad.
Be aware the App Store video auto-play feature is available in iOS 11 or newer, as is the ability to turn off video autoplay in the App Store. If your device is on an older version this will not be relevant to you.
How to Turn Off Video AutoPlay on the App Store in iOS
Open the “Settings” app on the iPhone or iPad and locate ‘iTunes & App Store’
Tap on “Video Autoplay”
From the available settings options chose “Off” to disable Video Auto-Play
You’ll notice there is also an option to have video autoplay limited to wi-fi only, which may be a reasonable setting option for some iPhone or iPad users if they like the autoplaying videos but don’t want them to consume their cellular bandwidth.
A little notice under the video autoplay settings for the App Store also mentions that “autoplay will temporarily turn off if you have low battery or a slow internet connection” which may make some iPhone and iPad owners happy, but for others they’ll still want to disable the video autoplaying feature entirely.
If you don’t like video autoplay in general you might also be interested in turning off similar autoplay features elsewhere, you can turn off autoplay in Twitter for iOS, stop Facebook autoplaying audio in iOS, stop YouTube autoplay, or even stopping autoplay video in Safari on a Mac and stopping iPhone autoplay music over Bluetooth too are options. Whether you love or loathe autoplaying of video or sound likely depends on user preference, but fortunately most of the time those features can be adjusted to accommodate for what each person sees fit for their individual device usage.
Of course, if you decide you regret turning off video autoplay for the App Store, you can return to the settings and adjust as necessary to get the feature back again.
With iOS 11, the new Control Center toggles for turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth do not actually turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on an iPhone or iPad. Instead, if you hit the buttons for disabling Wi-Fi or Bluetooth in Control Center, the iPhone or iPad will disconnect from wi-fi or Bluetooth, but not actually turn off those wireless services on the iPhone or iPad. This can cause some confusion for obvious reasons, and many users are left wondering why wi-fi or Bluetooth is not actually turned off on their devices, or how to turn off wi-fi or Bluetooth in iOS 11 completely.
You can still turn off wi-fi and disable Bluetooth on an iPhone or iPad with iOS 11, but rather than use Control Center to turn the wireless features off, you must go to the Settings app to disable either.
To be clear, turning “off” Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in Control Center simply disconnects the iPhone or iPad from wi-fi or Bluetooth. For example, if you hit the wi-fi off button in Control Center, it actually just disconnects from the current wi-fi router, but the wi-fi service remains active on the device. Similarly, if you hit the Bluetooth “off” button in Control Center, it only disconnects any connected Bluetooth device (like a keyboard or Apple Watch), and does not actually turn off the Bluetooth service on the iPhone or iPad. This is different from how Control Center worked in past versions of iOS, where hitting the toggle buttons would actually disable the service rather than simply disconnect from connected devices.
How to Disable Wi-Fi in iOS 11 on iPhone or iPad
Because the toggles in Control Center no longer turn off wi-fi or Bluetooth, you will instead need to turn to the Settings app to disable these services:
Open the “Settings” app
Near the top of the settings options choose “Wi-Fi” and flip the switch to the OFF position to completely disable wi-fi on the iPhone or iPad
How to Disable Bluetooth in iOS 11 on iPad or iPhone
Open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad
In Settings choose “Bluetooth” and flip the switch to the OFF position to completely disable Bluetooth on the iPhone or iPad
Note that the AirPlay mode option in Control Center continues to work to disable both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but AirPlay mode also turns off the cellular capabilities of the device, thereby taking it completely offline.
Remember, the wi-fi and Bluetooth toggles in Control Center for iOS 11 disconnects only, it does not turn off wi-fi or Bluetooth. To actually turn off wi-fi or Bluetooth now, you must go to the Settings app instead. The wi-fi settings section still allows you to forget wi-fi networksand perform other similar more advanced options as well.
In some ways this change is a feature improvement because now there is an easy way to disconnect from wi-fi or Bluetooth without disabling those services, this can make it slightly easier to join a hidden wi-fi network from an iOS device for example, particularly if your device is auto-joining another network, but the change in Control Center button behavior can lead to some confusion if the new behavior is not understood.
This isn’t the only change brought to the totally redesigned Control Center of iOS 11, and there are some other feature adjustments that take some getting used to as well, like accessing the Night Shift toggle in Control Center of iOS 11. Fortunately much of Control Center in iOS is now customizable via the Settings app too, so it’s possible that future versions of the operating system will unveil new button toggles to have these functions more directly.
Keeping apps updated on an iPhone and iPad is generally a good idea, as app updates frequently include bug fixes, performance improvements, enhancements to compatibility, or even entirely new features to apps and games. iOS users can update apps by opening the App Store and going to the “Updates” tab, but sometimes an update may not show up despite being available either on other devices or to other users. The solution to such a situation is to refresh the Updates section and check for new app updates available
You can refresh the Updates section of the App Store on an iPhone or iPad, though how you refresh the Updates tab in the App Store has changed in the latest versions of iOS 11 compared to prior versions. The good news is the change is for the better, and checking for new updates to the App Store is better and easier than before.
How to Check for Updates in the App Store for iOS 11
Want to see if new app updates are available in iOS 11 App Store? You can use a nice little gesture to force the App Store Updates tab to refresh, here’s how this works:
Open the App Store in iOS as usual by tapping on the icon on your Home Screen
Go to the “Updates” section of App Store
Tap near the top of the screen near the ‘Updates’ text, then hold and pull down, then release
When the spinning wait cursor finishes spinning, any new app updates will appear
Once the Updates section has refreshed, you can find additional updates if they’re available, and the little badge indicator on both the Updates tab and the App Store icon will update accordingly as well.
As usual, you can update all existing apps that have new versions available by tapping on the “Update All” section, or by individually updating each app as desired.
This “pull down and release to refresh” gesture now introduced into the App Store is actually the same in various other iOS apps. In fact, this is the same pull gesture that will check for new email in Mail for iOS, though many users seem to not know about that capability either.
Keep in mind that prior versions of iOS App Store used either a series of quirky tricks, or a repeated tap of the Updates tab trick to refresh the App Store, so ultimately the change with the latest versions of iOS 11 are a notable improvement. Meanwhile on Mac OS, the Mac App Store can be refreshed via a keyboard shortcut that has remained the same since the introduction of the App Store on the Mac.
You may have heard that Apple‘s first LTE-enabled Apple Watch was having issues with unsecured Wi-Fi networks, which prevented the smartwatch from using its LTE connection. When out of known Wi-Fi coverage the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE would latch onto public networks that require a browser sign-in to work. Given that the watch lacks a browser it would connect to the network but not have internet.
Now Apple has fixed the issue in its latest watchOS update – watchOS 4.0.1.
All you need to do in order to get the fix is download iOS 11.0.2 on your iPhone and then update the Apple Watch Series 3.
It’s been an unusually bumpy introduction for the cellular Apple Watch. Outside of the aforementioned issues users in the UK have reported difficulties activating the eSIM in the new Apple Watch.
Here’s hoping it’s smooth sailing from here on out.
In another place and another time, the Apple iPhone 8 Plus would have been one of the hottest things around. Swathed in hype, causing a stir, bringing the free ride of the competition’s flagships to an abrupt and painful halt.
This turbo-powered, glass-clad, sharp-shooting and fast-charging piece of a smartphone classic seems to have everything. Except… time. No, it’s not going anywhere. It’s just that its days as one of the hottest things around are numbered. Now, we’re sure you know what we mean, so let’s slow down and start over. Time isn’t always a luxury – just don’t tell this to an iPhone 8 Plus.
The 8 series is about to leave generations of iPhones behind. It’s been ten years of refining the visionary iPhone. We saw it grow bigger, better, more durable, more powerful. Apple kept adding more screen real estate, more processing power and advanced camera features. In spite of all novelties, the iPhone essence was always there, underneath the fancy add-ons. Now, that’s about to change.
Apple isn’t just on the verge of breaking clean from the past. The future has already begun with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. But it doesn’t belong to them.
Back to the here and now, the Apple iPhone 8 Plus comes across as the usual incremental upgrade. The 8 Plus gets to keep its overall styling but swaps aluminum for glass and finally gets wireless charging. The new A11 Bionic chipset boasts an extra two power-efficient cores and, for the first time ever, an in-house GPU. Then the base iPhone storage has been doubled and now starts at 64GB.
Browsing the camera specs leave the wrong impression of copy and paste from the iPhone 7 Plus, when in fact both of the dual 12MP sensors have bigger pixels, backed by a superior flash and an exclusive new Portrait Lightning mode, which hopes to make the portrait shots look even better.
Finally, the screen size and resolution might be the same, but Apple has added HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, as well as iPad’s True Tone color adjustment for life-like color presentation.
Apple iPhone 8 Plus key features
Body: Aluminum 7000 frame, reinforced glass front and rear, IP67 certified for water and dust resistance. Gold, Space Gray, and Silver color options.
Screen: 5.5″ 16M-color LED-backlit IPS LCD screen of 1080p resolution, 401ppi, HDR10 and Dolby Vision support. True Tone adjustment via four-channel ambient light sensor, wide color gamut, 3D Touch
OS: Apple iOS 11
Chipset: Hexa-core (2 Monsoon + 4 Mistral) 2.09GHz Apple CPU, tri-core Apple GPU, 3GB of RAM, Apple A11 Bionic SoC
Camera: Dual 12MP camera: wide-angle F/1.8 + telephoto F/2.8, live bokeh effects (including Portrait mode and Portrait Lightning), optical image stabilization, 2x lossless zoom, quad-LED flash with slow sync, phase detection auto focus, wide color capture
Video recording: 2160p@60/30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps video recording
Selfie: 7MP F/2.2 front-facing camera with BSI sensor and HDR mode, 1080p@30fps video
Storage: 64GB or 256GB of built-in storage
Connectivity: 4G LTE Cat.16 (1Gbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 5.0; Lightning port; GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS; NFC (Apple Pay and for the first time for NFC tag reading too)
Misc: Stereo speakers, Pressure-sensitive Home key with fingerprint scanner, Taptic Engine
Main shortcomings
Design is getting long in the tooth now being used for the fourth year in a row
Big screen bezels (soon to look even bigger in comparison to the iPhone X)
No 3.5mm audio jack (ships with a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter)
No microSD slot
iTunes is still required for manual music upload
No fast charger provided in the box (and the optional one is expensive)
Video camera still recording mono audio only
Indeed, the iPhone 8 Plus seems like a regular update but with the right touches in the right places. The screen bezels are here to stay but probably for the last time. The audio jack is already a goner, that’s for sure, while memory expansion was never meant to be.
Some may still have gripes with the over-reliance on the iTunes software for music transfer to the phone, but in times of Apple Music, Spotify, Google Music, and Groove – we think this is another issue we mention one last time.
The iPhone 8 Plus is fresh off the assembly lines, but the iPhone X is just around the corner, while the iPhone 7 Plus is still relevant and cheaper.
Decisions… Is the upgrade worth it? Is a switch worth it? Should I wait? The choice has never been harder, but the answers start rolling right after the break.
Just a week after iOS 11 was launched to the public, Apple has quickly followed up with iOS 11.0.1, a small update intended to address bugs and fix various issues with the software.
Release notes accompanying iOS 11.0.1 simply state that the update “includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone or iPad.”
There are two builds of the software: 15A402 for current iPhones and iPads, and build 15A403 for the forthcoming iPhone X.
iOS 11 includes a new voice for Siri, as well as the ARKit tools that developers can use to create advanced augmented reality applications. It also boasts a redesigned App Store, and various features like Do Not Disturb While Driving and a revamped Music app.
On the iPad, iOS 11 brings an all-new app dock that can be used for multitasking and app switching, as well as dragging and dropping files in between applications.
iOS 11 is compatible with the iPhone 5s and newer, the iPad 2 and up, the iPad Air and newer, and all iPad Pros. It is also compatible with the sixth-generation iPod touch.
macOS High Sierra brings powerful, new core storage, video and graphics technologies to the Mac.
Apple today announced macOS High Sierra, the latest release of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, is now available as a free update.
With macOS High Sierra, Mac users gain powerful new core storage, video and graphics technologies. A new file system ensures more efficient and reliable storage, and support for High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) brings stunning 4K video at lower file sizes. Metal 2 powers virtual reality content creation, faster performance and more. The Core ML developer framework makes it easy to create apps with powerful machine learning that predict, learn and become more intelligent. macOS High Sierra also includes a number of refinements to the apps Mac users enjoy everyday, including Photos and Safari.
An all-new file system makes common operations such as copying files and directories nearly instantaneous.
“macOS High Sierra is an important update that makes the Mac more capable and responsive, while laying the foundation for future innovations,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “High Sierra introduces new technologies for VR, high-efficiency video streaming, advances in storage technology and more, while apps such as Photos, Safari, Mail and Notes are refined to give users even more reasons to love their Mac.”
New features in macOS High Sierra:
Apple File System (APFS)
APFS is a new, advanced storage architecture providing an extensible foundation to support new features and future storage technologies on the Mac.
APFS brings support for the latest high-capacity storage devices and delivers enhanced performance, security and reliability.
With APFS, common operations such as copying files and directories are nearly instantaneous.
Data is protected from power outages and system crashes thanks to advanced data integrity features.
APFS currently supports every Mac with all‑flash internal storage — support for Fusion and HDD Mac systems will be available in a future update.
High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Support
HEVC, a new video standard, enables 4K video streaming while requiring 40 percent less storage space.
HEVC (H.265) is a new industry standard that enables extremely efficient compression, streaming and playback of video.
HEVC enables users to watch 4K video files at full quality, while requiring 40 percent less storage space than the current H.264 standard.1
With HEVC, Apple is enabling high-quality 4K video streaming on networks where only HD streaming was previously possible.2
Hardware acceleration on the new iMac and MacBook Pro delivers incredibly fast and power-efficient HEVC encoding and playback.
Developers like Adobe, Blackmagic Design, GoPro and more are joining Apple in adopting HEVC.
Metal 2
Metal 2, Apple’s advanced graphics technology, enables machine learning, computer vision and more.
Metal is Apple’s advanced graphics technology and the fastest, most efficient way to tap into GPU power on the Mac.
Metal 2 supports next-generation experiences like machine learning used in speech recognition, natural language processing and computer vision.
Metal 2 features a refined API and improved performance that’s helping developers, including Unity, Epic, Valve, Pixelmator and more, accelerate their future apps.
With the combination of Thunderbolt 3 and Metal 2, the most demanding Mac users can now access powerful external GPUs.
Core ML
With Core ML, Apple brings the power of machine learning to all Apple developers, enabling the creation of entirely new kinds of apps.
Core ML takes full advantage of Metal and Accelerate, delivering incredible power, speed and efficiency to machine learning operations such as computer vision, natural language and support for convolutional and recurrent neural networks.
All of the computation and processing driven through Core ML is done on-device in a way that respects customers’ data and privacy.
Developers are already using Core ML to enhance apps like Pixelmator Pro, which uses machine learning to detect and understand various features within images and create intelligent editing solutions.
Virtual Reality Support
macOS High Sierra now supports VR content creation on the Mac.
macOS High Sierra adds support for VR content creation for the first time, enabling developers to create immersive gaming, 3D and VR content on the Mac.
Leading VR companies are working with Apple to drive VR innovation on the Mac with features coming later this year.
Valve is optimizing its SteamVR platform for macOS and enabling connection of the HTC Vive headset, while Unity and Epic are bringing their VR development tools to macOS.
Later this year, Final Cut Pro X will add support for professional 360-degree VR workflows with the ability to import, edit and export 360-degree video on the Mac.
Photos Update
Photos gets a significant update with a revamped UI, new editing tools and useful third-party integrations.
An updated, always-on sidebar and new filtering and selection tools make photo organization quick and easy.
A refreshed editing UI includes powerful new editing tools like Curves, for fine-tuning contrast, and Selective Color, for making adjustments to a specific color range.
Live Photos can now be edited with fun effects, like Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure, and users can also choose a different key photo.
Third-party editors like Photoshop, Pixelmator and other apps can be launched from Photos, with edits saved back to the Photos library.
Support for third-party project extensions provides access to printing and publishing services from Shutterfly, WhiteWall, Wix, ifolor, Mimeo and Mpix from right within the app.
macOS High Sierra brings refinements to everyday Mac apps, including Siri, Safari, Notes and more.
Additional app refinements:
Safari stops media with audio from automatically playing in the browser, and Reader can automatically open articles in a clean, uncluttered format.
Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari detects and eliminates cookies and other data used by advertisers for cross-site tracking, to help keep a user’s browsing private.
Siri on the Mac responds with a more natural voice and learns music preferences, creates custom playlists and answers music trivia when using Apple Music.
Touch Bar on MacBook Pro gets new Control Strip options plus an improved color picker and more video controls.
Notes adds simple tables, allowing a user to type in cells, make edits and move rows and columns.
Spotlight provides flight status information, including departure and arrival times, delays, gates, terminals and even a map of the flight path.
Touch Bar on MacBook Pro gets even more Control Strip options.
Pricing and Availability
macOS High Sierra is available as a free update starting today from the Mac App Store. macOS High Sierra supports all Macs introduced in late 2009 or later. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. For more information, visit: apple.com/macos/high-sierra.
There has been a swath of frustration spreading through the community of iPhone and iPad users. All across social media, and especially on this Reddit thread, there have been complaints about apps taking tens of seconds to open all together in iOS 11.
” Ever since I upgraded, launching apps is an absolute chore. Safari, Reddit, ESPN, Yahoo, texts, etc all have a terrible time opening. They either crash back to home, freeze and require closing the app or take well over a minute to load. I never had a single issue with my 7+ before last night and now suddenly it’s like this phone is stuck in quicksand. I’ve never had to hard reset this phone before but I’ve had to do it twice in the past two days.
Is anyone else experiencing this? Or is there a fix? “— /u/leejoness
343 comments followed with many of them agreeing that there has been trouble had with the update, if not in slowness then with UI functionality for apps.
One fix? Go back to iOS 10.3.3 and let things sort themselves out for a while.
Deactivate “Find My iPhone.” It is under the iCloud section of the settings.
Connect your device to your computer and make sure the latest version of iTunes is installed.
Force Restart your device and enter into Device Firmware Update mode:
For the iPhone 7 and later, hold the Volume Down and Sleep/Wake buttons for 10 seconds, then let go of the Sleep/Wake button and continue to hold the Volume Down.
For the iPhone 6s and earlier, hold the Sleep/Wake button and Home buttons for 8 seconds, then just the Home button for another several seconds.
If iTunes pops up a prompt saying that it has detected a device in recovery mode, click OK.
Or, take it from our Editor-in-Chief, Anton D. Nagy.
While most users should update to iOS 11 using the standard software update mechanisms within Settings app or iTunes, another more technical option is available that utilizes device-specific firmware (IPSW) to install iOS 11 onto an iPhone or iPad.
In general, usingIPSW to update iOS system software is considered advanced and is therefore only appropriate for more technically competent individuals. Nonetheless, it’s not terribly complicated and just about anyone can perform the procedure should they need to, if they follow instructions properly.
Why use IPSW to install iOS 11?
It’s important to point out that most users should just update to iOS 11 using the usual Software Update approach detailed here. But for those who use firmware, the primary reasons most individuals may use IPSW to install any new iOS versions are:
Storage considerations: You can update a storage constrained device since the firmware is not downloaded to the iPhone or iPad as it is through the Settings OTA method
Bandwidth considerations: You can download an IPSW file once from anywhere (either with higher speed internet access, or without a bandwidth cap) and then use the IPSW file to update
Updating multiple same devices: You can multiple devices compatible with the same firmware file with a single firmware, thus preventing the need to re-download the update. For example, if your household as three iPhone 7 Plus devices, a single IPSW can be used to update all three
Troubleshooting bricked devices: if an iPhone or iPad fails to properly install iOS 11 or the device is in an unusable state brought on by a failed software update (often referred to as being “bricked” because it is inoperable), you can often restore a device with IPSW via Recovery or DFU mode
There are other reasons to use IPSW as well, but we’ll assume if you’re going the route of installing iOS 11 via firmware then you already know why you’re doing so and have a compelling reason to proceed.
Updating to iOS 11 Manually with Firmware and iTunes
This walkthrough demonstrates using IPSW firmware files for updating an iPhone or iPad to iOS 11 that is operating as usual. Note that you can also use IPSW files when a device is in recovery mode or DFU mode if need be, but that is not specifically covered here.
Back up the iPhone or iPad before beginning, do not skip a device backup otherwise you may suffer permanent data loss
Download the iOS 11 IPSW file corresponding to the device you wish to update, and save it somewhere easy to find like the desktop
Launch iTunes and connect the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the computer using a USB cable
Select the device in iTunes by clicking the little device icon in the iTunes
Select the IPSW firmware file by performing the following in iTunes:
Mac: OPTION + Click on the “Update” button in iTunes
Windows: SHIFT + Click on the ‘Update’ button in iTunes
Locate and select the IPSW file you downloaded earlier
Confirm that you want to install iOS 11 by choosing ‘Update’ when requested
Let iTunes update and install iOS 11 on the device
When completed, the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will reboot with iOS 11 successfully installed.
Regardless of whether you update to iOS 11 using IPSW as shown here, or using the simpler traditional software update methods in Settings or through iTunes, the device will be on iOS 11 and ready to go.
For most users, iOS 11 goes well and they are able to enjoy the new interesting features available in iOS 11. There are mixed reports of poor battery life after iOS 11 update, but most of those energy issues can be resolved with a few simple tips if need be.
Although it received no special mention at last week’s event, Apple quietly released tvOS 11 yesterday alongside its considerably larger updates to iOS 11 and watchOS 4. While it’s a surprisingly minor update considering the new version number, tvOS 11 does add a few small and interesting improvements that help enhance the Apple TV experience.
Automatic Dark Mode
tvOS 10 introduced a new Dark Mode to the Apple TV — a welcome change in our opinion from the garishly bright white background that heralded the fourth-generation Apple TV UI. We’ve generally been pretty content to use Dark Mode on our Apple TVs all the time, but we can understand some users may want to switch back and forth, using the original Light Mode during the daytime, but switching the more subdued Dark Mode at night, so tvOS 11 now allows for this with a new “Automatic” option.
You’ll be prompted to enable Location Services the first time you switch this on, as tvOS will use your current location to figure out sunrise and sunset times. Once enabled, the Apple TV will switch into Dark Mode at sunset, and back into Light Mode at sunrise.
iCloud Home Screen Sync
It seems that one of Apple’s goals with its new releases this year is to sync even more information via iCloud; iOS 11 users will gain the ability to sync Messages and Siri information between devices using iCloud, and tvOS 11 isn’t left out of the iCloud game either — you’ll be able to store your Home screen layout in iCloud, along with your installed apps, so that this information can be synced across multiple Apple TVs, and restored should you ever have to reset or replace your Apple TV. It was a feature that was kind of conspicuously missing in tvOS 10, so it’s good to see Apple finally addressing it.
The option to enable this can be found in the your iCloud account settings (Settings, Accounts, iCloud) as “One Home Screen,” and is simply an on/off toggle.
AirPlay
The AirPlay Settings now include an additional setting that allows you to decide whether users can stream to your Apple TV via AirPlay from any device within Wi-Fi range, or whether AirPlay devices have to already be joined to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV.
The Security options available will also depend on which Access option you choose: “Same Network” allows you to select “None” as an option, relying simply on your normal Wi-Fi access controls; however if you choose to grant access to “Everyone” then you’ll need to at least require a first-time passcode as the minimum security, to prevent just anybody in the neighbourhood from randomly broadcasting to your Apple TV.
This will make it easier to allow guests and visitors to stream to your Apple TV without having to first join your Wi-Fi network, and we can see this being especially useful in conference room or classroom environments.
Video Playback
The standard video player has received a couple of interesting tweaks. While a single tap on the Siri Remote touchpad brings up the scrubber timeline as before, tapping a second time will now switch to a time-of-day display, showing the current time by the playback position and an estimate of what time the video will finish at the end of the timeline.
You can also now double-tap on the Siri Remote touchpad to zoom in and out when viewing 4:3 or 2.35:1 content, and a triple-tap will toggle subtitles on and off, if available; this could previously be accomplished with an accessibility shortcut, however now it’s built-in and works independently of the accessibility shortcut option, which remains assigned to a triple-click of the Menu button, as before.
Computers
The Computers tvOS app — used for accessing content stored in your local iTunes library — has been something of an anachronism in the Apple TV environment, maintaining a UI that was far more reminiscent of the third-generation Apple TV, with vertical hierarchical menus for navigating content. tvOS 11 finally brings the Computers app into line with the rest of the tvOS experience, adding a top navigation bar for content types such as Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and Audiobooks, as well as a new “Search” option. As before, only available content types will be listed here, so if you don’t have any movies in your iTunes library, you won’t see the “Movies” heading.
The Music section basically inherits the style of the Music app redesign from tvOS 10, while the other sections such as Movies and TV Shows now match the style of the TV app and corresponding iTunes apps. Individual movie and TV show items also gain the same type of info screens found in the tvOS iTunes apps.
Music
The tvOS Music app gains the new social features found in iOS 11 and iTunes 12.7, with the ability to search for and follow other Apple Music profiles and see what your friends are listening to.
You can search for other users from the standard search window, and you can access your own profile by swiping up to your profile picture in the “For You” section.
The Music settings (Settings, Apps, Music) gain the additional “Use Listening History” setting, similar to the option found in iTunes 12.7, to allow you to choose whether the music you listen to on your Apple TV will be visible to your followers on Apple Music and influence your “For You” recommendations. If multiple family members listen to your Apple TV music library, you’ll probably want to turn this option off unless each family member normally switches to their own Apple ID before listening.
If you don’t want to use any of the Apple Music sharing services on your Apple TV, the Restrictions settings include a new option to hide music profiles and posts entirely.
TV App
Apple has expanded its TV App internationally with the release of tvOS 11, with Canada and Australia gaining access to the new app this week (albeit with a limited number of content providers thus far), and France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK expected to get the TV app later this year. Beyond the wider availability, the app itself doesn’t appear to have gained any significant enhancements, however.