Apple has introduced the second developer beta of tvOS 12 and watchOS 5, which were developed for Apple TV and Apple Watch. tvOS 12 offers Dolby-Atmos support and watchOS 5 automatically detects workouts.
The second beta version of tvOS 12 comes with Apple’s promised Dolby Atmos support for Apple TV 4K. The films already purchased, which now receive Atmos, are automatically played out with updates without having to pay for them again. Apple TV will also receive the new high-resolution aerial video “Earth”. The new aerial photographs were taken by NASA astronauts from the International Space Station.
In addition, the new “zero sign-on” authentication allows third parties to play their cable network program on Apple TV. For the local market, this is currently still uninteresting due to a lack of partners. In addition, auto-fill passwords stored on iPhone and iPad can now be used on Apple TV to make it easier to log in to an app.
The new features in watchOS 5 are a bit bigger. The first beta for paying developers includes the App Walkie-Talkie, which allows Apple Watch users to talk to each other via voice like a radio. In addition, there is a new Siri dial that supports third-party applications and, by machine learning, identified possibly relevant reaction options for the user, for example, to alert appointment participants to a delay. Siri now offers an Always-On mode, which is activated by raising the watch hand. A “Hey Siri” that can be more than embarrassing in public is no longer necessary. Anyone who wants to can now invite their friends and training partners to a “7-day challenge”, the winner will then be rewarded with virtual awards.