Apple Seeds Second Beta of iOS 12.3 With New TV App to Developers

by

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 12.3 update to developers, a week and a half after releasing the first beta and two weeks after the launch of iOS 12.2, an update that introduced Apple News+, new Animoji, and more.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

appletvapp 1
iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 introduce a new version of Apple's TV app, which has been updated with a new look and fresh functionality.

In the new TV app, Watch Now and Up Next are still front and center for keeping track of what you're watching, but there's a new machine learning-based recommendation engine that will suggest content based on what you like to watch.

The app's interface has been streamlined with sections for movies, TV shows, sports, and kids content, and on iOS, there's a separate bottom bar for the library, search, and Watch Now options.

tvapp3
There's a new "Channels" feature in the TV app, which is one of the major new components. Channels are subscription services that you can sign up for and watch within the TV app without having to open up another app.

So, for example, if you come across a show you want to watch on your iPhone or Apple TV that's on Showtime, you can tap to subscribe to Showtime right in the TV app, and then you can watch that show without leaving the app.

Some of the new Channels that will be supported include CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, HBO, Nickelodeon, Mubi, The History Channel Vault, and Comedy Central Now. During the beta, though, users can subscribe to Showtime, Starz, Smithsonian, and Tastemade.

appletvchannels 1
You'll still get recommendations for content from services that aren't a part of Channels, you'll just need to watch non-channel content in a third-party app. When Apple debuts its Apple TV+ service this fall, all of the company's original TV shows and movies will be accessible in the TV app.

iOS 12.3 will be in beta testing for the next few weeks ahead of a May launch, the month when Apple said the new TV app will be released.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
Read Full Article • 137 comments
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Read Full Article • 129 comments
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
Read Full Article • 494 comments
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Read Full Article • 66 comments
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
Read Full Article • 38 comments
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
Read Full Article • 133 comments

Top Rated Comments

orbital~debris Avatar
orbital~debris
69 months ago
I don’t think I like that Apple seem to have eliminated the traditional ‘movie poster’ style image for purchased movies…

It appears - from the screen shots here, and in previous example images from the ‘Show Time’ event - that movies’ posters are destined to be replaced with the ‘brick’ used to promote the film on the store.

This isn’t good for quick recognition when scanning the library visually, since a film’s poster (colours, layout, characters etc.) often becomes a visual shortcut aiding recognition, and the store ‘brick’ images are sometimes quite distinct from the movie’s original poster (not to mention landscape over portrait orientation, which, aside from cutting down on the number of assets for content, is the likely reason for this change as it allows more items to be displayed vertically).
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fhopper Avatar
fhopper
69 months ago
I wish Apple would do something that I could be excited about, this is so meh.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DevNull0 Avatar
DevNull0
69 months ago
Harry Potter and the G. Harry Potter and the D. Harry Potter and the P. That ol' theme. They waste all of that screen space with nothing but blank screen and then make titles like that all over the place. Music, TV shows, Movies. Some bunch of programmers at apple should be slapped HARD.
It wasn't that long ago that Apple would take someone else's crappy semi-functional product, refine it, make it magical and release something fantastic that "just works". Now they're taking other companies' decent products that "just work" and releasing an Apple version that breaks everything good.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
NMBob
69 months ago
Harry Potter and the G. Harry Potter and the D. Harry Potter and the P. That ol' theme. They waste all of that screen space with nothing but blank screen and then make titles like that all over the place. Music, TV shows, Movies. Some bunch of programmers at apple should be slapped HARD.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stiligFox Avatar
stiligFox
69 months ago
I don’t have any bloody streaming services - I miss the old Videos app when I could open the thing without seeing any “suggested content” and only see what I synced to my device from my personal library.

At least let me turn it off! Same for Apple Music, you can turn it off but it’s always there haunting you in the Music app.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tozovac Avatar
Tozovac
69 months ago
I don’t think I like that Apple seem to have eliminated the traditional ‘movie poster’ style image for purchased movies…

It appears - from the screen shots here, and in previous example images from the ‘Show Time’ event - that movies’ posters are destined to be replaced with the ‘brick’ used to promote the film on the store.

This isn’t good for quick recognition when scanning the library visually, since a film’s poster (colours, layout, characters etc.) often becomes a visual shortcut aiding recognition, and the store ‘brick’ images are sometimes quite distinct from the movie’s original poster (not to mention landscape over portrait orientation, which, aside from cutting down on the number of assets for content, is the likely reason for this change as it allows more items to be displayed vertically).
Amen. And isn’t it time to move on from space wasting large poster layouts, if not also move on from the amateurish and unfinished looking light blue on all white look?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments