Apple today released the brand new tvOS 26 version for the Apple TV 4K set-top box. The update is available for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD users, although not all features are available on older hardware generations.
The new update includes a set of visual design changes to harmonise with Apple’s platform-wide Liquid Glass design system, new karaoke features for Apple Music Sing, a new profile switching UI, and more. Here’s everything new …
To install the new software, open the Settings app on your Apple TV and navigate to System -> Software Update.
You can install tvOS 26 on any Apple TV (2015 or later), but not all features are available on older devices. For instance, all the new Liquid Glass effects require the second-generation Apple TV 4K and newer.
After installing the update, here’s all the new features to enjoy:
Liquid Glass redesign
All of Apple’s operating systems get a design overhaul this year, although the changes for tvOS are generally subtle. The new Liquid Glass material can be seen in Control Center, and as the background for the buttons in the system video player interface. Liquid Glass reflects and refracts light, just like how glass behaves in the real world.
When you are in any app, hold the TV button on the remote to open Control Center and you can see how the platters distort the content behind, with blur and refraction effects. It’s a more sophisticated appearance than the simpler blurs found in previous OS versions, and looks especially great on OLED TVs.
You can also enjoy an updated set of app icons, matching their iOS 26 counterparts. Even the edges of the home screen dock sparkle, thanks to Liquid Glass.
Updates to the Apple TV app design
The TV app on Apple TV has received a sweeping design update, incorporating Liquid Glass and other changes to make it feel like a modern video streaming app. The biggest difference is the switch from landscape to portrait poster artwork when displaying lists of movies and TV shows. You also get a nice new visual treatment for the numbers in Top 10 lists.
Your Continue Watching queue is now represented by integrated cards that superimpose playback progress and text descriptions on top of imagery. However, the setting to use a still frame from the current episode, rather than overall show artwork, has been removed, which will inevitably annoy some people.
Apple Music Sing remote karaoke mic mode
The Apple TV has supported Apple Music Sing features for a while, but it gets renewed attention with tvOS 26. You can now pair an iPhone to the Apple TV to act as a wireless karaoke microphone. With a song playing on the TV, you can sing into the iPhone and hear your vocals played through the TV speakers. There’s also some fun mic reverb effect options. Friends can use their connected phones to add songs to the queue, and send emoji reactions to the TV.
Beyond Sing, Apple Music has updated its lyrics experience to include translations and pronunciation guides with supported songs.
New user profile switching interface
Multiple user accounts on tvOS remains lacking, mostly due to the lack of adoption in third-party apps. Nevertheless, Apple is making it easier to switch accounts and use the Apple TV as a shared device. With tvOS 26, there’s a new setting that automatically shows a user account switcher UI every time the Apple TV wakes from sleep. This means people are less likely to forget to change to their individual account.
You can turn on this new behavior by going to Settings -> Users and Accounts -> Who’s watching?. The old account switcher UI is also still available from Control Center.
Miscellaneous
Keeping with tradition, tvOS 26 also rolls out new stunning Aerial screensavers to enjoy. This time, they depict various lush landscapes of India. In Settings, you also now have more fine-grained control over what videos are shown in the screensaver. You can pick and choose exactly what to include. I know some people really don’t like the jellyfish one, and now you can explicitly just that clip from the rotation.
There’s also a nice improvement for people with Apple TVs and AirPlay speakers that are not HomePods. You can now choose any AirPlay 2 as a permanent audio output for the Apple TV. With this set up, any time you play a video on the TV, it will connect to the AirPlay 2 output automatically. The experience is not as seamless as when using HomePods, though.
There’s also some minor updates to FaceTime, including the ability to get notifications for incoming calls to show up on the TV. You can accept the call and quickly answer using your iPhone, or connected HomePod speakers. There’s also expanded support for Live Captions, and FaceTime app has been updated to support showing contact posters.
Conclusion
Every year, I hope that the Apple TV system will get serious attention with a revamped home screen experience that properly integrates the TV app watchlist queue with your apps, and every year I come away disappointed that it didn’t happen. The implementation of multi-user support also needs a revamp to make it practically useful.
Despite its flaws, tvOS is a wonderful way to enjoy video, music and photos in the living room and way better than the built-in experience of any smart TV. I’m glad Apple dedicated the necessary resources to give tvOS 26 the same Liquid Glass updates as the rest of its operating systems, and the fresh TV app design is much more enjoyable to browse around. Additionally, the new mirrored call notifications and Apple Music Sing karaoke updates further embed the Apple TV into the overall Apple ecosystem.
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