Apple has announced new Siri capabilities, as well as single sign-on for Apple TV at its Worldwide Developers Conference.
The expanded Siri capabilities include searching across apps, YouTube search, topic search and tuning right into live channels. Siri will be available for Apple TV users in 12 countries.
“The future of TV is apps, and Siri on Apple TV has changed the way we interact with our television and these expanded features will continue to deliver viewers what they want to watch even faster,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.
“There are over 6,000 apps to enjoy on your Apple TV including over 1,300 video channels, which are even more fun to watch with the new Siri features combined with single sign-on.”
Customers in the US will have a simplified way of accessing pay-TV video channels by using single sign-on. Starting this fall, users only have to sign in once on Apple TV to access the video channels that are included as part of their pay-TV subscription. Once a user is signed into one network app, any other app on Apple TV from participating pay-TV providers will automatically log the user into all other supported apps requiring authentication.
Any network-TV app can take advantage of this technology to enable single sign-on and simplify the process for their viewers. Single sign-on will be available on both Apple TV and iOS.