Gadgetory

and the last year alone Apple TV has learned a lot of new tricks here are five tips and tricks to help you make the most of the new software on Apple TV if you have homekit enabled smart home devices you can actually use your Apple TV to control them just make sure you're signed in to the same iCloud account in the home app as you are on the Apple TV and the Apple TV will automatically set itself up as a smart home hub after it's setup you can control your smart home devices by holding the Siri button and speaking a command say something like turn on the lights this also works when you're away from home just hold the home button on an iPhone or iPad and speak a command your Apple TV back home will control your smart home remotely may have noticed after a recent update that scrolling on to a text field with Apple TV will trigger a notification on iOS devices this is called the Apple remote keyboard and it works with iOS devices and Apple TVs signed in the same Apple ID so long as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled to use the feature pull down the notification and start typing on the touchscreen of the connected device and the text you type on your phone or tablet will appear on the Apple TV when you download a new application on your iPhone that same application can be automatically installed on your iPad your Apple watch and in iMessage and with TV OS 10 you can do the same thing with your Apple TV this feature is not enabled by default so if you want to use it go to Settings apps and click automatically install apps to toggle it on also remember that this is not retro actively installed apps if you have any previously purchased apps that have Apple TV components you will need to go to the App Store and click on the purchase tab to download previously installed apps much like on iOS and Mac OS the Photos app on Apple TV has been updated to include memories this memories feature gathers all the photos from similar locations and dates and bundles them into collections if you click on one of these collections you can revisit the trips you took throughout the year in order for this feature to work you will need to enable iCloud photo library and iCloud settings on your iOS devices and once all of your photos have been uploaded memories will do its magic in a recent update Apple rolled out its new TV app which acts like a guy for all your favorite streaming services on Apple TV except for Netflix when you log into your TV provider in the Settings app any compatible streaming apps that support single sign-on will log you in then the TV app will begin tracking the shows you watch automatically and you can find them in the up next section of watch now as new episodes become available they will jump to the front of the queue for up next if the TV app is tracking a show you no longer want to watch you can remove it and you can also manually add TV shows and movies to your up next for more on Apple TV and other tips and tricks be sure to check out cnet.com forward slash how-to