Channels, the fan-favorite live TV streaming and cord-cutting app, is getting a sweet update for Apple TV and iOS users today. The update includes a new playlists feature, library management improvements, and more. Plus some good news for Vision Pro users.
For those unfamiliar: Channels are designed to allow you to watch and record live TV from anywhere. It works when connected to an antenna or cable with a TV tuner, with the HDHomeRun TV tuner being one of the most popular options.
You can also access Channels using your existing streaming TV service or cable provider. For example, if you subscribe to Fubo TV, you can log into your Fubo account in Channels to watch and record everything in one app.
Today's release of Channels 5.8 adds several notable features as well as a host of bug fixes for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV users. First, there's a new playlists feature:
Playlists can contain movies, episodes, or videos in one list. Once created, they will be found in the Playlist section of Channels. You can even create and manage them directly in Channels for Apple TV and iOS.
Playlists will automatically play items in order, starting with the first one you watch. They even have their own autoplay settings.
And of course, playlists support smart rules, so they will automatically update as your library changes.
Another major goal of Channels 5.8 is to improve library management. One change I'm particularly pleased to see is that the Channels app for Apple TV now uses native context menus from tvOS, which should make the app feel more at home. on TVOS. The context menu functionality has also been redesigned.
Here's the rundown:
- There is a new built-in collection of channels that you can enable that will show those channels in the Guide or “On Now”. If you prefer, you can also display the last three channels at the top of the list in the Quick Start Guide.
- Context menus are organized to make it easier (and faster) to find what you want to do. . In addition, we have made them even more functional. For example, you can now add items directly to a library collection from context menus. You can even create a new library collection right from the context menu!
- In Channels 5.8, items in your library will now be identified when viewing Later, viewing in the Guide, or in search results. Upcoming broadcasts will even show up if the item is already in your library.
- Channels now tracks the last 20 channels you watched.
Also in Channels 5.8 version iPad apps are now available on Vision Pro. Channels also informed me that they are working on a dedicated app for VisionOS and users can keep an eye on their website for more details.
Full release notes for Channels 5.8 can be found on the company's website.
