Tip: adjusting how movies and TV shows are sorted in your Apple TV Wish Lists

tvOS iTunes Movies view Wish List Apple TV screenshot 002

Aside from major new features in Apple’s new tvOS 9.2 firmware for the fourth-generation Apple TV, which released to the public on Monday, March 21, there’re plenty of under-the-hood improvements to be excited about.

Among them are handy sorting options for the movies in your Wish List and TV shows in your Favorites. In this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how you can tell your Apple TV to show recent TV episodes first and change sorting options for movies in your Wish List.

With the built-in iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps, it’s easy to add movies that you haven’t yet purchased or rented to your Wish List, or put TV shows in your Favorites.

How to adjust sorting for Wish Lists and Favorites on Apple TV

1) Go to Settings → Apps → iTunes Movies and TV Shows.

2) To change how movies inside your Wish List are sorted, select the Sort Movies in Wish List option and choose By Date or Alphabetically.

tvOS 9.2 Settings Movies and TV Shows Apple TV screenshot 001

3) Likewise, you can change how TV shows added to Favorites are sorted by selecting Sort TV Shows in Favorites, then choose By Date or Alphabetically.

Tip: You may prefer alphabetical sorting for movies in your Wish List. For TV shows in Favorites, it might make more sense to sort them by date as this will show recent episodes first, which makes more sense.

Managing Wish Lists for Movies on Apple TV

To add a movie you might want to buy or rent later to your Wish List, select the Wish List option on the movie’s page within the iTunes Movies app.

tvOS iTunes Movies add to Wish List Apple TV screenshot 001

To remove the item, choose Remove on the page.

tvOS iTunes Movies remove from Wish List Apple TV screenshot 002

To view your iTunes Wish List, swipe to the Wish List option in the menu bar at the top of the screen in the iTunes Movies app.

Managing Favorites for TV shows on Apple TV

Similarly, select the Favorites option on any item’s page in the TV Shows app to add it to Favorites. To see your Favorites, swipe to the Favorites option in the menu bar at the top.

RELATED: Adjusting streaming resolution for iTunes movies and TV shows

If your Favorites or Wish Lists is empty, you won’t see it in the menu bar. Your Apple TV Favorites and Wish Lists currently do not sync with iOS devices or desktop iTunes.

RELATED: Tips for using folders on Apple TV

“Wish Lists on Apple TV sync only with other Apple TVs,” cautions Apple in a support document. “They don’t sync with Wish Lists on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.”

Best new features in tvOS 9.2

tvOS 9.2 is a significant update that brings a lot of features missing from the original software that shipped with the new Apple TV following its debut.

For example, you can now dictate text, user names and passwords using your voice, use Siri to find apps in the App Store, organize apps in folders, use a wireless keyboard to navigate the tvOS interface and much more.

Here’s a quick video recap of tvOS 9.2’s headlining new features.

For more tutorials like this one, browse our complete how-to archive.

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