Hands-on with tvOS 10.2: fast scrolling, updated Remote app & more

You no longer have to scroll through long lists on your Apple TV for minutes on end like an animal, courtesy of the latest firmware released yesterday alongside iOS 10.3, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and watchOS 3.2.

It lets you scroll through longs lists with ease and contains other user-facing features and under-the-hood improvements. For instance, rented iTunes movies can be finally enjoyed on other devices.

And with the updated Remote app, you can control the set-top box via your iPad or other iOS device, browse your playlists and more. Be sure to watch Andrew’s hands-on video for everything new in tvOS 10.2 and share your favorite new feature in comments.

Everything new in tvOS 10.2

According to the official tvOS 10.2 changelog and Apple’s documentation for developers, tvOS 10.2 includes the following features and enhancements.

  • Fast scroll
  • iTunes movie rentals across all devices
  • Support for iPad-optimized Remote app with new features
  • Apple File System
  • Improvements to Apple’s Device Enrollment Program
  • Expanded Mobile Device Management
  • The VideoToolbox framework

Here’s Andrew’s hands-on video.

Subscribe to iDownloadBlog on YouTube

By the way, Apple File System is now the standard mass storage format across iOS 10.3, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2. It’s coming later this year to your Mac.

Fast scroll

This is a great time-saver.

In tvOS 10.2, scrolling through long lists is now faster than ever before with several large swipes of your Siri Remote automatically invoking this mode. Simply swipe on the right edge on Siri Remote’s Touch surface to scroll rapidly through lists.

If a list has an index such as your song collection in the Music app, you can quickly jump forward or backward, which is totally great.

Remote control from iPad

The Apple TV Remote app was updated yesterday with full support for iPad.

On your tablet, you can now swipe to navigate the entirety of the tvOS user interface, interact with your Apple TV through Siri, control tvOS games with tilt controls and more.

Aside from iPad compatibility, the Apple TV Remote app enhances interactions with your media with the ability to select movie chapters, audio tracks and closed captions. You can also see music lyrics and playlists in the app.

Read more about this app in our article from yesterday.

Grab the Apple TV Remote app on App Store.

Owners of older-generation Apple TV models should use the old Remote app, now called iTunes Remote.

Rent once, watch anywhere

Now when you rent an iTunes movie, you can watch it across all your devices provided they use the same Apple ID. Previously, movie rentals were limited to specific devices and you couldn’t rent a movie on your iPhone and watch it on your Apple TV.

Watching movies rented on one device on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch requires iOS 10.3. On desktop, iTunes 12.6 for Mac or Windows is needed to enable this functionality.

Aside from the aforementioned features, tvOS 10.2 includes general performance and stability improvements and is packed with fixes that increase your security and privacy, outlined in Apple’s support document.

So, what’s your favorite new feature in tvOS 10.2 so far?