tvOS 9

Apple introduced tvOS with the new Apple TV on September 9, 2015, making its SDK available to developers. The announcement placed the new hardware in late October, not that September day. In an update to his October 29 article, 9to5Mac's Mike Beasley reported publication of the final software; that remains attributed reporting, separate from Apple's announcement.

Family

tvOS

Version

9

Platform

Apple TV (4th generation)

Apple · Apple TV and tvOS · 2015-09-09 · Mike Beasley · 9to5Mac · 2015-10-29

The iOS-based platform opened a dedicated App Store for TV apps and games. Siri Remote combined a touch surface, accelerometer and gyroscope; Siri searched across providers and controlled playback. Siri availability varied by country and some content required subscriptions. The hardware price is not presented as a standalone system price.

Apple · Apple TV and tvOS · 2015-09-09

Apple Developer described an SDK sharing Metal, UIKit, CloudKit and Game Center with iOS. Developers could reuse existing code, but that did not mean every iPhone app automatically appeared on TV or every older Apple TV could run tvOS.

Apple Developer · Introducing tvOS · 2015-09-09

Apple's archive records tvOS 9.1.1 on January 25, 2016, 9.2 on March 21, 9.2.1 on May 16 and 9.2.2 on July 18 for fourth-generation Apple TV. It lists Apple TV Software 7.2.1 for the third generation separately. Shared Apple TV branding does not merge those software lines.

Apple · Security updates archive · 2016-2017