Apple TV Update Brings New Features
Apple released software update 2.01 for the Apple TV Friday, which was reported as fixing bugs and adding new features to the interface.
Although, to be precise, it appears to add one new feature, the addition of a "Genres" option when browsing your own movie titles.
Those of you with large movie libraries (you know who you are) will no doubt welcome this, as it lets you break down your monolithic list of movies into much more manageable sections, which in turn makes it more likely that you'll find something to watch based on your mood (action, horror, romance, whatever).
But while welcome, and long overdue, the Apple TV interface is still lacking in needed functionality.
First and foremost, movie titles really need a "sorting bar" that would let you list films alphabetically, by rank (****), and by date added. Rank, of course, let's you find your favorites in a given category, and sorting by date added let's you find all of the new stuff you've added or purchased.
Also in that vein, movie titles need to have the same little blue dots that appear next to unwatched TV shows, making it easier to dig out the things you've haven't seen from among those that you have.
After all, a library is pretty worthless if it's so unorganized you can't find what you're looking for. Just ask any librarian.
And YouTube videos have those options, for Pete's sake. Does it make any sense for YouTube videos to have those capabilities while your own library goes lacking?
No sorting, no searching, no ranking. All things we can do for iTunes titles, but not our own.
Of course, the biggest failure is still content. Apple promised thousands of movies, and instead seems to be delivering a half-dozen or so new titles a week. Worse, nearly everything being added falls under the rental category, with new films available for purchase few and far between.
Oh well. I guess when someone's pursuing a "hobby", you can't expect them to take things too seriously.
Apple needs to take a chunk of that $18 billion dollars in cash, hire a warehouse full of technicians or paralegals or whatever, and put them to work ripping movies and filling out paperwork. The rest of the world is NOT going to sit on its hands while Apple gets its act (and actors) together.
But as mentioned, the "Genre" update is worth installing for that one feature alone. Just fire up your Apple TV and go to Settings > General > Update Software.
And don't forget to nag Apple for the rest.
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