The Apple TV gains deeper Siri integration and single sign-on option

Apple just announced minor updates to the operating system that powers the Apple TV. The news comes from Apple SVP Eddy Cue from the company’s developer’s conference WWDC.

The future of TV is apps, Apple often says, and today’s update reinforces that mantra. Today’s news brings more apps and makes them easier to use on the Apple TV.

Apple TV is solving the bigger challenges with setting up streaming media players for the first time to access your favorite video channels. It’s introducing a feature it calls Single Sign-On that lets an owner log in once and then get access to all their network apps. And it says it’s bringing this to iOS as well.

The Apple TV now sports deeper Siri integration too. Siri now searches YouTube so, a user could say, for instance, “Search YouTube for Steph Curry three-pointers” or “Search YouTube for LeBron James stepping over Draymond Green.” In the past, Siri was limited to Apple’s suite of Apple TV apps.

Cue announced today that the Apple TV will gain new apps in the coming weeks including Sling, Fox Sports Go, and France’s Molotov, which offers over 100 live TV stations.

The developer preview of tvOS demoed today will be available to customers in the fall.

Tim Cook touted tvOS as one of Apple’s key platforms, along with watchOS, iOS and OS X, all of which received updates today.