Apple on Wednesday seeded the Release Candidate beta of tvOS 14.5, the update designed to run on fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. The beta comes two weeks after Apple released the seventh beta.
The tvOS 14.5 RC is compatible with fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. The new beta can be downloaded to a compatible Apple TV that has the proper profile installed. The public beta is also available.
Apple is removing mentions of the “Siri Remote” from the tvOS 14.5 beta and is replacing them with “Apple TV Remote” across the operating system. The update renames the “Home Button” under the “Remotes and Devices” section to “TV Button.”
tvOS 14.5 brings support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers, which can be used to play games from the tvOS App Store and Apple Arcade.
When tvOS 14.5 is released to the public, Apple will begin enforcing its App Tracking Transparency privacy feature. App Tracking Transparency will require apps to get the user’s permission before tracking their data across apps or websites owned by other companies. Under Settings, users will be able to see which apps have requested permission to track and make changes as they see fit.
Users will see prompts that include options to “Allow Tracking” or “Ask App not to Track” when opening apps that wish to track their activity. While developers have been allowed to voluntarily add the tracking prompt to their iOS 14 apps by using the App Tracking Transparency framework. However, it has not been required and few apps have implemented the prompt voluntarily.
When a user selects “Ask App not to Track,” the app will be blocked from accessing the user’s IDFA. The developer is also required to respect the user’s tracking preference overall and is not allowed to use other methods to track the user. Developers that violate the app tracking rules could see their app removed from the App Store.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas on their daily driver Apple Watch or Apple TV, instead only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.
