Apple Releases tvOS 26

Apple has today released tvOS 26 to the public.

Our team was unfortunately unable to test tvOS 26 during the beta cycle, and thus we do not have any information as to whether this release contains any improvements or regressions for VoiceOver, braille, or low vision accessibility. We are starting this post in hopes that it will serve as a place for the community to share and discuss any and all information related to the tvOS 26 release.

tvOS 26 Release Notes

This update introduces a stunning new design with Liquid Glass, brings cinematic poster art to the Apple TV app, adds support for iPhone as a mic for Apple Music Sing, and makes it easier to choose your profile to see personalized content recommendations. This update also includes performance and stability improvements.

Design

• Liquid Glass introduces a more expressive experience across tvOS as it refracts and reflects content in real time, and brings even more focus to what you’re watching.1

Apple TV app

• Cinematic poster art displays more movies and shows at a glance.

Apple Music

• Apple Music Sing2 adds support for iPhone as a handheld mic, amplifying your voice through TV speakers.
• Friends and family can use their iPhone to add songs to the queue, react with onscreen emoji, and take control of the microphone.3
• Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation4 help you understand the meaning behind your favorite songs and makes it easy to sing along, even if you don’t know the language.

FaceTime

• Contact Posters1 make starting a FaceTime call easier and more personal by displaying customized photos and names onscreen.
• Live Captions1 now support Cantonese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish.

Call notifications

• Incoming call notifications for phone and FaceTime audio calls help you answer them on connected HomePod speakers, or your iPhone.

Profiles

• Profiles can now be displayed when Apple TV wakes from sleep so you can quickly access your movies, shows and music.

Screen savers

• Landscapes of India offer breathtaking new screen savers.
• Aerial screen savers now include an option to let you choose which stunning views are displayed.

AirPlay

• Any AirPlay-enabled speaker can now be set as the default output for Apple TV.

1. Available on Apple TV 4K (2nd generation and later).
2. Available on Apple TV 4K (3rd generation).
3. Available on iPhone SE (2nd generation and later) and iPhone 11 and later.
4. Lyrics Translation available for select songs in the following languages: English to Chinese (simplified), English to Japanese, Korean to Chinese (simplified), Korean to English, Korean to Japanese, and Spanish to English. Lyrics Pronunciation available for select songs in the following scripts: Cantonese to Jyutping, Chinese (simplified) to Pinyin, Chinese (traditional) to Pinyin, Hindi to Romanized Hindi, Japanese to Romanized Japanese, Korean to Katakana, Korean to Romanized Korean, and Punjabi to Romanized Punjabi.

How to Update

To install tvOS 26, on Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD, go to the Settings channel, then look for the System section near the bottom. From here, look for Software Updates under Maintenance, then select Update Software and Download and Install. Wait for your Apple TV to download the update. Don't disconnect or unplug your Apple TV until the update completes.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts on all things tvOS 26 in the comments below.