Leaked iOS 6 beta for Apple TV hints at apps -- finally
A leaked video showing off a new feature of the Apple TV suggests that a TV App Store may be on the way.
One rumor that didn't quite pan out following Apple's World Wide Developers Conference earlier this month, was that Apple would roll out a way for developers to make apps for its $99 set top box.
However a new beta version of iOS for Apple's TV box suggests that idea may still be alive and well in Cupertino.
Apparently unafraid of Apple's legal team, Brazil-based Apple tech blog MacMagazine (via Macrumors) has posted a video of an Apple TV set top box running a developer beta of iOS 6.
While seemingly unchanged from the current release, which is based on Apple's iOS 5, there is one new feature that's got heads turning. When holding down the select button on any icon for a few seconds, the icons for each of the included apps begins to jiggle, a sign that users can move them around, reorder them and group them. Apple introduced a similar feature in iOS (then simply iPhone software) in 2008, just ahead of an SDK that let developers build their own apps.
So is all this a smoking gun an App Store for TV-centric apps is just around the corner? Not necessarily. It is, however, a very handy way to move together some of the most used features.
Apple's iOS 6 Apple TV update is expected to be released in step with the same software for iPhones, iPods, and iPads this fall.
Here's the video of the wonderful wobbles to watch before it disappears: