In our report on Apple TV 6.1 update, we mentioned the new ability to scan for AirPlay devices via Bluetooth, in addition to the normal searching over WiFi. At that time, we couldn’t attach much significance to it, as it only helps to find devices and not to conduct AirPlay Mirroring via Bluetooth. But as more expert eyes are falling on it, this feature is turning out to be a blessing for educational institutions.

Apple generally uses a piece of software called Bonjour to find iOS and Mac devices in the local network. But many times, the firewall of the router or your computer perceives it as a malware and blocks it, causing problems in detecting devices. This was being reported regularly by many schools and offices, where Apple TV is replacing the conventional projectors as visual aids. So the discoverability via Bluetooth helps the not-so-tech-savvy teachers and students to avoid connection problems, just by turning their Bluetooth on and without having to mess with device or network settings.

According to the Derik Okihara who first reported it, the feature only works between Bluetooth 4.0 devices running iOS 7.1 and Apple TV running 6.1. “I tried a Mac with 10.9.2 and it didn’t see the AppleTV as an AirPlay source over bluetooth. That may be coming in a future update.”, he says.

Here is a list of iOS devices that Support Bluetooth 4.0:

iPhone 4S
iPhone 5
iPhone 5C
iPhone 5S
iPod Touch 5th Gen
iPad 3rd Gen
iPad 4th Gen
iPad Air
iPad Mini 1st Gen
iPad Mini 2nd Gen
AppleTV 3rd Gen
AppleTV 3rd Gen Rev A

This is not Apple’s first move to promote Apple TV in schools. Last week, they added Apple TV to its Apple Loyalty Program whereby bulk purchases by educational centers can avail significant discounts. Also Apple introduced an easy sign up process for under-13-year-olds on iTunes. They won’t be able to make purchases or change user settings but use Apple devices with their own Apple ID.

In short, Apple is vigorously working to bring Apple TV to the forefront as a main-stream device, not only in the living room but also to schools and offices. This is the same strategy adopted by them for iPhones, iPads and Macs too and Apple is surely finding it hard to wipe the stamp “Hobby device“, which they themselves inadvertently conferred at Apple TV. Hopefully the Apple TV 4 will help.

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TV Show Playlists
Now it’s easier than ever to pick up where you left off with your favorite show. After you decide which show to watch, simply hold the center button and choose the playlist option. That’s it! You’ll be taken to the first unwatched episode, and will continue playing until your run out of shows or your eyes turn into puffy white marshmallows, whichever comes first.

Super Customizable Favorites
Favorites provide a handy way to get to what you want as quickly as possible. They’re displayed right in the main menu, and just got a whole lot better in version 2.1. Need a quick link to season 4 of The Office? Check. How about having a list of celebration videos that contain the word word birthday? Done. With these new options for Favorites there’s really no limit on what you can do.

Full List of Changes

• NEW! TV Show Playlists – easily pick up from the last unwatched episode
• NEW! Custom Favorites – create favorites from almost anything, including search terms
• Big speed improvements while browsing movies/shows
• Library and Search items can now be hidden from main menu
• Now showing ‘Writers’ instead of ‘Producers’ on pre-playback screen
• .ite folders are now hidden from view
• Hidden files are no longer included in slideshows
• Better metadata fetching
• Better trakt syncing and scrobbling
• Better handling of network settings and errors
• Many search related improvements
• Many subtitle related improvements (special characters, performance, etc…)
• Fixed rare Last.fm scrobbling issue
• Fixed rare problems when playing audio files
• Fixed a few memory related issues
• iOS 6 support
• Many other bug fixes and improvements

If you’re already running a version of aTV Flash (black) the new 2.1 version can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu. Links for the new version can also be found in your FireCore account under the Downloads tab.

If you’re not yet using aTV Flash (black) you can get started here.

Here is a tutorial on how to install aTV Flash (black) on your jailbroken Apple TV 2.

IMPORTANT: aTV Flash 2.1 requires an ATV2 running Apple TV version 4.4 or later. It doesn’t work on the 3rd gen Apple TV. Once the Apple TV 3 jailbreak is available, your aTV Flash (black) license will cover both Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3.

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