Apple TV owners in the US have now access to three more channels from their tiny back boxes as Apple has added A+E Network owned A&E, Lifetime and History Channel to its already existing array of 40+ channels.

These channels require you to sign into existing cable subscription accounts to access streaming and are expected to put up the latest episodes of their shows the day after they’re aired on cable. However, many users report to have access to the latest episodes even without linking their cable operators – whether it’s a glitch or a feature, still stands to be seen.

Also, many will be disappointed to know that these channels only support Verizon FiOS, Optimum and DirecTV, as of now; more providers are coming soon, though.

So, if your location and provider permits, you’ll be able to stream these popular programs right on your Apple TV, as iMore explains

“Each channel contains popular programming from each cable television channel, including clips and full episodes of TV shows. Programs like Bates Motel and Duck Dynasty are available from A&E, while History has programming from both the History Channel and H2, like Vikings, Pawn Stars and Ancient Aliens. Lifetime’s available programs include Dance Moms, Preachers’ Daughters and Devious Maids.”

In case you’re not interested in the new channels, these would be just junk icons on your screen. If you’re planning to tidy up the interface by hiding some channels, you can follow our guide on how to easily hide unwanted channel icons on Apple TV.

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Yet another channel lands on the Apple TV: mainly dedicated to college basketball, ACC Sports allows to access the ACC Digital Network – the ACC’s “official home for game highlights and insider programming.” The new channel is only available in the US.

Through Apple TV, fans will be able to go directly to their favorite school content and have all of their game highlights, school features and classic tournament games on demand in the comfort of their living room.

The ACC Digital Network will entertain fans with hundreds of videos to choose from including in-depth coverage and analysis updated daily.

As a bonus to college sports fans everywhere and exclusive to Apple TV, “ACC Sports” will feature access to Campus Insiders, the leading digital college sports network covering all major collegiate conferences. As part of its March programming, Campus Insiders will cover the NCAA basketball post-season from start to finish with daily reports from top tier talent including Bonnie Bernstein, Seth Davis and more than 100 insiders reporting from campuses across the nation. As part of the launch, Campus Insiders will publish more than 70 videos today including team previews of all 68 teams selected for the tournament.

If you’re not a fan of college basketball, you can easily hide the ACC Sports icon from the home menu by following this simple tutorial.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Much has been said about the cluttering on the Apple TV home screen. And that is truly evident from the hits we received on our post How to arrange and hide channels on Apple TV, which we published after the feature was first introduced in the 5.1 update. Yes, the ability to hide and rearrange icons has been present on your Apple TV for a while, but yesterday Apple rolled out a new 6.1 update to Apple TV devices, which makes it much easier to hide unwanted channels right from the home screen.

So here is how to quickly hide channels on Apple TV 6.1:

Note:  You can rearrange most of the icons on your Apple TV’s main menu but you can’t move or rearrange the icons in the top row (Movies, TV Shows, Music, and Computers).

Step 1: Navigate to the channel you want to hide.

Step 2: Hold down the Select button for a couple of seconds. Now the channel icon begins to do the classic iOS jiggle. If you want, you can rearrange the icon using the arrow buttons now.

Step 3: Press the Play/Pause button to bring up the hide menu. Press on hide and you’re done.

You can undo this by just going to Settings -> Main Menu.

So this wasn’t a major update from Apple. No new features added nor anything fancy here – only making an already present feature more easily accessible. Doesn’t it seem a little odd? Apple pushing out an entire update just to cut a couple of steps in doing an action. That is so un-Apple-y. 

But analysts consider this as a welcome sign. Apple TV users have been asking for a new interface for quite sometime now. And by promoting a related feature, which was earlier used to hide channels from kids (in parental controls), into an essential function, Apple acknowledges that they’re seriously working on a fix.

Hence, analysts now believe that a revamped interface is in the making. This is in accordance with the recent rumors of an iOS-based Apple TV 4 with a revamped interface, a new dedicated Apple TV App Store and support for games.

You can read more about the next Apple TV here.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Here is what’s new in Apple TV 6.1:

• Main menu: Customize your Apple TV by hiding items from the main menu.
• AirPlay: 
  • Adds a security option to require that iOS devices or Macs be verified with a one-time, onscreen code before using AirPlay. Requires iOS 7.1 or later on an iOS device or a Mac with Mac OS X 10.9.2 or later.
  • Adds support to allow an AirPlay device to discover Apple TV over Bluetooth in environments where multicast or Bonjour traffic is blocked on the network or the AirPlay device is on a different subnet.
• Remote app: View your purchased TV shows and movies in the Remote app and tap to play them instantly on Apple TV. Create and play iTunes Radio stations. Requires Remote app version 4.2 or later.
• Stability and performance: includes general performance and stability improvements.

As always:

• if you’re on jailbroken ATV2 – stay away from this update
• if you’re on non-jailbroken ATV2 running 6.0.x – stay away from this update in case the jailbreak for Apple TV 6.0.x comes to reality (unless you have the SHSH blobs saved for 6.0.x)
• if you’re on ATV3 and still believe the Apple TV 3 jailbreak may become reality – don’t update to 6.1

Latest jailbreakable Apple TV firmware is 5.3.

We will soon have a short tutorial on how to easily hide unwanted channels/icons from the Apple TV’s main menu. Stay tuned!

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

The post Apple TV software update 6.1 is out appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

With all the new apps/channels released for Apple TV recently, the interface can become quite cluttered. Luckily, as of the Apple TV 5.1 software update, you can adjust the display of icons and arrangement on the Apple TV’s main menu to suit your preference and hide those icons you don’t use.

• Rearranging Apple TV icons

Note: You cannot move or rearrange the icons in the top row (Movies, TV Shows, Music, Computers, and Settings).

To change where an icon appears on the main menu:

1. Select the icon you want to move
2. Press and hold Select on the remote
3. When the icon begins to jiggle, use the remote to move the icon to a new position
4. Press Select again to finish

• Hiding Apple TV icons

To show or hide icons:

1. Select Settings > General > Parental Controls
2. Scroll down and select either Show or Hide as desired

Note: By default, you do not need to turn on Parental Controls to show or hide these features. If you want to prevent someone from changing these settings or accessing these features, turn on Parental Controls.

Which Apps have you chosen to hide?

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One of the new features in iOS 6 beta 2 for Apple TV is the ability to reorder the icons on the main menu, as spotted by MacMagazine.com.br (via MacRumors):

The feature is accessed by holding down the center Select button on the remote for several seconds, after which the selected icon begins to wiggle as is seen on other iOS devices when in reorder/delete mode. The wiggling icon can then be moved by using the directional buttons on the remote, with other icons automatically adjusting to make room for the icon being moved.

One difference in icon reordering between the Apple TV and other iOS devices is that the lack of a touch interface means that only one icon at a time can be selected and moved on the Apple TV. There is also no sign yet of an ability to delete or hide unused icons on the Apple TV menu.

Is Apple preparing apps for Apple TV? CNET notes that Apple introduced a similar feature in iPhone OS in 2008, just ahead of an SDK that let developers build their own apps.

iOS 6 Apple TV update will be released this fall.

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