Apple has been strengthening the ecosystem ties between iOS and tvOS lately. In 2023, the corporate launched the FaceTime app on Apple TV, letting customers video name their family members on the large display with the assistance of a close-by iPhone or iPad. Now, tvOS 26 will make it even simpler to succeed in others out of your Apple TV by mirroring common iPhone calls.
As noticed by Macworld, the fourth developer betas of iOS and tvOS 26 carry audio telephone calls to the Apple TV. The function, lengthy supported by Macs and iPads, will allow you to reply incoming calls on tvOS when your paired iPhone is close by.
Not like FaceTime on Apple TV, the brand new function doesn’t depend on the Continuity Digital camera API to transmit your audio enter to the caller. As an alternative of utilizing your iPhone’s microphone, it’ll make the most of the mics embedded in linked HomePods. Customers with out Apple’s good speaker will nonetheless be capable of reply calls on tvOS, however they received’t be capable of speak till they will attain their iPhones.
It’s price noting that tvOS 26 beta 4 doesn’t embody a devoted Cellphone app to provoke calls from the Apple TV. Siri equally failed to begin a daily telephone name after I requested it utilizing my TV’s distant. So, in the interim, the brand new addition, not like FaceTime, is seemingly restricted to accepting incoming calls solely. Whether or not Apple addresses this omission in future tvOS 26 builds stays to be seen.
To activate the function, head to the Settings app in your up to date Apple TV. Go to Customers and Accounts > [your name], and scroll to the underside. When you allow the Present Incoming Calls toggle, your up to date iPhone will show an alert to verify your selection. When you discover it too distracting, you possibly can all the time flip it off utilizing the identical tvOS menu or by way of the Cellphone app’s settings on iOS.
When you don’t have a spare iPhone and Apple TV, we advise you to keep away from putting in the OS 26 betas. Whereas the present builds are comparatively secure and usable, random crashes should still happen, and future pre-release variations might doubtlessly introduce contemporary bugs. iOS and tvOS 26 ought to grow to be accessible to all customers in mid-September, packing the brand new name mirroring function, Liquid Glass UI, and a ton of different perks.
