tvOS 27 introduces new accessibility features for Apple TV

tvOS 27 will not be officially unveiled until June, but Apple has already previewed a range of new accessibility features, including the ability to adjust text size.

Instead of buying a larger TV as age begins to affect your eyesight, you will soon be able to adjust text size directly on Apple TV.

The feature is being added in tvOS 27, though it will likely only work on the homescreen, menus, and apps that use Apple's developer frameworks. Netflix, for example, does not. Here is how it looks:



Live transcription subtitles
Another new feature is that Apple TV will be able to automatically generate subtitles in real-time for videos that do not already include captions. For example for older movies or home videos.

- "With on-device speech recognition, subtitles are generated privately and appear automatically for uncaptioned videos on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro. The appearance of subtitles can be customized in the video playback menu or in Settings," Apple explained.

Speech is processed directly on the device rather than uploaded to internet servers, which is part of Apple's broader privacy-focused approach. However, the feature will initially support English only.

- "Apple's approach to accessibility is unlike any other,"said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Now, with Apple Intelligence, we are bringing powerful ne w capabilities into our accessibility features while maintaining our foundational commitment to privacy by design.."

The system does not appear to rely on Apple Intelligence, however. None of the current Apple TV 4K models can run Apple Intelligence because the feature requires a newer chip. It may also be limited to Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen) and later, as these are the only ones to currently process Siri on-device.


tvOS 27 to be unveiled soon
A third new feature is that 'Made for iPhone' hearing aids will soon be able to pair with and switch seamlessly between Apple devices, similar to AirPods.

Apple is also adding support for Sony's Access controller, where buttons can be customized for users who have difficulty operating traditional game controllers. Two Sony Access controllers can also be paired together. Initially, however, this will only be supported on iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

tvOS 27 will be unveiled alongside iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, visionOS 27 and watchOS 27 at WWDC 26 on June 8. Rumors of a new Apple TV 4K box have circulated for a long time, but WWDC has traditionally focused primarily on software.