Picture-In-Picture Mode To Be Introduced By Apple TV So You Can Stream Two Shows At Same Time

By | November 30, 2020

It has been confirmed that Apple TV is soon going to introduce their new picture-in-picture mode that will allow users to watch two shows at once. This was first reported by 9to5Mac which is Apple’s news site fooling the launch of the new beta software for Apple tvOS and other operating systems.

Nikolaj Hansen-Turton after installing tvOS beta 2, found out the option to play content in a much smaller window in the bottom-right of the screen. He also twitted:

 “tvOS has PnP.”

Soon after there was a lot of publication about this.

But it was still not clear whether it was really a PnP experience or just a minimized video player screen. The picture shared by Nikolaj Hansen-Turton had a still background on his main screen. The screen didn’t show two programs playing simultaneously. However, it is expected that Apple TV is soon going to launch such an ability for its users.

There are certain constraints to be looked into.

Picture-in-picture will be available only for content that is provided by Apple. This will include content such as movies and TV shows streamed via Apple TV app and content purchased through iTunes. This will also include videos that are streamed through Apple TV channels.

Channels that were added in May allow users to subscribe to premium add-ons such as Showtime, HBO, Starz, Smithsonian Channel, Tastemade, EPIX, and others. The idea is very much similar to what is followed by Amazon’s Prime video channels.

This basically means that if you subscribe to HBO through Apple TV channels, you will be able to access the PnP feature. However, you will be deprived of the feature if you subscribe to the channel through its own official website.

Apple is planning to increase the number of its premium subscriptions so that users can get to watch more channels in the PnP mode.

As of now, Apple hasn’t declared anything about third-party developer tools that would help them design their own applications to support the said feature.

The release of PnP mode for Apple TV was not declared earlier in this month at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference where the company is known to preview its latest software releases. Therefore, today’s announcement made it extra special for Apple TV users.

The PnP feature will be supported on both Apply TV HD and Apple TV 4k.