Feature only available to new-generation devices with Bluetooth 4.0

Jul 30, 2013 08:50 GMT  ·  By

Apple’s latest iOS and Apple TV betas come with a new ability which allows anyone to use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to automatically set up an Apple TV.

According to those who’ve tested the new Apple TV 5.4 Seed 3 against iOS 7 Beta 4, owners of the black box can use an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 7 to automatically set up their Apple TV.

To do so, users must unlock their device, enable Bluetooth, and touch the Apple TV unit with the iDevice. The feature is not available for iPhone 4 and iPad 2, as they don’t have Bluetooth 4.0 hardware.

The software is currently in beta (both Apple TV 5.4 and iOS 7) but will be released publicly this fall.

Developers looking to grab Apple TV 5.4 Seed 3 can do so by visiting the iOS Dev Center with their developer credentials in hand. A lot of bugs have been addressed in this seed, so don’t be shy to visit the release notes while you’re at it.