Apple released the tvOS 16.4 update to the public yesterday, bringing various improvements to the system, including a new “Dim Flashing Light” feature. The new accessibility option can detect flashes of light or strobe effects and then automatically dim the display of a video.
The “Dim Flashing Light” feature is notable since it will likely benefit Apple TV users with light sensitivity or, possibly, users with epileptic seizures. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, 2.7 million Americans have epilepsy, and approximately 3 to 5% of them are photosensitive. Photosensitive epilepsy is when seizures are triggered by flashing lights, patterns or color changes. Flashing lights can also cause headaches and migraines.
The tvOS update is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. It can be installed manually by going to “Settings,” “System” and then “Software Update.” If your Apple TV is set to update automatically, then it should be downloaded already.
The other updates weren’t as significant but included some performance and stability improvements.
Apple rolled out the tvOS 16.4 update shortly after tvOS 16.3.3, which fixed a bug that caused some Siri remotes to randomly disconnect from the Apple TV. When Apple released a new version of the Apple TV 4K in November 2022, there were customers that reported connectivity issues with the Siri remote. According to a Reddit user, the remote would disconnect from the Apple TV without explanation and would only work again if they did a full restart of their TV.
