Feature comparison
Excalibur, device by device
What Excalibur AI TV does on iPhone, iPhone Duo, iPad and Apple TV, feature by feature. 79 features, as of October 2026.
iPhone
iOS
46
of 79
3 partial · 30 not there
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
54
of 79
4 partial · 21 not there
iPad
iPadOS
46
of 79
4 partial · 29 not there
Apple TV
tvOS
64
of 79
1 partial · 14 not there
Yes
Partial
No
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Watching
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Live TV player
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Picture in Picture
iPhone and iPad: floats over other apps when you leave Excalibur. Apple TV: a corner window inside Excalibur.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Partial
Keep playing while browsing
On Apple TV the channel keeps playing while you look around the app.
No
No
No
Yes
Background audio
Sound goes on with the screen locked or in another app.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Pause and rewind live TV
Back and forward 30 seconds and Jump to live. On Apple TV, Left or Right on the remote goes straight to the timeline, 10 seconds a press. Some channels need Live buffer turned on in Settings.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Start Over: restart the show on now, or replay one that aired
Replays need a provider that keeps an archive of past shows.
No
No
No
Yes
Prefer 5.1 surround
A 5.1 copy wins over a sharper stereo one. Watch on marks each copy's sound.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subtitles and captions
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audio track picker
Plus an Audio language preference in Settings.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Watch on: switch to another provider's copy
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
A failing channel moves to a steadier copy
When a channel's stream keeps going quiet, Apple TV moves to another copy of it and ranks the quiet one last for 6 hours.
No
No
No
Yes
Turn the sound down during ad breaks
Pick Down 20 dB or Muted in Settings. Works on channels that keep a logo on screen.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Commercial Escape: watch your last channel during a break
Brings you back when the show returns.
No
No
No
Yes
Live pictures in the player's channel strip
Each channel's live picture as you look along the strip. Merlin can tell you what is on a channel with no listings.
No
No
No
Yes
What's on? (Merlin explains what is on screen)
No
No
No
Yes
Heat strip showing the busy parts of a recording
Uses Apple's video analysis in tvOS 27.
No
No
No
Yes
Half-open player with a control deck
Picture on one half; controls, guide or game on the other, held like a book or a laptop.
No
Yes
No
No
CarPlay
Sound plays through the car like any audio. There is no CarPlay screen.
Partial
Partial
No
No
Guide and browsing
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Prism guide
The guide on every device.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mini guide in the player
A strip of channels over the picture; nothing changes until you pick one.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Guide previews
The highlighted channel plays behind its listing.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Show one account's channels in the guide
From the guide's More. The sources count and Watch on then show only that account's copies.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Live TV screen with the Live wall
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Duo Live TV: the wall beside a playing tuner
Open or half open. Standing like a laptop, the lower half becomes a control deck.
No
Yes
No
No
Home Hub (clock, weather, radar, what's on)
Apple TV also shows your calendar and the music playing.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Films
Includes asking Merlin to find a film you describe.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Series
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
AI Search with Merlin
iPhone and iPad answer with Apple Intelligence on the device. Apple TV uses an AI service key you add in Settings.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Navigation and layout
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Five-tab rail with its own More
Home and four more tabs, the rest under More.
No
Yes
No
No
Choose the tab order
Settings, Tabs.
Yes
Yes
No
No
Screens laid out around the fold
Half open, or held on its side like a book, the Guide, Home, Multi-View and pop-up sheets split at the hinge instead of across it. Open flat and upright, they use the whole screen.
No
Yes
No
No
Switch iPad to the Apple TV look
An option in Settings.
No
No
Yes
No
Sports
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Scores
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Racing: Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR and dirt racing
Laps, the leader while it runs and the winner after, with the best feed in one press.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Horse racing
The day's races and the 24/7 horse racing channels in your lineup.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Soccer from Europe and the Americas
Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Champions League, Europa League, Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, MLS and Liga MX. A league shows once your lineup carries one of its games.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Your teams
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Game details: box score, where to watch, radio
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hold a game to pick it for Multi-View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Best feed order
Smoothest first, Sharpest first or your own order, from Settings and under a game's Sources.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sources grouped by broadcast
Each team's own broadcast, the network's, other languages and radio calls, each with its copies, best first.
No
No
No
Yes
Your team's own broadcast first
For a team you follow, the game's first button plays its own announcers. Apple TV, and iPad in the Apple TV look.
No
No
No
Yes
Radio call with the picture
With a manual sync control.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
College radio calls for both teams
From each school's flagship station's own stream, for over 80 schools.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Automatic radio sync
Lines the call up with the picture by sounds heard on both.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Stadium surround (TV crowd in the rear speakers)
Needs a 5.1 sound system and automatic radio sync.
No
No
No
Yes
Never Miss a Moment
Scores, final minutes and kickoffs of your teams, shown over whatever is on. Never about a game you can see, so nothing gets ahead of the picture.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Moment notifications
While Excalibur plays out of sight, in Picture in Picture or in the background.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Multi-View
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Two channels at once
An ordinary iPhone, and the Duo folded, show two.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Four-window layouts (2 × 2, 1 + 3)
Duo: open or half open.
No
Partial
Yes
Yes
Eight windows (4 × 2)
iPad: when the screen is at least 1000 points wide, such as landscape.
No
No
Partial
Yes
Search a window by team, show or channel
Finds a game by either team's name or nickname, a show by what is on now, or a channel by name. Merlin takes anything else.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multi-View remembers its windows
Open it again and the channels you closed with come back in their places.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Team colors and live scoreboards on each window
A game's window wears both teams' colors with its score, and the screen behind glows with the window you are hearing.
No
No
No
Yes
A frozen window switches to a steadier copy
When one window keeps freezing while the others play, it moves to another copy of the same channel.
No
No
No
Yes
Saved Multi-View sets
Duo: kept in the open Duo's builder. Apple TV: Save as Set.
No
Yes
No
Yes
Multi-View builder
Opened flat: preview, layout and channels, then Watch.
No
Yes
No
No
Build a Multi-View with Merlin
iPhone and iPad: AI Search answers offer Several in Multi-View. Apple TV: a Build with Merlin button.
Partial
Partial
Partial
Yes
Freeform Studio
Opened flat: free windows, Spotlight, Smart Screen Swap and Save My Studio.
No
Yes
No
No
Ghost Screen
One channel full screen, a see-through second in a corner. Duo: opened flat.
No
Yes
No
Yes
Play button on a paused window
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Recording
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Record a show, or follow a series or team
No
No
No
Yes
Recordings kept in iCloud
Every Apple TV's Library finds them.
No
No
No
Yes
Recordings play while they download
The whole length shows from the start, with the part that is ready shaded.
No
No
No
Yes
Library
Recordings, followed shows, your teams' games and what records tonight.
No
No
No
Yes
Home and devices
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
HomeKit controls on the Hub
Lights, fans, plugs, HomePods, Apple TVs, locks and thermostats.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HomeKit cameras and camera wall
Apple TV also lists Cameras in its sidebar.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Choose what the Home Hub shows
Hide rooms, cameras and devices on one device only. On Apple TV, hold a tile to hide it.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HomeKit scenes when something plays
Runs a scene when a film starts, stops or pauses.
No
No
No
Yes
Heart rate and stocks beside the clock
Shown on Apple TV's Hub. iPhone and iPad send them: Watch heart rate from Health, and your stock list.
Partial
Partial
Partial
Yes
Continue watching across devices
Shows what another device is playing. Can be turned off per device.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Providers, favorites and teams synced through iCloud
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Settings synced through iCloud
Captions, audio, ad-break sound, radio sync, channel numbers and your guide match on every device. On to start, under Settings, Providers. Picture, buffer and recording settings stay with each device.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
System and purchases
Feature
iPhone
iOS
iPhone Duo
iOS, foldable
iPad
iPadOS
Apple TV
tvOS
Live Activity with game scores
Starts when you watch a game from Sports. iPad: Lock Screen card only.
Yes
Yes
Partial
No
Home Screen widget (Last Channel)
A tap plays the channel.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Top Shelf
Merlin's picks and recent channels on the Apple TV home screen.
No
No
No
Yes
Now Playing controls (Lock Screen, Control Center, remote)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Siri and Shortcuts
Watch a channel, What's on, open the guide or Multi-View.
No
No
No
Yes
Free trial and purchase
Free trial, then a yearly or lifetime purchase.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Good to know
- The iPad column is the standard iPad layout. An option in Settings switches iPad to the Apple TV look, which adds most TV screens.
- Freeform Studio, Ghost Screen and the Multi-View builder need the Duo opened flat.
- Recording, Start Over and the Library are on Apple TV.
- Ad-break sound and Live buffer rewind stay off until you turn them on in Settings.
- Merlin runs on Apple Intelligence on iPhone and iPad. On Apple TV it uses an AI service key you add in Settings.
- Excalibur plays the playlists and accounts you add. It doesn't sell or provide programming.