Since the introduction of the Apple TV app store on the new Apple TV, there’s no shortage of ways to view your photos on your TV. Companies you’ve come to know and love have built great apps (like Apple’s iCloud Photo Stream, Flickr, 500px, etc.) but have never really fit into my workflow. I use Lightroom to manage my image library, so I have to export the images I want to share, then upload them to whatever service I’m using. Adobe has a better way.

Earlier this week, Adobe launched Lightroom for the Apple TV. Through the power of Lightroom Mobile, you can sync your photos from your catalog to the cloud and they’re instantly available on the Apple TV. There’s no need to export and upload separately, plus any changes you make are synced immediately so you’ll always have the most updated version of your images.

The best part? It doesn’t take much to set it up. Let’s get started…

Getting Started

On your Apple TV, navigate to the App Store and search for Lightroom. Click on the button to download or “get” the app.

 

Signing In

Once installed, go ahead and launch the app. You’ll need to sign in and like most apps on the Apple TV, Lightroom gives you a code to enter on https://lightroom.adobe.com/tv. On the website, you’ll need to sign in with your Adobe ID and enter the confirmation code displayed on the Apple TV.

Now that you’re signed in, Lightroom can display your photos by date or by collection.

 

Viewing your Images

Clicking on an image will bring it up fullscreen. You can swipe side-to-side on the remote trackpad to switch images or you can push your thumb up to view thumbnails.

 

Slideshows

It’s really cool to view slideshows right on your Apple TV. Get started simply by pressing the Play button on your remote.

Lightroom uses a “slide” transition between images, and while you can’t change the transition, you can change the duration of each slide. From the main screen, push up with your thumb on the trackpad and navigate to Settings. You’ll see an option for Slide Duration. I have mine set to Medium.

My photos look much better on my Apple TV than in these screenshots, so I would download the Lightroom app and see for yourself. After all, it’s a free app and Lightroom mobile is included with your Creative Cloud subscription. It is very easy to get set up and all of your synced collections are available to view right-away.

Note: The “new Apple TV” is technically the Apple TV 4th Gen. It’s the only one with an App Store.