Sky offers massive improvements to Sky Q voice control with latest update

Sky has revealed a number of new updates for Sky Q, bolstering its voice capabilities, giving UHD content a little bit more love and bringing back an old favourite - Favourites!

This is the fifth update for Sky Q and its most significant yet. The voice control updates look set to completely overhaul voice on the platform. Now, when you press the voice button on the Sky touch remote, it will no longer go to a separate screen but stay on the channel you are watching.

You can now channel hop using voice. Saying things such as “change channel to Sky Atlantic” will do just that. You also have the ability to play shows and not just search for them, skip forward through the programme you are watching, pause and watch from the start.

The update means that voice control isn't just contained to channels and programmes, either, it will also allow you to go to certain parts of the Sky Q menu page as well. And you can use voice to access accessibility settings - such as audio description and subtitles.

Given Amazon recently announced an update to its voice search for the Amazon Fire TV and Apple has refined its voice capabilities in the new Apple TV 4K box, an update to Sky's voice controls is definitely warranted.

Favourites is back

The new update also means favourites is finally coming back to the platform. Sorely missed when Sky Q was first launched, there is now a dedicated section for your favourite channels - these can be selected by you, but Sky has made this process simpler by auto populating it with channels you most frequently watch.

The new update also makes it easier to find Ultra HD content within the Sky Q menu. Instead of having to hunt for 4K content hidden within categories, a new Ultra HD pane has been added to My Q, the personalised section of Sky Q.

Sky Q users should see the rollout of these new features in the coming weeks.