tvOS apps / Apple TV apps Statistics and Trends 2024

Apple is a company that needs no introduction. Indeed, it has a long track record of bringing revolutionary products to the market. Today, they boast perhaps the most most impressive product catalog on the planet, offering a host of popular devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, HomePod, and Mac computers and laptops), and a wide-ranging portfolio of software applications, operating systems, professional apps, and online services.

Apple has been particularly innovative in the digital entertainment space. Building off the wild success of iTunes and the Apple App store, the company launched the Apple TV digital media player in 2007 and the tvOS operating system in 2015.

Funny enough, this wasn’t the tech giant’s first foray into the television space. The company had tried at various times to launch TV and digital entertainment products, including 1993’s short-lived Macintosh TV, the Apple TV tuner card, and 1994’s Apple Interactive Television Box, which was a collaboration venture between Apple, British Telecom, and Belgacom that never made it to the market.

It was not until 2006, however, that Apple introduced the world to the project that would become Apple TV. At the time it was called iTV, was based on Apple’s now discontinued Front Row software, and could be navigated using the Apple Remote.

By 2007, the market was finally ready for Apple’s digital entertainment revolution. With Apple TV, they were officially able to shake up the traditional cable TV model, à la Roku, YouTube, Netflix, and other streaming and digital entertainment innovators.

By bringing affordable, bespoke offerings to the market via Apple TV and tvOS, Apple has made it possible for consumers to ditch expensive, thousand-channel cable packages that they don’t need or want. The result: consumers are leaving cable providers en masse. This phenomenon – referred to as cord-cutting – has led to increasingly poor returns for the cable industry writ large. As such, businesses that rely on cable TV viewership to generate revenue are looking to companies like Apple to reclaim that lost audience.

For Apple, the cord-cutting trend has been a boon. The emergent digital streaming market has provided the company with a fantastic new source of revenue with a bright future ahead of it. That is to say, the Apple TV app, and the tvOS operating system that undergirds it, is poised to become one of Apple’s most critical products.

The Apple TV app comes with nearly 100 pre-loaded apps and channels, and offers thousands more via the Apple TV app store. Many of these apps offer free content, but others – such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and HBO – require third-party subscriptions. Additionally, there are some apps, like those that offer movie purchases and rentals, that charge on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The flagship Apple TV product is the Apple TV 4K streaming device, which makes it possible for users to stream 4K and HD content directly on their TV sets. In addition, the Apple TV platform is available on select Samsung smart-TVs, and the app itself can be downloaded on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

All things considered, it’s easy to understand the appeal of Apple TV. It’s a convenient and affordable all-in-one platform that comes with Apple’s trademark intuitive user experience. It offers consumers more options, more freedom, and more manageable costs.

Want to learn about other app stores? Click here!