Hands-On With the New Apple TV: A Look at the tvOS App Store
One of the key features of the new Apple TV is the full App Store, which mirrors the iOS App Store and allows third-party developers to create a range of apps and games for the device. We went hands-on with the new Apple TV and took a look at the App Store to give MacRumors readers a better idea of how it works.
Anyone who has downloaded an iOS app on an iPhone or an iPad will be familiar with the way the tvOS App Store works. When first logging in, the Apple TV interface is rather empty, because standard apps, like Netflix, must be downloaded from the tvOS App Store. There are a wide range of games and apps already available, and we've catalogued a number of them in a list.
Games in the tvOS App Store are controlled with the included touch-based Siri remote, which can be used as a touch screen or as a controller similar to the Wii Remote. The Apple TV also supports third-party Made for iPhone certified Bluetooth gaming controllers.
The tvOS App Store has faced some criticism because it’s difficult to discover new content. The App Store only displays a limited selection of featured apps and beyond that, the only way to locate content is through search. Unlike the iOS App Store, there’s no top list and there’s no way to browse through different genres to find apps. That may change in the future as tvOS evolves, but for now, it can be difficult to find all the available apps to install.
Apple is selling the new Apple TV in retail stores and from the online Apple Store. It’s priced at $149 for 32GB of storage and $199 for 64GB of storage.
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Top Rated Comments
The device may have been out for 12 hours, but they sent out dev kits ~6 weeks ago, there are somewhere around 500 apps right now. It may not be enough to fill every possible category, but it certainly is enough that there needs to be a way to see them all without knowing the name of them.
Right now, no, there isn't a need for top lists, especially considering how in flux they'd be, but categories are a must.
Have none of you ever used an apple product? Obviously they will make adjustments in the coming days. Hit up Cosby for some wine if that's what it takes, but chill out instead of carrying on like children having a tantrum because the candles on your cake were the wrong color.
Quality is very low on the whole and I'm seeing a worrying number of Roku style hardcore religious insanity apps on there. Hopefully the ATV app store won't end up like the cess pit that is the Roku channel store.
Of course the list of missing apps is crazy big at the moment, at least in the UK. No BBC iPlayer, no Amazon Prime, no MUBI, no Now TV, no All4, and many more. It's bare bones in the extreme.
Apple has had NINE YEARS to get the AppleTV to this point. In case you don't remember, the AppleTV PREDATES the very first iPhone by NINE MONTHS! (it came out in June 2007). The first version of AppleTV ran a version of OS X Tiger for god's sake! Yeah, but don't complain that this thing wasn't ready for release. Everyone be a good fanboy and bless Apple for all they do for us, one and all! :apple:
2) Steve Jobs passed away 4 years ago. In that time almost everything out of Apple has been incomplete -- Maps, Siri, CarPlay, ATV4, Watch, or just blah - Mac specs (video cards pretty much gutted these days), OS X more complicated and yes more dumbed down than ever. Tablet sales are moribund and the iPad updates almost non-existent. Music seems to not be gaining traction even after the big Beats, Dre, and Iovine buy out. And now it is copying Google on it's self driving car as if Apple needed another hobby.
I agree Tim Cook deserved time to get his sea legs as CEO but he really hasn't accomplished much on his watch as it were. All of Apple's earnings come from legacy products. He's shown us nothing new and exciting that could be Apple's next bread and butter product.
So yes, I do "worry" that Apple has had its best moments as far as being a tech leader of the fresh. Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. He is interested solely in moving product. He's almost the exact opposite of Woz who loved to innovate for the hell of it. Steve loved to innovate and sell the hell out of it. Tim Cook reminds me of John Scully, doesn't care what the hell he's selling as long as it sells.
I think you have a bit too much blind faith. The crew at Apple worked so brilliantly because Jobs knew how to push them in the right direction. Tim Cook only knows how to push product out of warehouses.