Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Apple TV: Recent TV Moves and Deals By Apple Explains Why There Is No App Store Yet (If Ever)

There are no apps on the Apple TV other than those that Apple put there.  Video, music, podcast, and Netflix to name a few are the only ones there.  In fact, there are quite a few choices for users to select regardless of music, video, or live streaming media.  What is not there is an app store that many have been asking for or rumored about.  And to be frank, there may never be an app store for the Apple TV.

Apple has so far been adding "windows", if you will, that allows the user to consume content without any actual interaction.  No social graph.  You can play games on your iPhone or iPad via Airplay, mostly through mirroring, hardly ideal.

And let's face it, the currently Apple TV is good enough for streaming and Airplay, nothing more.  And until Apple updates the hardware on the Apple TV, we won't know what Apple may have planned. 

And once Apple's own streaming video service is available, it might be all that Apple needs - more content.

If anything, Apple will add apps relating to its "kits".  By that, I mean HealthKit and HomeKit.  There is so much potential there but Apple will likely move slow on those fronts as well, especially HomeKit.  It could take years for something tangible to develop, a "wow" factor that has so far been missing.  For the most part, Apple is happy to sit back and let others play with them and let developers and hardware makers figure out how to best use Apple's services. 

And if you think about it, what apps do you really need on the Apple TV that works better on a TV than on an iOS device.  Games quickly come to mind but Apple's support for third-party hardware like game controllers has been muted.  Again, it just feels like Apple was testing the water with the controllers until they see a breakthrough.  Apple TV plus an iOS equals a gaming console. 

There have been rumblings about a new Apple TV each and every single year but in 2014, it did feel like Apple was finally going to open up the floodgate a bit.  Apple stopped calling it a "hobby" for one thing.  And with the recent price cut, the $99 price point is available for a newer Apple TV.

Let's just see what the rest of 2015 have in store.  Or 2016.



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