As the trend of OTT platforms, web series, movies, and many other videos are already high, it has created a lot of interest among the millennial. They want to watch their favorite content anytime and on any device. While most of the content is easily available to watch from mobile devices and desktops, people also want their favorite movies or web series on big screens i.e. Television too. That’s why the concept of Android Television evoked so that the users can access the different android apps on their television too.
Do you know that nearly one-third of the online content is consumed in form of videos via TV apps? Apart from entertainment, live streaming apps are also playing a major role in business marketing.
At times when 80% of consumers prefer live-streaming material to read blogs, the trend is shifting from pre-produced videos to live-streaming apps.
In this article, we will learn almost everything about TV apps.
What is Android TV?
Google created a Smart TV platform which is popularly known as Android TV. The Android TV operating system was introduced by Google in June 2014. It works on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and better versions. Android Developers can use the Android SDK to optimize applications installed on Android TV. Google is improving this system every day.
The Rise of TV Apps
In simple words, a TV app is a live broadcast of every action that is happening somewhere and someone captures it on a specific device you are taking video from.
The results are a rare opportunity to watch it in on your personal devices that too in real-time such as PCs or smartphones.
| Sources from which Live Streaming Video Viewers in the US vs. Worldwide Stream Live Video, May 2019 |
| | US (%) | Worldwide (%) |
| Digital Streaming Subscription | 43% | 41% |
| Social Platforms | 40% | 52% |
| TV Network Site or App | 32% | 34% |
| Gaming Site or App | 28% | 33% |
| Pay-TV Service Provider Site or App | 17% | 21% |
| Why did Smart TV owners purchase their SMART TV? |
| I want a more up-to-date TV | 56% |
| Picture Quality | 47% |
| Good Specifications | 44% |
| Available at a good price | 44% |
| To connect to the internet through TV | 27% |
| My old TV was broken | 22% |
| I read a good review | 17% |
| Connect TV to other devices | 17% |
| Someone else in the household decided to … | 15% |
| Sound Quality | 15% |
| Because of the digital switchover | 14% |
| Other | 10% |
| To watch sporting events | 6% |
| A family member recommended it to me | 6% |
| Don’t know | 2% |
| None of these | 1% |
| Usage of Smart TV ServicesOnline Content Accessed on Connected TV Devices |
| Online Movies | 71% |
| Weather | 79% |
| TV Shows | 59% |
| Any Games | 54% |
| Music | 52% |
| User-Generated Video | 42% |
| Social Networks | 40% |
| News | 38% |
| Sports | 38% |
| Financial | 36% |
| Photos | 36% |
| Traffic | 35% |
| Social Games | 33% |
| Internet Voice Calls | 32% |
Types of TV Applications
There are 3 main types of TV applications that are highly popular in app stores. If you are planning to develop a TV app then you must know which type you want to develop. The TV apps are categorized on the basis of the tasks they will perform. Here are these apps types:
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Audio-Only Streaming
As the name indicates, this type of TV app is used to develop only audio like songs. The user would be able to listen to songs without downloading them. It would be a very simple app to use. Some of the popular examples of Audio-only streaming apps on TV are Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Video-On-Demand Streaming
As we mentioned above, 71% of the users watch videos or web series on the TV. These are highly demanded apps on TV. The users can watch TV series, videos or movies without downloading. There are features of pause, fast forward, play, rewind, or even skip unwanted parts of the video. However, most of the video-on-demand streaming apps are not free and they have to purchase a membership to watch the content. The popular video-on-demand streaming apps are Netflix, Amazon, Vevo, Hulu, etc.
Live Broadcasting
Live Broadcasting is also a huge trend on social media platforms. Generally, influencers, travelers, celebrities, etc. broadcast themselves live on social media platforms. The users can watch the video in real-time through these apps. It is recorded and broadcasted simultaneously.
How to Develop Apps For Android TV
Television is a very particular device that has the least number of hardware units apart from the segment of sound and picture. In simple words, mobile comes with a microphone, camera, sensors, while there is no such thing on television. Hence, it is required to give special concern for the TV app.
Here are the important things that you need to consider:
Layout
The design of the TV app must be special so that it can be easily run on all Television of different sizes. Firstly, the orientation would be landscape and there would be large elements on the interface. As the user will navigate the app from a distance and on a big screen. Moreover, the navigation should work with the combination of a directional pad (D-pad) and a select button.
If you are already having an application and you want to update it for TV then the same rules are applicable. The design of the app which was developed for smartphones or tablets can’t work with TV as it is almost 10 times of mobile size.
TouchScreen
The apps which are developed to work on TV can’t work with touchscreen navigation. In fact, they must work with a TV remote. In order, for an app to appear on the list of TV applications on Google Play, functioning without a touchscreen is a requirement.
Voice Control
Voice Search or voice control is huge in trend and that’s why TV manufacturing companies are not lagging behind. The TV remotes come with a voice assistant. It can be used to turn it on and off, check the content, change screen settings, and much more. Creating an app that can be navigated by voice commands would be a great step towards beating your competition.
Read more: Regression Test Plan: A checklist for Quality Assurance
Search Functions
Like a smartphone application, there would be a need for a user-friendly search for a better user experience. This should be one of the most important things to focus on. Consider including voice search for the best user experience.
Content Suggestions
This is another recommendation applicable if you are making an app for video or music streaming. Display some content recommendations based on users’ history and interests on their home screen.
Wrapping Up
This article was brief on how to develop a TV app, we can give you more consultation. We, at Amplework, are having expertise in developing applications for every platform. Please let us know your requirements.
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