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Apple Adds Multiple New App Categories to tvOS App Store

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Apple today updated the tvOS App Store to add several new app categories to make it easier for Apple TV 4 owners to find content on their devices. As outlined by AfterPad, a site that showcases Apple TV apps, the new categories are rolling out to Apple TV users and may not be available to everyone just yet. Some users may only see the new categories under Purchased Apps until the rollout is complete.

apple_tv_categories_feb2016-800x449.jpg

New categories are as follows:

[*]Business Apps
[*]Weather Apps
[*]Utilities
[*]Travel Apps
[*]Social Networking Apps
[*]Reference Apps
[*]Productivity Apps
[*]Music Apps
[*]Finance Apps
[*]Book Apps
[*]Medical Apps
[*]Catalogs

At launch, the tvOS App Store did not include a Categories section like the iOS App Store, making app discovery difficult early on. App Categories were added at the beginning of November. Available categories were initially limited to just Games and Entertainment, but they have expanded since then.

The tvOS App Store now closely mirrors the iOS App Store when it comes to content discovery, with Categories, Top Charts, and featured apps available.

Article Link: Apple Adds Multiple New App Categories to tvOS App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/25/apple-tv-4-new-app-store-categories/
Still missing. Tv Channel category. I don't want to search through each category for different types of channels. I just want to see themall, and nothing else.
 
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npmacuser5 said:
For Apps, I would like to see the ability to search and deliver to the Apple TV from any IOS device.
Click to expand...

You mean a tvOS section on iOS AppStore?

Apple really needs to fix the categories. There are apps that show in the scroll screen when you select a category. But when you open that category the app is not there. Example: channels app.
 
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2010mini said:
You mean a tvOS section on iOS AppStore?

Apple really needs to fix the categories. There are apps that show in the scroll screen when you select a category. But when you open that category the app is not there. Example: channels app.
Click to expand...
Yes. One App Store accessible from all Apple devices. Upon purchase, tell the App store what device or devices to deliver the App.
 
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That's nice, but what I really wish is that there was a way to browse all apps in the store. If something isn't in the top choices lists, there doesn't seem to be any way to find out about apps that I don't know about.
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Carlanga said:
If they do, it would be for FaceTime though
Click to expand...

I would much rather see them add a Thundetbolt port so it could connect to 4K displays and to external storage devices fast enough to handle 4k streaming.
 
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npmacuser5 said:
Yes. One App Store accessible from all Apple devices. Upon purchase, tell the App store what device or devices to deliver the App.
Click to expand...

Since both OS X and Apple TV apps are not compatible with iOS devices (and vice versa), it'll be necessary to make that abundantly clear before someone clicks Buy. I'm not sure Apple wants to be processing countless refund requests. "Whoops, I bought an Apple TV app, and I don't have an Apple TV!"

And if an app exists for iOS, OS X, and Apple TV, those are separate purchases (and the code for each is incompatible with the other platforms), it's not "buy on one platform, use on all." Would it be nice? Yes. But a whole lot more than the App Store has to change before this would work.
 
Yes, would love to be able to browse apps on each platform for each platform.
Browse on iPhone for TV apps.
Sometimes it seems that Apple doesnt understand its own products.

Would love to see art as a category.
 
Probably just me, but I really don't like the "look" of the new tvOS screens. Something just not right about the spacing, font, colours... it doesn't feel "Apple-like", but I guess this is the new Apple.... visual designers with no taste.
 
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coolfactor said:
Probably just me, but I really don't like the "look" of the new tvOS screens. Something just not right about the spacing, font, colours... it doesn't feel "Apple-like", but I guess this is the new Apple.... visual designers with no taste.
Click to expand...

Personally, I really like the new UI so, for me, the visual designers did just fine.
 
ApfelKuchen said:
Since both OS X and Apple TV apps are not compatible with iOS devices (and vice versa), it'll be necessary to make that abundantly clear before someone clicks Buy. I'm not sure Apple wants to be processing countless refund requests. "Whoops, I bought an Apple TV app, and I don't have an Apple TV!"

And if an app exists for iOS, OS X, and Apple TV, those are separate purchases (and the code for each is incompatible with the other platforms), it's not "buy on one platform, use on all." Would it be nice? Yes. But a whole lot more than the App Store has to change before this would work.
Click to expand...
Others are doing it now. Amazon, I can use my iPad (any web browser) to browse and purchase Apps for the FireTV. Their App or web browser shows which device the App is compatible with and allows you to select which devices to deliver App when purchase completed. If App not compatible the device is gray and not selectable. Something like this with some Apple tweets maybe. Apple is moving to more universal Apps so this approach may make sense.
 
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npmacuser5 said:
Others are doing it now. Amazon, I can use my iPad (any web browser) to browse and purchase Apps for the FireTV. Their App or web browser shows which device the App is compatible with and allows you to select which devices to deliver App when purchase completed. If App not compatible the device is gray and not selectable. Something like this with some Apple tweets maybe. Apple is moving to more universal Apps so this approach may make sense.
Click to expand...

Along with listing the supported devices down at the bottom of the App description (ya know, the part most normal people never see!), add a list of icons where "offers in-app purchases", age restrictions, and such live. Have an icon for iPhone, iPod, iPad, iWatch, TV and Mac. If people want to know what versions of each device type, they should go to the details in the App description. On top of this, display a warning prior to purchase on devices that do not support the app you are buying: "WARNING: This app is not supported on the device you are currently using. Please refer to the list of supported devices before making a purchase. Apple is not responsible for your ignorance."

There's been plenty of times I've wanted to buy an iPad app from my phone, but couldn't. Usually in those cases it's because of a sale, but it would be convenient for any time.

Playstation.com allows me to buy software and after purchase provides me the option to push the software to my different Playstation devices. I'm sure Xbox does this too (not an XBO owner). Seems like something Apple could do, but since they are all about simplicity, I am sure they are too worried this would "cause confusion."
[doublepost=1456502726][/doublepost]I will admit that Disney Infinity 3.0 on the Apple TV is pretty impressive. Seems more on par or slightly better than PS3/XB360/Wii U. I'm tempted to base a Bluetooth base for it. While gaming isn't the best, there is potential. I have a PlayStation TV and the Apple TV seems like it could provide the same (if not better) quality of games if developers put the effort into it. The problem, I think, is that the Apple TV user-base is too small; especially the user-base of potential gamers.
 
npmacuser5 said:
Others are doing it now. Amazon, I can use my iPad (any web browser) to browse and purchase Apps for the FireTV. Their App or web browser shows which device the App is compatible with and allows you to select which devices to deliver App when purchase completed. If App not compatible the device is gray and not selectable. Something like this with some Apple tweets maybe. Apple is moving to more universal Apps so this approach may make sense.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with your overall desire, it would be nice, and I agree that it seems like Apple is probably moving in this direction. Trouble is I don't see how they could really hit what you're describing without confusion. The Fire TV is probably a bad example of this, because nobody is going to accidentally buy a Fire TV app on an iPad thinking that it's an iPad app.

Well, okay, some people might. But it's not likely. To be sure there was no confusion, Apple would almost have to do something like what they do with the iTunes stores, where the interface for buying music vs. the interface for buying movies, while in the same app, are in different sections and are totally different colors. And from what you're describing, that sounds like more segregation of the content than what you want.

But yeah, if they were to add a tvOS app to iOS that I could use to buy apps and push them for download on my Apple TV, that'd be fantastic. The dream of getting the tvOS apps all mixed in with the iOS apps seems problematic at best to me.
 
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