Apple TV SDK Coming soon

[Scott38660]

Hi everyone!

I just noticed in the Apple Developer Portal that under the devices category, developers can register Apple TVs for development.
This confirms the multiple rumors over the years that Apple is going to release an SDK for the Apple TV.

Just thought I'd let you guys know!

 

[JoeShades]

Nice Find

 

[benji888]

Ah, yeah, just because developers can register an ATV, does not necessarily mean SDK is coming to current ATV models, but, likely only to a new ATV, one about to be announced.

Keep in mind, ATV3 has a SINGLE core A5, that is, performs same as A4 (A5 is, essentially a dual-core A4, A4 was single core, but, Apple uses a single core version of A5 in ATV3. See ifixit.com for details). ATV, currently, is designed solely for streaming video, audio, pics. Any apps would have to be 32-bit, and work well on an A4 processor, that is, comparable with iPhone 4 or original iPad, with a higher pixel count of 1920x1080 instead of 1024x768. Considering I had an original iPad that was laggy with iOS 5 on it, and the fact that Apple is trying to move away from 32-bit apps and told developers to make their apps 64-bit some months ago, this is definitely not happening with current or previous gen. ATVs, but only to a new ATV.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Ah, yeah, just because developers can register an ATV, does not necessarily mean SDK is coming to current ATV models, but, likely only to a new ATV, one about to be announced.

Keep in mind, ATV3 has a SINGLE core A5, that is, performs same as A4 (A5 is, essentially a dual-core A4, A4 was single core, but, Apple uses a single core version of A5 in ATV3. See ifixit.com for details). ATV, currently, is designed solely for streaming video, audio, pics. Any apps would have to be 32-bit, and work well on an A4 processor, that is, comparable with iPhone 4 or original iPad, with a higher pixel count of 1920x1080 instead of 1024x768. Considering I had an original iPad that was laggy with iOS 5 on it, and the fact that Apple is trying to move away from 32-bit apps and told developers to make their apps 64-bit some months ago, this is definitely not happening with current or previous gen. ATVs, but only to a new ATV.

You're probably right that the ATV3 will not be getting an app store, but to play devils advocate and because I hope you're wrong, I will argue against.

The A5 is the ATV3 is not just like an A4. First, the A5 is based on the Cortex-A9 instruction set, whereas the A4 is based on the Cortex-A8 instruction set. I think this matters more than just number of cores and clock rates as this determined what the CPU is capable of doing. The Cortex-A9 had many improvements and efficiencies, too many to list here. Second, the GPU was significantly better (PowerVR SGX543MP2 vs PowerVR SGX 535). Third, the A5 had optimizations for SIMD instruction sets that make it far better for decoding media, among other tasks.

Also, while Apple has told developers to include 64-bit compiled apps going forward, they have by no means told develops to move away from 32-bit compiled apps. Indeed, there are still tons of 32-bit iPhones and iPads out there, and about half the devices supported by iOS9 have 32-bit CPUs.

Thus, I think the ATV3 would be perfectly capable of running streaming and content apps. Games might be harder, and would probably provide a less than ideal experience. However, if for example Amazon Prime Streaming only comes out as an app in the ATV app store, there is really no good reason it shouldn't work on the ATV3.

 

[benji888]

You're probably right that the ATV3 will not be getting an app store, but to play devils advocate and because I hope you're wrong, I will argue against.

The A5 is the ATV3 is not just like an A4. First, the A5 is based on the Cortex-A9 instruction set, whereas the A4 is based on the Cortex-A8 instruction set. I think this matters more than just number of cores and clock rates as this determined what the CPU is capable of doing. The Cortex-A9 had many improvements and efficiencies, too many to list here. Second, the GPU was significantly better (PowerVR SGX543MP2 vs PowerVR SGX 535). Third, the A5 had optimizations for SIMD instruction sets that make it far better for decoding media, among other tasks.

Also, while Apple has told developers to include 64-bit compiled apps going forward, they have by no means told develops to move away from 32-bit compiled apps. Indeed, there are still tons of 32-bit iPhones and iPads out there, and about half the devices supported by iOS9 have 32-bit CPUs.

Thus, I think the ATV3 would be perfectly capable of running streaming and content apps. Games might be harder, and would probably provide a less than ideal experience. However, if for example Amazon Prime Streaming only comes out as an app in the ATV app store, there is really no good reason it shouldn't work on the ATV3.

Well, when it comes down to it, the single core performance of the A5 is nearly identical to the A4. Regardless of the tweaks, the real advantage of the A5 over the A4 was the second core. While the A5 performed twice as fast as an A4 only in dual-core tests, after this, when Apple designed the A6, it more than tripled performance in both single and dual core tests. So, comparatively, the difference between A4 & A5 was not significant without the second core. This can be seen in the following video from ios 7 benchmark scores at end of the video. It has iPhone 4 (A4)/4s (A5)/5 (A6)/5s (A7 & M7) comparison:

 

[dumastudetto]

You're probably right that the ATV3 will not be getting an app store, but to play devils advocate and because I hope you're wrong, I will argue against.

<snipped>

Thus, I think the ATV3 would be perfectly capable of running streaming and content apps. Games might be harder, and would probably provide a less than ideal experience. However, if for example Amazon Prime Streaming only comes out as an app in the ATV app store, there is really no good reason it shouldn't work on the ATV3.

The App Store is going to be a flagship feature of the new Apple TV hardware. I'd be surprised if they opened it up to the ATV3 they've been selling on the cheap. That said, getting a cut of all the revenue from content sales might make it more palatable for Apple to make a category of apps available to ATV3 users. I'm also sure the current hardware would be capable of streaming content from media apps.

I think ultimately they'll keep it simple and say new hardware is required to drive the apps on offer. They'll also probably want everyone to have the new Apple TV remote to make the experience as good as possible.

 

[StevenWalker]

The App Store is going to be a flagship feature of the new Apple TV hardware. I'd be surprised if they opened it up to the ATV3 they've been selling on the cheap. .

Its already been widely reported there will be NO app store for ATV3.. it will get a refreshed ios... but NO app store.

This is a KEY feature of ATV4... if you want that.... you pay for it.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Well, when it comes down to it, the single core performance of the A5 is nearly identical to the A4. Regardless of the tweaks, the real advantage of the A5 over the A4 was the second core. While the A5 performed twice as fast as an A4 only in dual-core tests, after this, when Apple designed the A6, it more than tripled performance in both single and dual core tests. So, comparatively, the difference between A4 & A5 was not significant without the second core. This can be seen in the following video from ios 7 benchmark scores at end of the video. It has iPhone 4 (A4)/4s (A5)/5 (A6)/5s (A7 & M7) comparison:

Benchmarks wouldn't show the benefit unless they were written to take advantage of the newer instruction sets. There is no doubt that a CPU based on Cortex A8 will be beat by an othewise similarly clocked CPUs with equal number of cores but bated on a Cortex A9.

Sure, an app written for the lowest common denominator and for maximum width of compatibility, such as the A4, will not show the benefits of an A5. However, since the ATV3 has an A5, and i don't think anyone believes the ATV2 will be supported, why would the developers of ATV apps not optimize for the A5 and it's cortex A9 features if they are able to?

 

[d21mike]

Its already been widely reported there will be NO app store for ATV3.. it will get a refreshed ios... but NO app store.

This is a KEY feature of ATV4... if you want that.... you pay for it.

It may be true, but I do not think it has be widely reported to have NO app store for the ATV 3. It has been reported that the ATV 3 will get the new Apple Streaming Service due in 2016. So not sure why they would not allow other Apps on the ATV 3.

9TO5MAC Says this. But does not say much more:
The new Apple TV will cost more than the current $69 model, starting at $149, according to trusted sources. The current cheaper version will stick around, however, and gain the future cable replacement service.