They said the future of TV is apps, not browsing. They want all advertising, content consumption and gaming done through apps. Allowing a browser on a TV is not a great experience and it also just lines Google's pockets with money that Apple could've had from ad revenue.
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New Apple TV Hacked to Run Native tvOS Web Browser
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They already have iPhones because of VoiceOver accessibility. It's a much better input device and blind keyboard than a tv remote. Then use it with AirPlay with zoom for the partially sighted.
I think that the Apple TV as it stands now is just the beginning. You could certainly turn it into a mac mini like situation. Apple is taking it slow and that makes sense. They still have not reconciled their positioning of the computers and iOS devices so introducing any more chaos there doesn't make sense. But it is good to see that the infrastructure is there for Apple to expand in the future.
WebTV was a product. We are talking about an app here. An app released by 3rd party developers won't "fail" the product.
Many do. Just because you don't want it does not mean others do not.
Well, then, what is App Store for? They should have just stuck with bunch of channels then.
Makes it sound like you don't care if there is a browser or not, just whether or not Apple is "purposively" preventing it.. Weird. Anyway, unless they remove UIWebview from the SDK entirely, you'll be able to continue to install any browser someone makes this way anyway.
I already do that -- using either my iPhone or iPad via AirPlay to my ATV. It works great; no hack needed.
Unfortunately there are too many lazy developers. So it would be almost all apps making the tv look far less desirable.
Actually Steve spent most of his time stopping devices from doing things that would offer a crappy experience. Like running a web browser on a TV.
Oh - is the current Apple TV simply unable to handle situations where after connecting you need to access a webpage before proceeding to use the internet for whatever you want?
No its not because Web UI is not allowed in Apple TV apps, so they're not allowed to just call a webpage, they have to design specifically for the TV interface. Which is a good thing.
As in "I went to elementary school" yesterday? Because I can't help but read your comment in the voice of a seven-year-old.
web browsing is already significantly inferior on iOS... endless tapping and zooming and new windows (with useless animations). I definitely do not want anything like this on a tv. And, speaking of an app-based experience... get ready for thousands of useless apps on your tv! I don't even look for apps on the iOS app store anymore because of all the crap that is in there... it's impossible to find anything actually useful! agh. sorry for the rant.
Let me, as a customer, determine if I want a browser.
My PlayStation TV (anyone know of this?) has a browser for the TV. It is good for one thing -- looking up a quick cheat or walk-through on a game I'm playing. Otherwise, it's a painful experience. Trying to enter text using a PlayStation remote is probably one step above trying to use the Apple remote. At least I know (Start) is enter, (Square) is backspace, (L1) is like shift... oh, forget it. I'll just grab my iPad.
People who want to view videos from sources that may never get a native app for one thing.
I think with folders, a proper web browser and support for a keyboard and mouse this has the potential to become a $149 desktop computer, I've seen a lot of computer monitors that have built in speakers and HDMI input. It would be perfect for schools and the elderly I think.