tvOS App Store After One Month: 2,624 Apps in Total, Entertainment Apps Most Popular With Consumers

[Nunyabinez]

If there are 2,624 apps in the tvOS App Store, I clearly am not searching correctly. I've found nowhere near that many apps, and really, there's about 10-15 that are worth a damn at this point. Why would I want a calculator on my TV?

We all looked forward to an App Store on the Apple TV, but outside of Plex, Infuse, and maybe Pandora, most of the apps that are any good (Hulu, Netflix, WatchESPN, HBO, etc.) were already available on the old Apple TV.

What you have to do is go into search and then put just "a" in the search box, look at all the apps, scroll back up, backspace the "a" put in a "b", look at the apps, rinse, repeat.

Yeah, that totally sucks, but that's the only way I have found to see everything.

 

[Lazy]

"At six months, the iOS App Store was at 15,000 apps and 500 million downloads, so it will be interesting to see if the tvOS App Store keeps pace."

Not it won't. It won't be the slightest bit interesting. There were way more iPhones in use when the iOS App Store debuted than there are app-capable Apple TVs in use. No way the tvOS apps will come close to the pace of iOS apps. That's not an informative comparison to make.

 

[LordBeelzebub]

Great start to the new Apple TV! But would love to see more "premium" games. Like SquareEnix brining some of the Final Fantasy games they have out for iOS to tvOS.

is the hardware in the new ATV capable of "quality games"? I'm thinking if quality games is a priority, people should have got a PS4 or 360. I don't expect anything other than quirky b rated games on this devise.

 

[felixen]

Applovin supports ads for Apple TV

 

[Nunyabinez]

is the hardware in the new ATV capable of "quality games"? I'm thinking if quality games is a priority, people should have got a PS4 or 360. I don't expect anything other than quirky b rated games on this devise.

it's as powerful as fairly recent iPhones and powerful enough for a higher level of games than what is available now. The limiting factor is the requirement to be able to use the remote. These are capable compared to last gen consoles, but obviously you won't be playing Call of Duty on ultra settings at 60 fps. But, there is a lot of ground between COD and Crossy Road, but only if we have real controllers.

 

[Burger Thing]

Apple needs to allow folders .. It's very inefficient to scan through all these apps on one page..
It's ridiculous! Games .. Screensavers , channels all mixed up on one page !

Also apple needs to allow us to creat favorites folderS for orginizing what we like. Way of consolidating programing from different apps ... Example of such folders could be ( my favorite syfy, favorite news, favorite sitcom.. Etc) Each folder can show a dot with a number inside ( like ios mail) showing designated new content that has not been watched or something along those lines )
my stupid dvr is capable of some orginization. Without this orginizationsl tools at the core of TVOS .. It will be mess and inefficiant !

I like my ATV overallbut i absolutely agree. How on earth can they not include folders right from the start?! So many products lately which feel rushed with a lack of polish.

Also the single line text input is dorked.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Apple usually gets into a new product category with a well crafted but old-born and not really ready product that gets software and hardware improvements with the second generation. I'm quite tired to wait for the properly good Apple TV and I'm afraid they're going to lose the fight for the most used and supported ecosystem.

 

[shiseiryu1]

Great start to the new Apple TV! But would love to see more "premium" games. Like SquareEnix brining some of the Final Fantasy games they have out for iOS to tvOS.

I really like my AppleTV but the game selection right now is really lame. However, I think Apple is mostly to blame for this. Can anyone remember a system which only had one button on the controller?.... I can...it was called the Atari 2600. I love the new remote for doing "TV" things but it definitely is handicapping game creation efforts. I don't know what the solution is but I would like for Apple to find a way to more active attract high-quality games.

 

[Juicy Box]

What's apps I use Apple TV 4 for in order of most used:

#1 Hulu - and it's great.

#2 Asphalt 8 - I could never play this game on a phone or iPad again.

#3 YouTube - horrible app on the Apple TV but works well enough

#4 Netflix - kinda unorganized and lame interface but again works fine

#5 Music - perfect now with the update for Siri with Apple Music

#6 Tv shows - only use it for supergirl and limitless, it sucks in that it doesn't tell you if there is a new episode out because it will only show your purchases, so you have to go into the App Store, search for it then click on it again to show the new episode, vs just clicking on the shows you watch recommendations, or maybe it was a bug that happened to me a couple of times.

#7 fireplace hd - nice crackling fireplace, I leave it on sometime at night when I'm not using my tv

#8 Aquariam - very nice videos of real life aquariums


What apps I want to have on Apple TV:

Tinder - this would be fun as a group of friends - but I guess you could always mirror it from your phone.

Superhero games - Spider-Man, batman, injustice

Safari - pleaseeeee

I like your list, everyone else is probably similar though.

For me:
#1 Netflix - It works, but the UI is horrible, the ATV3 was much better. You can't browse genres anymore.

#2 Hulu - The app's UI is much better than the ATV3, but it is so slow.

#3 Alto's Adventure - This has been a great game, simple, but fun and relaxing. The music, and weather changes is kind of meditative.

#4 Crossy Roads - Not my favorite, but my kids love it.

#5 YouTube - The ATV3 app was much better, but it kinda sucked on that one too.

#6 NBC app - Because The Black List isn't on Hulu.

#7 HBOGo - Have not used this much, but probably will more once GoT comes back.

Everything else is never used. I have other stuff downloaded, but nothing else held my interest.

 

[Juicy Box]

Can anyone remember a system which only had one button on the controller?.... I can...it was called the Atari 2600.

It actually has more than one button, but I see your point. Holding the remote is not like holding a Wii remote. The few buttons are not placed in a natural way.

I have not bought a BT controller yet, but I might. I would have already if there was some decent games to play to justify the purchase.

 

[DempaX]

Which is the best site keeping track of new and reviewed apps for the TV4? Ordered one to try it out. Use TV3 for Mov/TV/airplay already. Thanks!

 

[Defender2010]

Apple TV needs to have BBC iPlayer, 4OD, ITV Hub and 5 On Demand in the UK to rival PS4. Also needs to change that terrible text input UI. So monotonous!!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

All these years, we've waited and waited for Apple to finally unlock the potential of this little box. Finally, they do and look how quickly the third party developers are already making it do more than it's ever done before. Just think how much more it will do in the next few months... and by this time next year!

 

[Rocketman]

So, is a "channel" entertainment necessarily?

 

[normanfox]

I've downloaded one app, plex.

Plex? No

Infuse? Yes

 

[robbyx]

So far I'm pretty underwhelmed by third party ATV apps. Aside from games and the obvious media apps (the vast majority of which are available on ATV3), what apps are good? What should I check out? I haven't found anything particularly interesting or well executed. Take Zillow, for example. I'd love to be able to browse real estate on the big screen, but the app is downright terrible compared to the website or its iOS counterpart. I'm waiting for that one (non-game) app that really shows the potential of ATV, but so far I haven't seen it. And yes, Plex and Infuse are cool.

 

[haruhiko]

@firecore's Infuse is the only app I need. Glad to see Remote app support in the latest update.

 

[macintologist]

All I care about are apps that give me live video content, especially news.

 

[Soccertess]

lots of potential, hopefully they make an amazing controller. I like the rift controller, it has a superior form factor, just needs buttons for ring fingers.

 

[PsykX]

As of now I can't say I am a completely satisfied customer with the hardware :
1. Siri is taking way too long to work - why doesn't it work in Canada yet ? It's their highlight feature.......
2. The hardware could have been much better and could have targetted the Xbox and PS4 directly. It will only be able to compete next year, with the 5th generation.
3. The Remote app took too long to be released.
4. Thought it would replace my cable terminal.

As for the software, I am deceived by the app selection so far. Being a developer myself, I'm not helping. I thought my game would have been released on this platform by then, and I still have to find some time do some more work to polish it.

But as Steve once said, at this point, as long as the potential is there, the good, great and awesome apps will come in time.

 

[Juicy Box]

So far I'm pretty underwhelmed by third party ATV apps. Aside from games and the obvious media apps (the vast majority of which are available on ATV3), what apps are good?

This is pretty much the state of the ATV4 at the moment for me.

All the video apps I have installed on my ATV4 are preloaded on the ATV3. The ATV3 versions are better, except the Hulu app. The ATV4 Hulu app's UI is better, except that it is silly slow.

I am surprised when I see that people like the new Netflix app. While it visually looks nicer, the UI is so messy and browsing things to watch is pointless.

 

[Makosuke]

2600 apps? I feel like there's about 60, tops. They need to do some serious work on discovery.

This is the problem. Seriously.

I bought one immediately. I like it. I want to buy games for it. I already have several. Honestly, I want it to be my primary console, because it's good enough for me and I like the convenience and cross-iOS saves (and single-price cross-iOS purchase) of many games.

I'd love to see A- or even B-list ports for the device (Squenix games, ports that are or once were on iOS like Bard's Tale or Bioshock or Driver), but in the mean time I'd like to at least check out what's there.

Except there are apparently a thousand plus games for the thing, and I can only seem to find maybe 100 at most. Open up the app, browse games, and there's a relatively short scrolling list of mostly the top titles. Browse via the web? Apparently not. Any kind of larger-scale top list? Nope. Other apps by this developer? I can't find it.

Basically the only way to find ANYTHING is to already know it exists and search by name, or have already bought it on iOS and find out it's available.

Seriously, discovery is totally broken past the first layer of top content. Of all the things Apple needs to fix sooner rather than later, this should be near the top. I'm honestly a bit surprised they didn't work it out before launch, if only to keep developers happy.

 

[ibrownguy]

Apps will define these boxes soon.

Queue: But but but its not a Roku.

The new Apple TV is nice. The Roku box gives you access to Google and Amazon instant video. From the looks of the app downloads the Apple TV might wipe out what's left of the Wii gaming crowd. Bundled TV is going to be tough nut to crack. Media Executives know what their product is worth. They won't give in as easily as records companies did.

 

[Spendlove]

I've downloaded one app, plex.

I am a newcomer to Plex and I have to say it is utterly brilliant on the ATV4.

The main thing for me is the utter nonsense that is requiring games to play on the remote. WHY WHY WHY? Apple should have bundled one proper controller with the ATV4 and let real games be developed. It would have made a fortune. The cat is out of the bag now. Stupid, stupid decision and to be fair it is one of the only times I have seen MacRumours forum members agree 100% when it was announced.

Did no one think about this at Apple? Seriously no one?

 

[Abazigal]

is the hardware in the new ATV capable of "quality games"? I'm thinking if quality games is a priority, people should have got a PS4 or 360. I don't expect anything other than quirky b rated games on this devise.

There are plenty of great games that already run on the iPad, and which I would love to be able to play on a large screen with MFI controller without contending with possible lag from airplay. I don't really need PS4-quality games, nor am I expecting any for $10 apps.

Right now, I am simply using my Apple TV for Youtube and Air Video. The only game I have played so far is Dungeon Quest, which was simply and addictive, but also grew stale and repetitive very fast. I have heard that Oceanhorn and Transistor run and look great as well, though I have not purchased them (missed the massive discount for Transistor).

But discoverability will be its biggest problem, because if and when a great new app comes, I won't know it unless a website like Toucharcade comes along.