New Apple TV Apps Put iOS on the Big Screen
Apple unveiled the new Apple TV today (Sept. 9), and with it comes a new on-television experience with tvOS. Available for developers now, tvOS aims to bring iOS to your living room with new apps for your television that expand on their mobile counterpart, in addition to more of the TV- and movie-watching apps you'd expect from a streaming box.
Apple TV already has staple content apps including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and HBO Go, but the new tvOS will expand that library. While the company didn't provide a huge list of new apps, it did give a few popular examples: you'll be able to plan a vacation using the Airbnb app to book places to stay, search for a new home using the Zillow app and shop for high-end clothing via the Gilt app.
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The new Apple TV will also double as a pesudo gaming console. Popular iOS games like Shadowmatic and Crossy Road will be available on the new device, letting you experience some of your favorite mobile gameplay on the big screen. In a demo of Crossy Road on the new Apple TV, the game developers revealed the game's new multiplayer mode, allowing you and your friends to dodge traffic together (or push each other into it).
Other games coming to the new Apple TV include the newest Guitar Hero title and the playful Disney Infinity 3.0, which now features a slew of kid-friendly Star Wars content. In a quick screenshot from the event, we also noticed apps like Daily Burn and Best Sports on the new Apple TV. It's clear that the company does not just want the Apple TV to be a device for passive content consumption, but rather something you can use in your home to interact with apps as you would with your iPhone or iPad on the go.
As with the Apple Watch, we will have to see what developers do with tvOS, as their creations could make Apple's device stand out among the Rokus, Chromecasts and Fire TVs of the world. tvOS is available for developers today, while the new Apple TV will be available in late October starting at $149.
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