It appears Apple is preparing to launch a mobile version of its Apple TV app for Android, finally giving subscribers (or prospective subscribers) on Android a native way to watch Apple TV Plus and other Apple TV content on their phones and tablets.
At present, Apple offers an Apple TV app on Google Play, but only for smart TVs. As such, the best way to use Apple TV on an Android phone or tablet is at tv.apple.com, using a Progressive Web App. Now, a new job listing has revealed that could all be about to change.
As spotted by Bloomberg, Apple is now hiring an Android Software Engineer for its Apple TV app team. The remit? To “lead the development of fun new features, and to help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports.” If that doesn’t signal an Android Apple TV app for mobile is on the way, I don’t know what does.
Apple TV comes to Android
As per the job posting, Apple has plans to “design and architect a sophisticated application” for Android. With the advent of the new Apple TV and Music apps for Windows in February, Android on mobile is now the only major platform without a native Apple TV app.
Given that Android has an estimated mobile market share of more than 70% worldwide, putting Apple TV, and by extension, Apple TV Plus, in front of an estimated 3 billion Android mobile users seems like a no-brainer. While Apple generally reserves lots of its services, such as iMessage, for its own product platforms, Apple TV, like Apple Music, has a much more universal appeal. With Apple’s increasingly heavy focus on services revenue as a remedy to offset stalling hardware sales, opening up the streaming service to Android’s user base could be the shot in the arm Apple TV Plus needs.
While there’s no firm timeline for a release, the news seems to confirm that Android users everywhere will soon be able to enjoy the delights of the best shows on Apple TV Plus including Ted Lasso, Silo, Masters of the Air, and of course, Severance Season 2.
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