History of the Apple TV tvOS App Store
Apple is a company that needs no introduction. Indeed, it has a long track record of bringing revolutionary products to the market. Today, they boast perhaps the most most impressive product catalog on the planet, offering a host of popular devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, HomePod, and Mac computers and laptops), and a wide-ranging portfolio of software applications, operating systems, professional apps, and online services.
Apple has been particularly innovative in the digital entertainment space. Building off the wild success of iTunes and the Apple App store, the company launched the Apple TV digital media player in 2007 and the tvOS operating system in 2015.
Funny enough, this wasn’t the tech giant’s first foray into the television space. The company had tried at various times to launch TV and digital entertainment products, including 1993’s short-lived Macintosh TV, the Apple TV tuner card, and 1994’s Apple Interactive Television Box, which was a collaboration venture between Apple, British Telecom, and Belgacom that never made it to the market.
It was not until 2006, however, that Apple introduced the world to the project that would become Apple TV. At the time it was called iTV, was based on Apple’s now discontinued Front Row software, and could be navigated using the Apple Remote.
By 2007, the market was finally ready for Apple’s digital entertainment revolution. With Apple TV, they were officially able to shake up the traditional cable TV model, à la Roku, YouTube, Netflix, and other streaming and digital entertainment innovators.
By bringing affordable, bespoke offerings to the market via Apple TV and tvOS, Apple has made it possible for consumers to ditch expensive, thousand-channel cable packages that they don’t need or want. The result: consumers are leaving cable providers en masse. This phenomenon – referred to as cord-cutting – has led to increasingly poor returns for the cable industry writ large. As such, businesses that rely on cable TV viewership to generate revenue are looking to companies like Apple to reclaim that lost audience.
For Apple, the cord-cutting trend has been a boon. The emergent digital streaming market has provided the company with a fantastic new source of revenue with a bright future ahead of it. That is to say, the Apple TV app, and the tvOS operating system that undergirds it, is poised to become one of Apple’s most critical products.
The Apple TV app comes with nearly 100 pre-loaded apps and channels, and offers thousands more via the Apple TV app store. Many of these apps offer free content, but others – such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and HBO – require third-party subscriptions. Additionally, there are some apps, like those that offer movie purchases and rentals, that charge on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The flagship Apple TV product is the Apple TV 4K streaming device, which makes it possible for users to stream 4K and HD content directly on their TV sets. In addition, the Apple TV platform is available on select Samsung smart-TVs, and the app itself can be downloaded on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
All things considered, it’s easy to understand the appeal of Apple TV. It’s a convenient and affordable all-in-one platform that comes with Apple’s trademark intuitive user experience. It offers consumers more options, more freedom, and more manageable costs.
Learn about other app stores, including the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, and more!
How Many Apps Are on the tvOS App Store?
The tvOS App Store is one of the most popular mobile app vendors on the planet, offering 21,325 apps.
How Many App Publishers Are on the tvOS App Store?
To date, 14,049 app publishers have published apps on the tvOS App Store.
What Is the Distribution of Free Apps Versus Paid Apps on the tvOS App Store?
18,138 apps available on the tvOS App Store are free to download. Conversely, 3,187 must be purchased. Of course, it should be noted that many free apps may either offer or require in-app purchases.
How Are Apps on the tvOS App Store Distributed by Category?
Drilling down a bit deeper, apps available on the tvOS App Store are divided into 26 categories. We’ve calculated the distribution of tvOS App Store apps by category:
How Many Apps Are Published on Apple TV per Day?
An average of 9 new apps are released on the tvOS App Store per day.
How Many Apps Are Published on Apple TV per Week?
Last week, 70 new apps were published to the tvOS App Store. Here are the upload statistics over the last three weeks:
How Many Apps Are Published on Apple TV per Month?
Last month, 301 apps were added to the tvOS App Store. Here are the upload statistics over the last three months:
What Is the Rating Distribution of tvOS Apps?
By enabling users to rate apps available on the tvOS App Store, consumers and app developers alike are better able to determine the popularity and quality of each app. Currently, 7,150 (34%) apps have been rated by users while 14,175 (66%) have not yet been rated. We’ve determined how these ratings are distributed:
Find out how app ratings are distributed on other app stores.
How Much Do Apps on the tvOS App Store Cost?
While the vast majority of apps available on the tvOS App Store are free to download, there are many that require a payment up front. Typically, paid tvOS App Store apps cost We’ve taken the liberty of investigating the price distribution of paid apps costing up to USD $10.00:
Get tvOS App Store App Data & Insights from 42matters
We here at 42matters offer enterprise data dumps of connected-TV platform metadata from Roku, tvOS, and Fire TV. This data can be leveraged to gain valuable insight and statistics about the various digital stores managed by these platforms and their extended app ecosystems.
42matters offers a glimpse into every app available on the on the tvOS App Store. This includes app name, platform, description, category, developer name, developer ID, rating, price, whether it requires a subscription, and a whole lot more.
By leveraging our extensive connected-TV app datasets – which come in daily, weekly, or monthly installments of a single gzipped file with line delimited JSON – companies can quickly ingest the latest data and statistics into their own system for further analysis.