Although there was no new Apple TV announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday, that doesn’t mean Apple has ignored its streaming set-top box. In fact, it just increased the number of TV devices developers could test their apps, boosting the number to 100 units this week.
Granted, that may not seem like a major development—unless you consider that Apple may be setting the stage for a windfall of new third-party apps for the living room screen.
See also: Apple TV Will Reportedly Get Siri And Apps—But There’s More In Store
That’s the way developer Ouriel Ohayon took the news. Having noticed the change, he tweeted out a screenshot along with the words: “Apple TV apps are coming.”
There’s reason to think he might be right.
The Need For More Testing
Apple raised the limitations on test devices to 100 per device category. In other words, developers can test their apps on 100 iPhones, 100 iPads, and so on. The more devices you use to test apps, the more bugs you find and squash, presumably. (Previously, developers could only register a collective total of 100 across all product types, MacRumors points out.)
It makes plenty of sense for Apple to expand that allotment for phones, tablets and watches. All of them allow users to download apps on different models and in various conditions. It’s so reasonable, in fact, that it’s hard to believe the company waited this long to open up this limitation.
The Apple TV, however, doesn’t fit into this mold. It’s a stationary device that stays tied to television sets, pulling in streams off the same broadband network at all times. (It is, after all, a box—not a Chromecast or another pocket-friendly gadget suited for portability.) Widespread testing for Apple TV apps would also make less sense, if Apple sticks with its current way of dealing with TV apps. The company cherry-picks partners and work with them to deliver their software to the set-top through updates.
But now, expectations run high that the tech company will pack a slew of new features into its former “hobby,” among them third-party apps (probably through the App Store or a subset within it).
Although the Apple TV product line predates Google’s year-old Android TV initiative by six years, the latter—as a platform—has already outpaced it by leaps and bounds.
About 600 new TV-ready apps recently made their — For more information read the original article here.
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