In a sign Apple TV+ may yet arrive for Android users — meaning hell must be entirely coated in ice — Cupertino is looking to hire a senior engineer to build a TV and sports app for the smartphone platform, according to a new report.
Report: Apple seeks senior engineer to build TV and sports app for Android
Apple advertised a job opening in the past several days for a senior software engineer to help put together a sports and TV app for Android, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The ad, posted on May 25, says Cupertino seeks a development lead on “fun new features” to “help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports.”
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment, Bloomberg said. But could this mean Cupertino will make Apple TV+ or some combination of new TV and sports apps available to Android users? Sounds like it.
It’s all about market share
The software-development move appears to be about gaining more market share in video streaming by any means necessary — even working on the Android platform, the main competitor to iOS.
The report noted that the iPhone giant has spent heavily building up original content for Apple TV+ since its launch in 2019, netting a 2022 Best Picture Oscar for CODA in the process. But Apple doesn’t disclose service’s subscriber numbers or its specific revenue, so it’s hard to say where it stands financially on the venture.
Clearly, developing apps for Android could open up a major source of additional viewers and resulting revenue. While Apple dominates the high-end smartphone market, Android serves more users worldwide using more than 3 billion devices. To tap into this massive audience, Apple has introduced the Apple TV+ app, making its streaming service more accessible to non-Apple users.
Apple’s avoidance of Android could be coming to an end
Apple hasn’t been shy about putting Apple TV+ everywhere possible, like on Roku and Amazon devices. But there has not yet been a dedicated Android app for it, though it could run on Google Chromecast and some smart TVs via Android.
Meanwhile, Apple put out Apple Music streaming on Android, but not FaceTime and iMessage, which it may have viewed as bigger threats to iPhone sales.
Bloomberg suggests the latest move shows an attitude change at Apple, as it seeks a more extensive involvement with Android through a new hire to “design and architect a sophisticated application.” The report also cited releases earlier this year of standalone versions of Apple Music, Apple TV and device-management apps for Windows.
Going back a bit further, Apple expanded the iTunes Music Store to cover Windows PCs six months after launching the service for Mac. It’s like “giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell,” then Apple CEO Steve Jobs said around that time.
And what’s more, this could bolster Apple’s juggernaut growth in services revenue, already a big bright spot in recent quarterly earnings reports.
