Apple on Wednesday announced that its Apple TV app, including its Apple TV+ streaming service and MLS Season Pass, is arriving on Android devices. While the company previously offered a version of its app for Google TV, the newly released app will support a broader range of Android-based devices, including phones, tablets, and even foldables. In addition, Google customers on both living room and mobile platforms will now be able to subscribe to Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass through Google Play billing.
Before, Google TV users would have to have an existing account on Apple TV+ before using the app. Now, users will be able to create an Apple account on their device and pay for the service as they do on Apple devices. The pricing will remain the same at $9.99 per month.
The expansion of the TV app will allow Apple’s streaming service to reach a wider user base, particularly in non-U.S. markets where Android devices are more heavily utilized.
Apple’s TV+ service brings with it a number of top shows, like “Severance,” “Slow Horses,” “The Morning Show,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Shrinking,” “Hijack,” “Loot,” “Palm Royale,” “Masters of the Air,” and “Ted Lasso,” among others. Apple Original films like “Wolfs,” “The Instigators,” “The Family Plan,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “CODA,” and more are also included.
The Android version of the TV app will also offer access to commonly used features, like offline downloads, saved watchlists, and a “continue watching” feature that syncs your watch history across devices. The latter will work even if you use a mix of devices in your household, like an Android phone or tablet combined with an Apple TV streaming box, for instance.
Android TV app users will also be able to see when new episodes or TV seasons drop. However, the app doesn’t yet offer native notifications to alert users to updates and new arrivals. As users browse through the TV+ content, they’ll be pointed to some of the most well-received and popular TV+ content, which they can add to their watchlist or stream instantly.
Friday Night Baseball’s live sports broadcast is also available to Android users.
MLS Season Pass is available as an optional add-on ($12.99/mo or $79/season), with all 30 MLS clubs available starting the weekend of February 22. Users can follow their favorite teams for personalized recommendations, including those within a “dedicated supporters” section in the app.
One key difference between the Android and Apple versions of the app is that Android users will not have access to the in-app Store, where users can rent and buy movies and shows.
Optimized for Android, the new app uses Android’s Material Design principles, including adaptive layouts that adjust to different screen sizes like phones, tablets, and foldables.
The app arrives five years after the tech giant launched Apple TV+ worldwide, its first foray into original streaming content.
Apple’s premium streaming service has garnered a reputation for having high-quality content, particularly in categories like drama and sci-fi. It’s the first streamer to land an Academy Award for Best Picture with its 2022 win for “CODA” and more recently saw its original shows nominated for 2024 Emmys in all the major categories, pulling in 10 wins (including Creative Arts awards.)
Apple TV for Android is rolling out to Google Play users starting Wednesday.
