Apple TV iOS applications now running natively at fullscreen 720p resolution in developer port
We broke the news yesterday that developers Steven Troughton-Smith and the TheMudKip were working on bringing iOS applications to the Apple TV in a native experience.
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second act of a long-running side project: back in October 2010, Steven Troughton-Smith found that applications install just fine on the Apple TV, and he has spent the time since proving the set-top box is functionally an iOS device waiting for permission. The same developer built his reputation on the Siri port to the iPhone 4 covered exclusively by 9to5Mac in late 2011, so this latest work follows a familiar pattern — demonstrating in public what Apple has chosen not to ship.
First-order effects
- The port shows the Apple TV's existing hardware runs iOS applications natively at fullscreen 720p with no new silicon required, meaning the only barrier to a living-room app platform is Apple's own software lock, not a hardware refresh.
Second-order effects
- A working developer demonstration raises the stakes for Apple to either open an official Apple TV App Store or risk the jailbreak community defining the device's app story first, as it did on the iPhone before 2008's official SDK.
Third-order effects
- If Apple follows through and formalizes third-party apps on the television, the Apple TV shifts from a rental-and-AirPlay accessory into a general-purpose app platform, putting it in structural competition with game consoles and cable-company set-top boxes for the TV's home-screen real estate.
The trend: The television is becoming the next contested app platform, with hacker demonstrations like this one forcing Apple's hand on opening the living room.