Apple announces brand new TV app and more for Apple TV

Apple kicked its MacBook event on Thursday with an Apple TV announcement that’s pretty exciting. At least for Minecraft fans. But the most exciting new announcement concerns the brand new TV universal app that will offer users access to the same TV content across devices.

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After recapping some of Apple’s latest product launches, including iPhone 7, iOS 10, and Apple Watch Series 2, Tim Cook came out with the first major announcement for the keynote: Apple TV is getting apps.

“With Apple TV, we want the experience on your television to be as great as the experience across the rest of your Apple devices,” the CEO said.

Currently, there are over 8,000 apps on Apple TV, but that’s still just a drop in the bucket compared to what’s available on iPhone and iPad.

Minecraft is just one of the new apps coming to Apple TV by the end of the year.

Cook also said there are more than 1,600 apps from video providers, which should bring viewers even more content.

Twitter Product Manager Ryan Troy was one of Apple’s guests, who demoed Twitter integration with live TV watching. Basically, a Twitter stream will appear on the right side as content plays on the rest of the screen.

But Apple is looking for an even better TV experience, and that’s why it came up with a brand new Apple TV app. “Today we’re announcing a new app… and we simply call it TV,” Cook said about Apple’s new app that should “change how you watch TV on your Apple TV as well as your iPhone and iPad.”

The app will offer the same features across devices and will replace the videos app on the iPhone and iPad. The app will get you shows and movies from all your TV apps that you’re signed into and will show them on all your devices.

The new TV app will be available on tvOS, iOS, and macOS starting this December in the US, via corresponding software updates.

Interestingly, Netflix doesn’t appear to be included in the apps that will support Apple’s universal TV watching vision. Amazon Video doesn’t appear to be a partner either.