Speculation about Apple’s plans to develop an Apple TV app for Android mobiles has come from an unlikely source – a job posting on Apple’s website.
The job, posted on May 25, is for an Android Software Engineer to join its Apple TV team in San Diego.
The job listing states that Apple is looking for a candidate to lead the development of “fun new features” and “help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports.”
The job tells applicants that they will need to “design and architect a sophisticated application.”
It could be the strongest indication yet of Apple’s intent to finally bring its TV+ service to the Android platform.
It’s rare for Apple to develop software for its rival, Google’s Android platform, which competes directly with its iOS platform.
Launched in 2019, the TV+ service which was meant to serve as a rival to Netflix or Disney+, hasn’t been fully able to come out with a proposition that threatens either Netflix or Disney.
Reports from last year indicated that Apple was willing to spend around A$1.51 billion annually to produce movies in order to drive its original content pipeline.
Apple hasn’t disclosed how many subscribers its TV+ service has, but going onto the Android platform will undoubtedly drive up those numbers.
While Apple dominates the high-end smartphone market, Android has more users globally. Android powers more than 3 billion devices around the world, reported Bloomberg.
Apple meanwhile has roughly 2.2 billion active devices, with the majority of those being iPhones.
Apple’s drive to increase the reach of its TV+ app beyond its own ecosystem has meant that it already offers apps for smart TVs, Roku, Amazon streaming devices and game consoles.
Apple is present on the Android platform with its music streaming service, but has thus far held off on the TV+ apps as well as FaceTime and iMessage which remain exclusive to the iOS platform.
It also launched standalone versions of its Music, TV and device-management apps for Windows.
Here in Australia, Apple TV+ subscription is available for A$12.99 per month and the app is bundled as a complimentary three-month subscription when purchasing certain Apple devices.
