Key takeaways
- The smart TV market is expanding rapidly, with the prediction of 1.1 billion households to have a smart TV in 2026. This presents a vast audience for your app.
- Flexible compatibility across multiple platforms is essential for reaching a broad audience.
- Voice control and an intuitive interface will enhance user experience tremendously. Not paying attention to these features may cause the app to fail.
7 must-have features of a smart TV app
Here are the essential features a smart TV app should have to meet the diverse needs of viewers.
Note that there are different types of apps so the list may vary. For example, content segmentation and personalization are more typical of a video streaming service than a weather utility app or a game.
Intuitive user interface
Your app should have a simple, intuitive layout that’s easy to navigate using a remote control. Clear menus, large buttons, and straightforward navigation paths help users find content quickly. To enhance readability from a distance, opt for high-contrast color schemes and large fonts. Make sure all necessary functions are readily available and prominently displayed.
An intuitive UI is a must-have for a successful TV app
Consistency in design across different sections of the app ensures a seamless experience that eases users to explore and engage with the app more frequently.
Cross-platform compatibility
Smart TVs come in various models and operating systems, such as Android TV, Apple TV, and Samsung Tizen. Flexible compatibility across these platforms is essential for reaching a broad audience.
Globally connected devices streaming market share by platform
It would be best to aim for a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and resolutions, providing a consistent experience across all devices. Cross-platform compatibility increases the app’s accessibility and positions it as a versatile solution for owners of multiple smart TV brands.
For the first version of your app, you can go for the most popular OS, and add other options later. The market evolves quite fast, so you need to keep an eye on emerging brands and models that become outdated.
Voice control
As voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri become more prevalent, people who are used to them will look for voice control features in your app. This will give your app extra points when users must choose between similar options.
With voice control, users should be able to search for content, adjust settings, and navigate the app using simple voice commands. This feature improves accessibility, which is especially important for users with mobility challenges, and it also enhances the overall user experience.
Analytics
Your app should also allow you to gather valuable data and analytics on viewer behavior, preferences, and engagement. With this information, you can optimize content strategies, improve user experiences, and tailor offerings based on audience interests.
High-quality video streaming
High-quality video streaming is a fundamental expectation for a streaming service. Users want a smooth playback with minimal buffering, regardless of their internet connection.
Offering support for various video quality tiers, from HD to 4K, caters to users with different hardware capabilities. When you prioritize a smooth viewing experience, you can count on longer viewing sessions.
To optimize performance and minimize load times, consider using a scalable content delivery network (CDN) and reducing the number of resources your app uses. Implementing adaptive streaming technologies also has its perks. It allows the app to dynamically adjust video quality based on the user’s bandwidth, ensuring optimal viewing experience.
Personalization options
To offer more personalization options, you can implement multiple user profiles. With that, each household member can have their own set of preferences, recommendations, and viewing history. This ensures a customized smart TV experience for everyone with tailored content suggestions and unique watch lists.
Customizable settings like language preferences and subtitle options can make the app more appealing to a diverse, worldwide audience. Here’s an example from one of our TV app development cases:
Customizable settings for audio and subtitles are crucial for optimal user experience
Content segmentation
By categorizing content according to relevant criteria, your app will offer a more organized viewing experience.
Integrate advanced filtering options so that users can tailor their searches based on language preferences, access content in their native tongue, or explore new languages. Ratings and trending categories can guide users towards popular or critically acclaimed content.
Make sure to implement a search feature for specific movies, TV shows, actors, and genres to simplify content discovery.
Consider including categories like “Recently Watched,” “Trending Now,” and “Recommended for You” to make the browsing experience even more personalized.
When we designed a streaming platform for Spanish market, we decided to go with genre segmentation:
Example of content segmentation and personalized categories
Parental control
With smart TVs often used by families, parental control features will ensure a safe viewing environment for children. Allow users to set restrictions and guidelines for content access, such as blocking specific channels, setting time limits, or filtering content based on age ratings. This feature gives parents peace of mind and makes your app more family-friendly.
How to make a smart TV App
Creating a smart TV app involves a series of strategic steps that guide you from the initial concept to a fully functional product. Here’s a comprehensive guide to developing a smart TV app.
Step 1. Plan and research
The first step is to conduct thorough planning and research. This phase involves analyzing the market to understand current trends, user preferences, and potential competitors. Identify the types of popular apps among smart TV users, and explore gaps in the market that your app could fill.
A discovery phase can help you define your target audience, their needs, and how your app can provide value. This research forms the foundation for your app’s development, guiding decisions on features, design, and marketing strategies.
Purrweb worked with a client who had an idea for a travel app. They came up with this idea based on their own trips and what their friends told them. Our research showed what people might like about the app and how it could make money.
Almost all of our respondents said that they have some trouble with planning their trips, which proved that our clients’ idea was valid
Most importantly, it saved our client almost $40,000! By checking if people wanted to pay for the app before building it, we helped the client avoid spending money on something that might not work. That’s why the discovery phase is so crucial.
Step 2. Choose the main features
The next step is to define the main features of your app. Decide on the type of app you want to create — whether it’s a streaming service, a gaming app, or a utility tool. Prioritize features that align with your app’s core functionality, and consider developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test the market with essential features first.
Distinguish between main and secondary features, focusing initially on those that provide the most value to users. This approach lets you launch quickly and gather user feedback to inform future updates.
Step 3. Choose a team structure
Choosing the best team structure for smart TV app development is another crucial factor that can significantly influence the project’s timeline and success. You have two primary options to consider: in-house development or outsourcing to an external team of smart TV app developers.
The in-house development option offers greater control, as the team works closely within your organization. However, it requires significant investment in hiring and training.
Outsourcing provides access to a global talent pool and specialized skills. This approach is often more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house team, as you avoid the expenses associated with full-time salaries and benefits.
It also offers flexibility, allowing you to adjust the size of your development team based on project needs. Additionally, experienced outsourcing teams can complete projects quicker, helping you get your app to market faster.
The choice depends on your project’s specific needs, budget, and strategic objectives.
Step 4. Design the app
Designing an app for smart TVs begins by creating wireframes to outline the app’s layout and functionality. Wireframes serve as a blueprint, helping you visualize the user journey and identify potential design challenges.
App wireframes are a cornerstone of your project
Once the wireframes are ready, move on to developing a prototype. A prototype allows you to test the app’s design and functionality before full-scale development, ensuring the user interface is intuitive and engaging.
This is an example of a graphic prototype for an app
Pay attention to the visual aesthetics, ensuring the design is consistent with the smart TV platform’s guidelines and enhances the overall user experience.
Focus on the impact of screen resolutions, as smart TV apps need to work on a wide range of screens. When building your prototype, assess viewing distances for each screen size to ensure optimal readability.
Step 5. Develop the app
To develop smart TV apps, you have two options:
- Repurpose an existing mobile app: convert your Android or iOS app to work on smart TV operating systems.
- Develop a custom app: build a smart TV app from scratch.
In the first case, you’ve got all the work cut out for you. You will need to work on adding support for TV OS to the app and rework the UI/UX to fit the new environment.
But when you create a completely new app — it’s an entirely different story.
General Considerations
- Consider using frameworks like React Native or Flutter for shared codebases, but ensure compatibility with each platform’s native features.
- Use emulators and real devices for testing, to ensure the app performs well on each platform.
- Tailor the UI/UX to each platform’s guidelines to ensure a seamless user experience.
This tech stack selection ensures that you leverage each platform’s strengths while maintaining a consistent development workflow:
An example of development tools for creating apps for smart TVs
Step 6. Test and debug
Testing and debugging are critical throughout development to identify and fix any issues before launch. You should:
- conduct usability testing to ensure that the app is intuitive and user-friendly.
- test the app’s performance across different devices and screen sizes to ensure compatibility and optimal performance.
- check essential indicators such as text readability from a distance of 3 to 4 meters, concise information display, and overall design convenience for viewers.
Step 7. Release the app
Before submitting your app to smart TV platforms, ensure it meets the minimum viable functionality and adheres to each platform’s guidelines and requirements. Create a compelling app store listing with quality screenshots, engaging descriptions, and relevant keywords to help users find and want to use your app.
Screenshots and descriptions of one of the most popular streaming services — Hulu
Consider leveraging social media, online advertising, and partnerships with influencers to increase visibility and attract users. A successful launch requires a well-coordinated marketing strategy that generates excitement and encourages downloads.
Step 8. Provide ongoing support
The final step in the smart TV app development process is to provide ongoing support and maintenance. Gather feedback from users to identify areas for improvement and new features that could enhance the app’s functionality. Regularly update your app to address any issues and ensure compatibility with the latest operating systems entering the market.
Purrweb’s experience in smart TV app development
With the increasing number of subscription services, many users find it challenging to keep track of and pay for all of them. This is a common issue in Europe, where households often spend €130 on various media subscriptions.
When our client came to us with an idea to simplify the viewing experience, we helped them create a cross-platform IPTV app. The app combines content from different platforms into one interface, allowing users to access their favorite shows and movies without juggling multiple subscriptions.
Language selection in the smart TV app by Purrweb
The development process involved adapting to new technologies like Android TV and TV OS, beyond our experience with Tizen OS. As a result, we developed a unique TV app that supports custom playlists, language filtering, and intuitive navigation.
We designed the app’s user-friendly interface in a dark theme and the Roboto typeface, for a cinematic look. We also integrated a cross-platform video player and features like an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for better functionality.
The Sleek design of Purrweb’s IPTV app
The result was a suite of six apps, including versions for LG and Samsung TVs, as well as Android and iOS devices.
How much it costs to develop smart TV apps
The cost of developing a smart TV app can vary significantly based on several key factors.
App complexity plays a crucial role, with more sophisticated apps requiring higher development costs. Naturally, basic apps with limited features are more cost-effective than those with intricate functionalities. More complex and diverse features always translate to higher expenses due to increased effort and time required.
The choice of platform also has an impact. Different platforms like Apple TV, Android TV, or Samsung TV have unique development requirements which can affect overall costs. Each platform may need specific skill sets and resources.
Your development team’s composition and expertise also contribute significantly to the overall cost. You need to hire people, train them, and manage the whole process. Outsourcing the job to experienced smart TV app developers can be a more efficient and affordable way to build your app.
Average costs estimates
The cost of a smart TV app development can vary widely. On average, you can expect to invest between $43,000 and $130,000, depending on the abovementioned factors.
Here’s a breakdown of potential costs for different components:
| Component | Average cost |
| Plan and research | $4,000 |
| Concept and design | $9,000 |
| Development | $24,000 |
| Testing and quality assurance | $7,000 |
| Maintenance and updates | depends on your business needs |
For a basic app with limited features, you might spend around $12,000 to $15,000. An app with more features and functionalities could cost up to $60,000. Complex applications with intricate functionalities might even exceed $100,000.
Remember, these are estimated figures, and the final cost can vary based on your specific requirements and chosen development team.
Why make smart TV apps at all?
So, why should you choose a smart TV app over a more conventional mobile ? Here are some good reasons to do it.
Tap into a growing audience
At the end of 2020, more than 34% of global households owned a smart TV. This percentage is projected to exceed 50% by 2026, with 1.1 billion households having a smart TV.
The best thing about smart TVs is their its diverse demographic that spans age groups, interests, and geographic locations. By positioning your app on popular smart TV platforms, you can connect with millions of potential users who are eager for new content and will make your app a core element of their daily lives!
Increase revenue
The shift in viewer behavior — preferring streaming video content to traditional TV networks — highlights the potential for increased revenue through smart TV apps.
From subscription models and pay-per-view options to ad-supported content and in-app purchases, there are various ways to generate income here. The ability to oOffering premium content or exclusive features can attract users willing to pay for an enhanced experience.
Strengthen brand presence
As more consumers turn to their smart TVs for entertainment, having your app on these platforms can set you as a go-to source. A well-designed smart TV app can differentiate your brand from competitors, showcasing your commitment to innovation and user-centric design.
By securing a place in on the TV app market (and in your users’ hearts) you can outpace your competitors who haven’t explored the opportunity yet. This is what happened to Netflix — they’ve secured the #1 position with 269.6 million subscribers just because they were one step ahead of Apple and Hulu.
Get more user engagement
With interactive features like personalized content recommendations, live polls, and quizzes, you can create immersive experiences. This will increase user retention and satisfaction, encouraging users to spend more time on the app.
By delivering targeted content based on user preferences, search history, and browsing habits, you can tailor content suggestions across different genres. It will boost engagement and app revenue even further.
Final thoughts
Developing a smart TV app offers exciting opportunities to reach a wide audience or boost revenue. The process involves strategic decision-making at every stage, from selecting the right features to choosing the most suitable development approach. Each of these decisions plays a crucial role in shaping the final product and its success in the market.
Ultimately, the key to success in smart TV app development lies in a comprehensive approach that combines technical expertise with a keen understanding of user behavior. By focusing on these elements, you can create an app that not only meets current demands but also anticipates future trends.
