Apple signals that it's working on TV, sports app for android phones

By Mark Gurman
 

Apple Inc. is seeking a senior engineer to help build a television and sports app for Android, a sign the company is finally bringing its TV+ service to the rival smartphone platform. 
 

In a job listing published in recent days, Apple said it’s looking for someone to lead the development of “fun new features” and “help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports.” A spokesman for Apple declined to comment.

The move suggests that the company is looking to gain market share in video streaming — and is setting aside its rivalry with Android in order to chase additional users. It’s rare for Apple to develop software for Google’s Android, which competes with its iOS platform.

The TV+ service, launched in 2019, is Apple’s answer to Netflix or Disney+, and the company has spent heavily on feeding it with original content. But it’s hard to tell how many consumers have embraced the offering. Though the company scored a best picture win at the Oscars in 2022, Apple has never disclosed how many subscribers the service has or how much revenue it generates. 

Android would provide a big source of potential viewers. Though Apple dominates the market for high-end smartphones, Android has more users globally. The operating system powers more than 3 billion devices around the world. Apple has roughly 2.2 billion active devices, with the majority of those being iPhones.

Apple has long sought to put TV+ on as many platforms as possible and already offers apps for smart TVs, Roku, Amazon streaming devices and game consoles — but it shunned an Android app when TV+ launched.

While Apple offers its music streaming service on Android, it has declined to release apps like FaceTime and iMessage on the operating system. The concern within the company is that putting a popular feature like iMessage on Android will threaten iPhone sales. Though Apple launched a web version of FaceTime a few years ago, it stopped short of creating a dedicated Android app.

TV+ isn’t a total stranger to Android, though. Apple has offered the service on Google Chromecast streaming devices and many smart televisions — with the Apple TV app running on the Android operating system. But the new job listing suggests the company is now planning something more extensive, telling applicants they will “design and architect a sophisticated application.”

The move is the latest sign that Apple’s attitude may be changing. Earlier this year, it launched standalone versions of Music, TV and device-management apps for Windows. More broadly, the company is relying more heavily on services for revenue growth, rather than just devices.

Like its streaming peers, Apple also has raised the price of its TV+ service. Last year, it bumped the rate to $9.99 a month — twice the level when TV+ launched five years ago.