What Platform to Choose for Your Smart TV App Development

Head of Video Streaming Unit at Promwad

Smart TVs deliver content to millions, and market reports indicate that this audience and the number of TV devices continues to grow. Major vendors and various smart TV OS are competing worldwide, and there is the trend of increasing demand for native apps. How to ensure optimal audience reach through your smart TV app? What platform to choose? Let's get to the bottom of these questions.

Table of contents
The connected TV market will double within five years
70% of smart TVs are developed with HTML5 on WebOS and Tizen
Demand for native smart TV apps continues to grow
Case studу: Sportworld Smart TV application development
Case studу: Sport Club – application for Smart TV with live streaming and VoD
Summing up

The connected TV market will double within five years

The connected TV market is valued at $9.28 billion in 2024 and is forecasted to double within five years, reaching $17.25 billion. Modern TV models are revolutionising the industry by enabling users to access streaming services and platforms, such as Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and others, often through integrated devices or functionalities similar to those offered by separate streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV.

Manufacturers are equipping TVs with operating systems, allowing users to enjoy various content and integrate the TVs into the smart home ecosystem. They also incorporate set-top box functionality into new models and implement new technologies through partnerships with content providers and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

Connected TV marker size, its forecast and key players, Q3 2023. Source: mordorintelligence.com

Samsung Corporation, LG Electronics, Hisense, TCL, and Sony Corporation are the key operators in the smart TV market. Samsung topped the ranking of global smart TV shipments in Q3 2023 with 19%, TCL retained its second place in the quarter with a 13.4% share, ahead of Hisense with a 12.2% share.

Despite high inflation rates curbing consumer spending in most countries worldwide, many potential smart appliance buyers continue to prioritise TVs.

Generally, the popularity of smart TV platforms varies by region due to differences in consumer preferences, content availability, and partnerships between TV manufacturers and platform providers.

Globally recognised platforms such as Samsung's Tizen, LG's webOS, Google's Android TV (including Google TV), Roku, and Amazon's Fire TV are among the market leaders. The Android OS held 38.1% of the smart TV market in 2023, Tizen – 21.3%, third place and 12.5% belong to Roku.

2023 Smart TV OS market share. Source: tvtechnews.uk

70% of smart TVs are developed with HTML5 on WebOS and Tizen

When writing business logic for different connected devices, you should consider all technologies to maximise audience reach:

Tizen, WebOS, Chromecast: HTML5
Android TV: Java
Fire TV: Java, HTML5
Roku: BrightScript
Apple TV: Swift / Objective C

Local market preferences play a significant role in this decision. Roku dominates the connected device market in North America with a 50% share, but the share is substantially lower in other regions.

You can support 70% of smart TV views with HTML5 on WebOS and Tizen. SmartCast by Vizio ranked third major platform, also supports HTML5 or Android. Completing the list are Android TV and Fire TV, ensuring coverage across the leading smart TV and connected device platforms.

Roku and Tizen are the market leaders in 2023. Source: mediapost.com

Demand for native smart TV apps continues to grow

The percentage of streaming continues to grow, accounting for almost 55.9% of total viewing time at the end of 2023. Against this backdrop, there has been a big growth in smart TV apps. The average number of apps used on a smart TV has doubled, with viewers using an average of 5.4 apps in Q3 2023 – up from 2.6 in Q4 2021.

Average number of native apps used per smart TV

The trend of increasing demand for native apps for smart TVs continues in 2023. Source: tvrev.com

Even more growth is expected. From Q4 2021 to Q3 2023, the share of viewers who only watch streaming content (via native apps or other means) increased from 45% to 54%. At the same time, the share of those who only use cable/satellite/OTA dropped from 9% to just 5%. Our experience within this field confirms this trend.

Below, we will show a few case studies on the development of native smart TV apps, which allowed our clients in Germany to reach a new level of audience engagement:

Case studу: Sportworld Smart TV application development

Client & Challenge: our client NativeWaves is the exclusive technology provider for B1 SmartTV in Germany, approached us to implement a multiplatform application.

Result: we developed an app from scratch for smart TVs running on Samsung’s Tizen OS to preinstall by default new TV models in the DACH region. The application provides multiple live channels, on-demand videos, future events, and standard full-featured Google Analytics. Also, the application's architecture allows portability to other platforms like WebOS, FireTV, and Android TV.

Read more about the Sportworld App Project.

Case studу: Sport Club – application for Smart TV with live streaming and VoD

Client & Challenge: one of the European football clubs decided to provide their fans with a solution to watch their matches, training activities, and hottest news about the club directly on their smart TVs. Also, it was necessary to integrate the club's merch & ticket store.

Result: we offered full support at all stages, from design to publication in the store. The application features voice control, VoD (video on demand), live streaming, and more.

Read more about the Sport Club App Project.

Summing up

Our smart TV app development services include crafting tailored solutions across all popular platforms. We are ready to manage the entire process, from development to launch in the app shop, and can also create a mobile version of your app (or port yuor native smart TV app).

We embrace the full spectrum of video content delivery, employing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. Promwad builds apps with extensive features, including HTTP live streaming, picture-in-picture (PiP), voice control, and content filtering.

Choosing the right platform for your Smart TV application, whether targeting a specific market or aiming for global reach, is critical to ensuring its success. Our team is ready to assist you in making this decision, offering expertise in selecting the most suitable platform and migrating your existing application to new platforms, if necessary.

Regardless of your market and preferred smart TV platform, we are ready to bring your idea to life and connect you with your audience. Contact us to find out how we can bring your Smart TV app idea to life.