What kind of apple tv app would you like to see ?

[mh]

Even though I'm retired from the Software world professionally, every once in a while the mood strikes me to do some recreational programming. Since the new apple tv coming out soon will allow you to make (app store released) apps , I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making one.

Is there any app you'd like to see for the apple tv ? If so, shoot a reply here, i'm looking for some ideas.

 

[Animorph]

Display the video from one of your own webcams.

 

[wanaberetiree]

Even though I'm retired from the Software world professionally, every once in a while the mood strikes me to do some recreational programming. Since the new apple tv coming out soon will allow you to make (app store released) apps , I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making one.

Is there any app you'd like to see for the apple tv ? If so, shoot a reply here, i'm looking for some ideas.

That's cool, I am still in s/w testing mostly, so let me know if you need help w/testing.

Something around - ability to cache videos from youtube and other places locally and run on TV + maybe broadcast on a local network to run the same on any device.

How does that sound?

 

[mh]

That's cool, I am still in s/w testing mostly, so let me know if you need help w/testing.

Something around - ability to cache videos from youtube and other places locally and run on TV + maybe broadcast on a local network to run the same on any device.

How does that sound?

Might be useful but from what i can tell, Youtube's Terms of Service seems to not allow this though, which would mean the app would probably never make it through apples approval process.

Excerpt from youtube's Terms of service

5. Your Use of Content
In addition to the general restrictions above, the following restrictions and conditions apply specifically to your use of Content.

The Content on the Service, and the trademarks, service marks and logos ("Marks") on the Service, are owned by or licensed to YouTube, subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under the law.
Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content. You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. YouTube and its licensors reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the Service and the Content. I'm guess things live vimeo, etc.. are similar in their restrictions

 

[mh]

Display the video from one of your own webcams.

I have an old iphone 4. that i was going to possibly
repurpose into a webcam. via

Amazon.com: Motrr Galileo: App-Driven Motorized Camera Mount for iPhone 4/4S: Cell Phones & Accessories

looks there is an API that exists for the above. so.. that's a possibility.

If i did anything I'd go this route , or maybe interface to a gopro since they
are popular..

Do you think that you would really use your tv to view the webcam instead of a smartphone app ?

(just being devil's advocate here)

 

[wanaberetiree]

Youtube's Terms of Service seems to not allow this though

.. which is stupid

 

[GrayHare]

An audio based search, for example, "find, movie, Shawshank" and it knows I mean The Shawshank Redemption, then shows me a list that includes only: 1) when that film is next airing free on the OTA channels available to me, and 2) streaming services to which I already subscribe that have it available. When I say, "Choose, list item, 2" it accesses the source in list position 2 and begins play.

 

[easysurfer]

I'd like a way to pause a streamed live broadcast, such as a ballgame.

I'm gonna watch the Cubs/Pirates game streamed live to my Amazon Prime TV streaming box in about 30 minutes. I have a device to pause my radio broadcast as I like to sync the game to the local home team broadcast. For a non streamed game, I can record to a DVR then pause that to sync with my radio. But in my case, if the streamed live game happens faster than my radio, there's no way I can make them sync up.

 

[audreyh1]

An audio based search, for example, "find, movie, Shawshank" and it knows I mean The Shawshank Redemption, then shows me a list that includes only: 1) when that film is next airing free on the OTA channels available to me, and 2) streaming services to which I already subscribe that have it available. When I say, "Choose, list item, 2" it accesses the source in list position 2 and begins play.

This is already provided by the new AppleTV - they have Siri voice remote control and that includes searches across apps (channels).

But it is not an OTA thing - you don't get that through AppleTV.

 

[mh]

An audio based search, for example, "find, movie, Shawshank" and it knows I mean The Shawshank Redemption, then shows me a list that includes only: 1) when that film is next airing free on the OTA channels available to me, and 2) streaming services to which I already subscribe that have it available. When I say, "Choose, list item, 2" it accesses the source in list position 2 and begins play.

As Audrey pointed out the new Apple TV will have this - except for (1) . But .. Supposedly there will be an api to allow you to plugin in your own code to work in combination with apples search framework , so (1) should be doable - that might be a nifty $1 app to make - it could schedule you a reminder if it finds it etc.. definite potential if it's not too much of a pain to scrape the OTA schedules programmatically


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[mpeirce]

But it is not an OTA thing - you don't get that through AppleTV.

There will be OTA integration from third party devices. Tablo is promising an Apple TV app:

Exciting Apple Updates = More Choice for Cord Cutters

I'm hoping that TiVo does the same. They already offer iOS apps that let you send video to an Apple TV via AirPlay. Having a real Apple TV app would also let TiVo participate in the the Apple TV's search system.

 

[audreyh1]

There will be OTA integration from third party devices. Tablo is promising an Apple TV app:

Exciting Apple Updates = More Choice for Cord Cutters

I'm hoping that TiVo does the same. They already offer iOS apps that let you send video to an Apple TV via AirPlay. Having a real Apple TV app would also let TiVo participate in the the Apple TV's search system.

Interesting.

Our OTA signal is not good anymore. But we haven't missed it.

 

[tulak]

There will be OTA integration from third party devices. Tablo is promising an Apple TV app:

Exciting Apple Updates = More Choice for Cord Cutters

I have high hopes for Tablo on Apple TV. Their iOS app works well, but I haven't been impressed with their app on the Fire Stick. Part of the problem might be the Fire Stick, since I find that wireless isn't that reliable.

The only downside I see with the Apple TV is that it won't have an Amazon app. Hopefully this will change with time, but if it does, it won't be for a while.

As for the Tablo, it's worked ok as a Windows Media Center replacement. We had frequent issues, but they seem to have gone away with their last firmware updates. Now there's only some minor app annoyances.

 

[mpeirce]

Even though I'm retired from the Software world professionally, every once in a while the mood strikes me to do some recreational programming. Since the new apple tv coming out soon will allow you to make (app store released) apps , I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making one.

Is there any app you'd like to see for the apple tv ? If so, shoot a reply here, i'm looking for some ideas.

I've pondered this myself since I still write iOS apps for my personal use and Apple TV apps are basically the same thing (different UI and input obviously).

I expect games to be the most common apps on the Apple TV. Of course anyone with a "TV channel" will make an app, but that's a fairly limited set of folks.

Anyone can build a game (and maybe a few of those folks can build a good game ) so I've been thinking about non-game, non-TV channel apps.

Someone will probably reinvent some classic screen savers for the Apple TV - a nice aquarium app and maybe a good fireplace app. Maybe there's a variation of that sort of thing you might want to try?

Another thought is a family "white board" app where people can scribble "I'm running out to buy milk, back soon!" or "Clean your room before you play Minecraft!"

Also, have you learned Swift yet? It's a nice improvement over Objective-C. I wrote my last iOS app in Swift and it was easy to make the transition.

 

[audreyh1]

The only downside I see with the Apple TV is that it won't have an Amazon app. Hopefully this will change with time, but if it does, it won't be for a while.

Amazon could produce one - it's really up to them. I guess it's a billing issue.

The Amazon app on the iPad works very well using AirPlay with the AppleTV. Amazon has clearly optimized it for this case based on what I see on on the iPad UI.

 

[tulak]

Amazon could produce one - it's really up to them. I guess it's a billing issue.



The Amazon app on the iPad works very well using AirPlay with the AppleTV. Amazon has clearly optimized it for this case based on what I see on on the iPad UI.

Amazon is pulling Apple TV hardware from their site. That's not a good indication that they want to support an Apple TV. I've used their iOS and agree it works well. No need to use AirPlay though, since I currently have FireSticks in the TV. Plus, my wife would never go for using AirPlay to watch Amazon content.

The only downside for me is that I don't like the Fire's UI and prefer Apple's UI. I was hoping to migrate to Apple TVs, but without Amazon Prime support, it might not happen.

I'll probably stick with the FireSticks until this gets sorted out. Who knows, maybe Amazon will provide an app for Apple TV. We won't know until it's been released for a while. The only downside for us is that I want to get a wired solution, since steaming over wifi is iffy at times.

 

[audreyh1]

Just got the new Apple TV.

I like the new remote. It's great that you can power on all your equipment with just one button. That just worked immediately - we didn't have to configure anything. Plus the volume control worked immediately!

All our other remotes are now put away - we don't need them anymore!!!! (Unless you want to switch to DVD or off air).

Nice easy way to scroll back and forth through the timeline with the track pad on the remote. Pretty intuitive UI.

Otherwise bit of setup. Now you have to download the apps you want (like Netflix) instead of them just "appearing" like they did on the old one. And had to re-enter a few passwords.

We haven't tried any of the Siri voice commands yet.

 

[braumeister]

Got my Apple TV today and immediately became hugely frustrated. Although it appears to work fine, I can't get it set up because the cool little remote that came with it isn't working. Rebooting, re-pairing, nothing helps. The touchpad just doesn't respond, so I can't do anything with it.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem out of the box with an Apple device. Been using Apple products since 1980, so I guess I was overdue for this.

Edit to add: Spoke to them on the phone and they made an appointment for me tomorrow morning at the Apple Store to reset it. Fingers crossed!

 

[mpeirce]

We haven't tried any of the Siri voice commands yet.

Siri is the best part of the system. Press the Siri button:

"What did he say?" Rewinds a bit, turns on closed captioning, runs a bit past where you where, then it turns closed captioning off again. - My favorite feature!

"Skip forward 50 seconds" does this - I find scrubbing with Siri is easier and more precise than using the touch surface.

"Open Netflix" or "Open Sky News" or whatever to open a specific channel/app.

Press the Siri button once, then wait and it displays a bunch of suggested commands. (normally, you press and hold the Siri button to speak to it)

 

[audreyh1]

Siri is the best part of the system. Press the Siri button:

"What did he say?" Rewinds a bit, turns on closed captioning, runs a bit past where you where, then it turns closed captioning off again. - My favorite feature!

"Skip forward 50 seconds" does this - I find scrubbing with Siri is easier and more precise than using the touch surface.

"Open Netflix" or "Open Sky News" or whatever to open a specific channel/app.

Press the Siri button once, then wait and it displays a bunch of suggested commands. (normally, you press and hold the Siri button to speak to it)

Thanks. I saw the demo on the Apple Conference - just didn't get around to trying it yet.

 

[ERD50]

A little off-topic, but...

I started this thread today...

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/best-magnifying-app-for-ipad-79886.html#post1668617

while it isn't Apple TV, if you are interested in doing some programming for iPad, this could really help a lot of people. Basically, just a few minor UI tweaks to the current magnifying apps would really make them far more useful for the vision impaired community.

-ERD50

 

[mh]

I started this thread today...



http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/best-magnifying-app-for-ipad-79886.html#post1668617



while it isn't Apple TV, if you are interested in doing some programming for iPad, this could really help a lot of people. Basically, just a few minor UI tweaks to the current magnifying apps would really make them far more useful for the vision impaired community.



-ERD50

Thanks for the idea, I'll look it over when I start up my programming activities again in a couple months


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