Smart TV apps

Smart TV App Development

Apps for Roku, Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Tizen and LG webOS — designed for the remote control, tested on real hardware and prepared for each platform's certification.

Discuss Your TV App Read: Building for Smart TVs

Which TV platforms do you support?

We build apps for Roku (SceneGraph/BrightScript), Android TV and Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV (tvOS), Samsung Smart TVs (Tizen) and LG Smart TVs (webOS). Other TV and set-top box ecosystems can be considered where a project requires them.

TV development is its own discipline. There is no mouse or touch — every interaction is directional focus from a remote. Hardware can be several years old with limited memory. Each platform has a different language or runtime, and each store has its own review checklist.

Teams that treat a TV app as "the web app, but bigger" usually discover these differences at certification. We plan for them from the first POC build.

What a TV app POC typically proves

Remote-control navigation feels natural across the core screens
Catalogue rails and artwork load fast on lower-end devices
Protected playback works with the required DRM and formats
Sign-in via activation code or QR works with your identity system
The shared API can serve TV clients efficiently

We usually start with one or two priority platforms, then extend.

Platforms

TV platforms we build for

Roku

Channels built with SceneGraph and BrightScript, including deep linking and Roku-specific certification requirements.

Android TV & Google TV

Native Android apps with Leanback or Compose for TV, home-screen integration and Play Store distribution.

Amazon Fire TV

Fire OS apps with Amazon's device-specific guidelines, Appstore submission and in-app purchasing where relevant.

Apple TV (tvOS)

Native tvOS apps with the focus engine, top shelf, and App Store review requirements.

Samsung Tizen

Web-based Tizen apps optimised for Samsung model years and submitted through Samsung's seller process.

LG webOS

webOS apps built on web technologies, tuned for LG hardware and the LG Content Store review.

Listing a platform here describes our engineering capability, not a certification or partnership with the platform owner.

How we approach it

Living-room UX and engineering

We share as much as is sensible — APIs, business rules, design system, and sometimes a shared web codebase across Tizen, webOS and browser-based TV platforms — while respecting what each platform does best.

Typical technologies

BrightScript / SceneGraph
Kotlin
Swift (tvOS)
JavaScript / TypeScript
Lightning JS
Enact
HLS / DASH

Focus management

Predictable D-pad navigation, visible focus states and sensible "back" behaviour on every screen.

10-foot design

Readable type at distance, safe areas, overscan and layouts designed for a sofa, not a desk.

Device performance

Image sizing, list virtualisation and memory budgets tested on older, lower-powered models.

Certification

Each store's checklist — deep links, playback behaviour, accessibility, content policies — tracked from day one.

Smart TV app FAQ

Can one codebase cover all TV platforms?

Partly. Web-based platforms such as Samsung Tizen and LG webOS can often share a codebase. Roku, tvOS and Android TV use different languages and SDKs. What can always be shared is the backend, API, content model and design system.

Which TV platform should we launch on first?

It depends on where your audience is. Market share differs significantly by country and demographic. We help you decide using your audience data and business model.

Do you test on real TVs?

Yes. Emulators are useful during development, but performance and playback must be validated on physical devices across representative model years.