Apple and the big store

Apple has made a small but significant move by introducing its Apple TV app to Android. It might seem like a minor step, but it marks a major pivot in strategy as the company expands its services beyond its own ecosystem. Across the years, rumors and recruitment ads show it has been putting this plan together for some time.

Outside the walled garden

That all this speculation has become reality shouldn’t be a big surprise. It’s not as if Android is the first platform to see Apple services support. Windows has many, including iCloud, Music, TV — and Apple Music is already available on Android.

What this means for most of us is limited: It means all the movies and TV shows you’ve purchased from Apple can be accessed on your Android device, which will also stream the full TV+ catalog. It also opens the doors to potential new subscribers to Apple’s growing selection of sports content, at present including Major League Soccer and Friday Night Baseball. Given that Apple was also in the running to pick up streaming rights for key soccer leagues, you should not underestimate the breadth of its ambition in sports entertainment. 

What Apple has also done with this move is weaken arguments against its traditional “walled garden” for services.

It isn’t forcing vendor lock-in through your purchased movie collection anymore. 

It means switchers can access the Apple services they have become accustomed to. 

It means potential Android to iPhone switchers can dip into Apple’s content services during their migration.

Content is king — and available for a fee

Apple TV on Android also hints at the future. You see, as Apple is forced to open its own ecosystem to competitors, it is also being forced to intensify the degree to which it competes against those competitors.

That means Apple Music is now in an all-platform competition with Spotify; and in the future it will also mean Apple TV+ has to compete with other streaming services. 

While TV+ arguably lacks a deep enough library of content to compete effectively, it’s plausible Apple might choose to widen its content library now that its service is available on multiple devices and platforms.

Licensed content could bolster the company’s own unique offerings and be made immediately available to a potential audience of billions. Apple has experimented with this – it licensed a catalog of 50 movies for showing in the US last year, and now has a licensing team in place.

Roblox for tiny humans

While doing so would be highly complex from a development point of view, Apple has another service it could potentially bring across to Android: Arcade.

Apple Arcade is a collection of casual games made available free to subscribers, built to work across Apple’s platforms (including Apple TV). Its big advantages include a distinct lack of built-in data trackers and info stealers and a sensible approach to advertising that means parents aren’t forever claiming refunds or coughing up cash as their kids “accidentally” purchase in-game currencies.

Combined with a decent selection of professionally produced content, Arcade has plenty of potential — all it needs is its Ted Lasso or iPhone moment, a game so popular and pervasive gamers on all platforms want it. Think about something better than Roblox, but more wholesome.

While Apple waits for that game to appear, it could offer up Arcade to other platforms, creating an ecosystem for game discovery and purchase that competes directly with those forcing it to open its platforms up to them. It could then be in the cat bird seat once it finds its pervasive gaming hit.

One more thing

For all the criticism it gets, the enduring success of the App Store shows there is a substantial public appetite for curated apps and services. People are hungry for games, apps, and services that meet trust and quality standards.

Given this is true, perhaps Apple could expand its App Store to distribute strictly vetted software and services for other platforms, including those from competitors. 

While unlikely, one day the most popular version of Fortnite might be the one sold via the App Store with an Apple imprimatur to denote verified trust and security. Perhaps you’ll visit the Apple App Store to get your Windows and Android software, confident it has been put through strict quality and security testing. I imagine IT would be pleased with that extra layer of verification, particularly in regulated industries.

After all, as Apple’s entire history shows, if you can’t beat them, you join them.  You just do it better.

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