Apple TV Bulks Up on Apps

Apple hasn’t released sales figures for the latest, greatest Apple TV, but it’s clear that the device, which runs the new tvOS platform, has quickly been able to draw developers that have been pumping out apps at a rapid clip.

“Already we have over 2,000 apps live in the store,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet software and services, told Buzzfeed News.

appFigures, meanwhile, has posted a blog detailing its tracking data, finding that there are about 2,624 apps currently available for download in the Apple TV App Store, meaning that Apple’s new platform  has rapidly established an apps library for the new TV-connected platform that already rivals Roku’s.

“That’s quite a number considering the store is just about a month old,” appFigures explained, noting that an average of 447 new apps are being added to the store each week. “With a pretty steady rate of growth so far, we estimate the store will be hitting 5,000 apps in about a month and 10,000 apps in early 2016.

appFigures also broke out its findings by category, and games was the largest, representing 38% of all Apple TV apps, followed by entertainment apps, education app and lifestyle apps. Additionally, 39% of the apps on the Apple TV store are paid apps, the report found, noting that most cost $2.99 or less.

While games represent the biggest apps category for the new Apple TV, entertainment apps, by far, are the most downloaded, appFigures said in its report, which is based on an app catalog that contains more than 4 million apps from major app stores.

BuzzFeed News, meanwhile, has listed out the top 10 Apple TV apps so far. HBO Now, the programmer’s new standalone OTT service, topped all apps. Other entertainment-focused streaming video apps that broke into the top group include Netflix (No. 4), Showtime (No. 6), and Hulu (No. 8).

“We’re seeing tremendous developer interest,” Cue told BuzzFeed News. “And on the customer side, things are going great. What we’ve found is that a little over half of transactions are coming from people upgrading from the last Apple TV and just about the other half are coming from new customers that are buying their first Apple TV.”