Hands-On: Apple TV Finally Comes To Android Phones, Tablets

Using the web (and later PWA) to watch Apple TV+ on Android devices for the past five or so years has not been particularly ideal. That’s now changing with an Apple TV app for Android phones and tablets available in the Google Play Store.

In 2021, Apple TV got an Android/Google TV app for big screens. Meanwhile, the Apple Music app on Android is pretty good and gets the latest streaming features on a regular basis.

The newest Apple app on Android has a bottom bar with Apple TV+, MLS (Major League Soccer), Downloads for offline viewing, and Search. It’s leveraging Material 3’s pill-shaped indicator, though it isn’t a tall bar. On tablets, there is a hamburger button and navigation drawer.

The other navigation element is your Apple Account avatar in the top-right corner for Settings. You’ll see Material 3 on/off toggles and rounded sheets leveraged throughout the app. Despite the use of Material 3 elements, TV very much feels like an Apple app.

Streaming Options
- Use Cellular Data
- Cellular: High Quality, Automatic
- Wi-Fi: High Quality, Data Saver
Download Options
- Use Cellular Data
- Cellular: High Quality, Fast Downloads
- Wi-Fi: High Quality, Fast Downloads

Like other streaming services, you get carousels of content suggestions, including “Continue Watching” from your other devices.

The video player takes after Apple TV on other platforms, with a portrait mode available. There are convenient shortcuts to activate picture-in-picture, which works inside the app (while browsing) and system-wide, and mute to bring up the system volume bar. Playback is smooth and more stable than other streaming services.

At launch, the Apple TV app lacks Casting support and there do not appear to be new episode notifications. If you’re already signed into Apple Music, you have to log in again to Apple TV.

Another notable aspect is support for Google Play Billing instead of requiring out-of-app sign-up on another device. This applies to both the Google TV app (and Apple Music) today.