This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.

Apple Starts Rolling Out Web Previews for tvOS App Links

Apple has begun rolling out web links and iTunes web previews for Apple TV apps. The change, first noticed by Jeff Scott and which we were able to confirm via Safari on OS X, allows users to link to tvOS apps in a web browser, which will show an iTunes Preview with screenshots, app description, and other information.

This seemingly minor feature addition – after all, users have been able to share links and open iTunes web previews for iOS and Mac apps for years – is a notable improvement for the tvOS app ecosystem. When third-party Apple TV apps launched last year, Apple didn’t offer the ability to link to apps directly, which considerably limited a developer’s options to link to their apps from websites and social media accounts.

At the moment, it’s not clear for how many apps Apple has rolled out the ability to view them with an iTunes web preview. According to our early tests, links to Apple TV-only apps showed a web preview with Apple TV screenshots in the browser; Universal iOS apps with tvOS support didn’t show any Apple TV information in the current iTunes web previews.

This was also confirmed by Kevin MacLeod of AfterPad, who told us that while the iTunes API is now returning screenshot metadata for tvOS-only apps, that metadata is absent for iOS apps with tvOS support.

MacLeod is the creator of an independent tvOS app catalog, which we also used to confirm web previews for tvOS apps in Safari on the desktop. Currently, MacLeod’s website is one of the few ways to actually discover links to tvOS apps – Apple isn’t advertising them anywhere. Links for tvOS apps aren’t technically new – MacLeod was able to figure them out before – but until today, those links wouldn’t show users an iTunes web preview, nor would they expose any metadata to apps like Twitter clients or Slack.

Furthermore, iTunes web previews for tvOS apps don’t have any Download buttons to buy or download the apps from a desktop computer, and the links don’t work on iOS yet – they redirect to the iOS App Store, bringing up an error.

You can test tvOS app links with iTunes web previews here and here. We’ll continue to monitor the rollout and post updates here if necessary.

Join

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, and Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more.

He can also be found on his other podcasts on Relay FM: Connected and Remaster, two shows about Apple and videogames, respectively.

@viticci
@viticci
@viticci@macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net