It’s on Apple TV
The madness just got madder. ‘Apple TV+’ is now just ‘Apple TV’.
I noticed something was off right away when I saw Apple’s streaming date announcement for F1: The Movie. They said the movie “will make its global streaming debut on Apple TV on Friday, December 12.”
I caught the lack of the “+” immediately, and, knowing Apple doesn’t often make those kind of copyrighting mistakes, I wondered what it meant. Were they going to license the movie out to other streaming services that can be watched on the Apple TV box or in the Apple TV app in addition to their own Apple TV+ service?
The answer is found at the bottom of the announcement (on their blog that’s still called ‘Apple TV+ Press’ at the moment):
Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity. Ahead of its global streaming debut on Apple TV, the film continues to be available for purchase on participating digital platforms, including the Apple TV app, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home and more.
It’s an app. A streaming service. An entertainment box. A storefront. Are you getting it? These are not four separate products. Oh, wait — yes, they are — but we’re still calling them all Apple TV.
You watch Apple TV shows in the Apple TV app on the Apple TV box. But you can also get Apple TV on Fire TV. And you can get Apple TV from the Apple Store. Or Apple Store app. Or the App Store.
It’s Apple TV all the way down.
Or, I guess, simply, it’s on Apple TV.
Putting my cynical hat aside for a moment, I kind of get it. It seems clear to me that a major part of reason to drop the “Plus” branding is that celebrities with titles on the service and normal folks alike simply didn’t remember it. I’ve heard more promotions for shows and movies that could be found “on Apple” or “on Apple TV” than I ever have for “Apple TV Plus”. I’ve done it myself when recommending shows to friends — it felt kind of nerdy to say, “There’s this great show I love called Trying. It’s on Apple TV Plus.” (It totally is a great show.) I, the Apple nerd and TV+ fanatic, would shorten it down to “it’s on Apple TV.” So, yeah, I get it even if I don’t love it.
I am curious, though, about that “vibrant new identity” they mentioned. I was just thinking the other day that while other streaming services has gone through change after change to their branding and visual/auditory design, I appreciate how Apple TV+ has stayed consistent since day one. Their network ident, that black and white fade in of the logo with the spotlight shining through the “+”, along with the deep thrum sound signature — a play on the beautiful Mac startup chime — it really felt timeless. Something that could last. I liked it.
And it worked so well alongside their (also great) Apple Original Films introduction reel.
I wonder how much of that identity will stick around.
Those Very Good Tweets™
Can’t wait to watch Apple TV on Apple TV in Apple TV
I too have a vibrant new identity
#AppleTV Genuinely excited to see what this means for the service in terms of growth and potential tiers, as well as the app, storefront and hardware.
Is there room for an Apple TV+ tier that includes rental access, lossy audio, and more? Is there room for an Apple TV Pro?
Unpopular reality check:
Most people in real life just call it Apple TV. They know what they mean. “The Apple one”.
Renaming the service to Apple TV is cleaner, and totally a non-issue. Only nerds obsess about naming these things. Nobody in real life will ever say the sentence “The TV app for Apple TV on Apple TV”. Only people here do.
Apple TV+
Apple TV
Apple TV GO
Apple TV Now
Apple TV Max
Max
Suggested name revisions:
Apple TV (hardware) ➡️ Apple HDMI box thingy
Apple TV (app) ➡️ iTunes
Apple TV (service) ➡️ Not Netflix, the Other One
If the new Apple TV 4K is somehow named “Apple Home Hub Max” I’ll flip a table
Imagine if the hardware was called iPhone
and it contained an app called iPhone, which was also available on Android, full of lots but not all of your content
and you could buy an optional subscription with extra content
…called iPhone
I have acquired a + from an undisclosed seller and am now known as Matt+