In 2025, smart TVs will be at the heart of millions of homes worldwide, offering streaming, gaming, and various multimedia experiences. With more people shifting to smart TV usage, building an app for this platform can present a significant opportunity.
If you’re looking to develop a smart TV app, you need to consider several factors to ensure it reaches the broadest possible audience while providing an engaging user experience. A smart TV app development company can help you navigate the complexities of app creation, ensuring that your app is both functional and user-friendly.
This article discusses seven of the best solutions for building a smart TV app in 2025, including the key platforms, tools, and frameworks that will help you succeed in this evolving market.
1. TVOS (Apple TV)
Apple TV has solidified its position as one of the most prominent smart TV platforms, providing a feature-rich environment for developers. TVOS allows you to create apps specifically tailored to the Apple ecosystem, benefiting from the company’s seamless integration of hardware and software.
Why Choose TVOS?
- User Base: Apple’s loyal customer base, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, is a prime audience for your app.
- Strong Developer Tools: TVOS offers a rich set of development tools through Xcode, which includes libraries for user interface design, media playback, and more.
- App Store Access: Apple’s App Store provides a direct route for distributing your app to a vast audience, with strict guidelines ensuring a high-quality user experience.
How to Get Started:
- Use Swift for development, Apple’s preferred programming language.
- Leverage UIKit and SwiftUI for building user interfaces that adapt to large TV screens.
- Follow the Apple Human Interface Guidelines to ensure your app meets user expectations in terms of usability and design.
2. Android TV
Android TV remains a highly popular platform for smart TVs, boasting a vast range of devices from multiple manufacturers, including Sony, Nvidia, and Xiaomi. With Android TV, you tap into an enormous potential user base and an open ecosystem that allows flexibility in app development.
Why Choose Android TV?
- Wide Device Compatibility: Android TV is available on a broad range of TVs and set-top boxes, ensuring that your app reaches many users.
- Java and Kotlin Support: Android TV apps are developed using Java or Kotlin, two widely used programming languages in Android app development.
- Google Play Store Access: The Google Play Store is an established platform with millions of active users and a robust app distribution model.
How to Get Started:
- Use Android Studio, Google’s official Integrated Development Environment (IDE), to build and test your app.
- Focus on Leanback UI, which is designed specifically for TV screens, offering a smooth navigation system with large icons and easy access to content.
- Ensure your app supports Android TV-specific features, such as Google Assistant integration, casting, and multi-screen support.
3. Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV offers another viable solution for custom app developers looking to reach smart TV users. As one of the fastest-growing smart TV platforms, Fire TV combines Amazon’s ecosystem with the flexibility of Android development.
Why Choose Amazon Fire TV?
- Amazon Ecosystem Integration: By developing for Fire TV, you can integrate with other Amazon services like Alexa, Amazon Prime Video, and Amazon Music, providing additional value to users.
- Android-based Development: Fire TV apps can be developed using the same tools and languages as Android TV apps (Java or Kotlin), making it easy to target multiple platforms.
- App Distribution through Amazon Appstore: Your app will be distributed via the Amazon Appstore, which offers a solid alternative to Google Play.
How to Get Started:
- Develop your app with Android Studio using Fire TV SDK.
- Focus on building a TV-friendly UI that is simple, intuitive, and uses large fonts and easy-to-navigate options.
- Integrate Alexa for voice controls, allowing users to interact with your app using their voice.
4. Roku
Roku remains one of the most popular streaming platforms, especially in the United States. With a dedicated user base and an easy-to-use development environment, Roku offers a great opportunity for app developers who want to target streaming audiences.
Why Choose Roku?
- Established User Base: Roku has a large number of active users across both smart TVs and streaming devices, making it an appealing platform for content creators.
- Easy-to-Use SDK: Roku provides a proprietary SDK called Roku SceneGraph, which makes it relatively simple to build and deploy apps.
- Monetization Opportunities: Roku offers multiple monetization models, including advertising, subscription, and transactional models, giving you flexibility in how to generate revenue from your app.
How to Get Started:
- Use Roku’s BrightScript programming language to create apps.
- Leverage Roku’s SceneGraph framework to design your user interface and build custom interactive elements.
- Follow the Roku Developer Documentation to ensure your app is compliant with Roku’s app guidelines.
5. Samsung Tizen OS
Samsung’s Tizen OS powers a significant portion of the smart TV market, offering a high-quality, well-optimized environment for app development. Tizen is Samsung’s proprietary operating system, used across multiple devices, including smart TVs, smartphones, and wearables.
Why Choose Tizen?
- Optimized for Samsung Devices: Samsung smart TVs running Tizen provide a smooth and responsive platform for users.
- Wide Reach: Samsung remains one of the largest TV manufacturers in the world, meaning that your app could potentially reach millions of devices.
- HTML5-based Development: Tizen supports web-based apps built using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, making it easy to create apps without the need to learn a new programming language.
How to Get Started:
- Develop apps using Tizen Studio, Samsung’s official development tool.
- Use HTML5 and JavaScript to create apps that are responsive across various screen sizes and resolutions.
- Test your app on Samsung devices using the Tizen emulator to ensure that it works as expected.
6. LG webOS
LG’s webOS is another important player in the smart TV market, providing a unique platform for developers interested in targeting LG’s range of smart TVs. webOS offers a clean, intuitive interface and various tools to help developers create high-quality apps.
Why Choose webOS?
- High-Quality User Experience: LG’s webOS provides a fluid, user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate, offering a great environment for interactive TV apps.
- HTML5-Based Development: Like Tizen, webOS allows you to build apps using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3, making the development process faster and more familiar for web developers.
- Large Global Audience: LG’s significant global market share means that your app could reach millions of smart TV users.
How to Get Started:
- Develop apps using the webOS TV SDK, which includes tools and libraries to help create, test, and debug your app.
- Use webOS TV Emulator for testing the app’s functionality across different screen sizes and resolutions.
- Ensure compatibility with LG’s Magic Remote, which is a key input method for many users.
7. Cross-Platform Development Tools
If you want to target multiple smart TV platforms at once, using cross-platform development tools can significantly reduce your development time and effort. These tools allow you to write your app once and deploy it across different platforms such as Android TV, Tizen, Roku, and more.
Why Choose Cross-Platform Development Tools?
- Code Reusability: Write your code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, saving time and resources.
- Wide Market Reach: Cross-platform development allows you to target a diverse range of smart TV users without developing separate apps for each platform.
- Tools Like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin: Popular cross-platform tools can help you create robust apps with a single codebase.
How to Get Started:
- Use React Native with libraries like React Native TVOS for building apps for both Apple TV and Android TV.
- Utilize Flutter for creating apps that work on both Android and webOS platforms.
- Consider using Xamarin if you are already familiar with C# and want to target multiple smart TV platforms with a single codebase.
Conclusion
In 2025, building a smart TV app can open up numerous opportunities in the entertainment, streaming, and gaming sectors. Whether you are targeting specific platforms like Apple TV, Android TV, or Roku, or looking to create a cross-platform app that works on multiple smart TV devices, the tools and frameworks available today make it easier than ever to bring your ideas to life. Each platform comes with its own set of advantages, so the choice ultimately depends on your target audience, development preferences, and monetization strategies.
By leveraging the right tools and focusing on building an intuitive, engaging experience, you can ensure that your app will be well-positioned to succeed in the rapidly growing smart TV market.
