tvOS at 6 months: where are the apps?

TidBITS:

When the fourth-generation Apple TV was announced last September, I gave an audible (and embarrassing) “Whoop!” in my chair as I watched the presentation, eager to write the second edition of “Take Control of Apple TV” (which is now available). The little set-top box suddenly had a lot more potential, thanks to Apple finally adding an App Store.

But it has been nearly six months since the fourth-generation Apple TV was released, and there isn’t much to show yet. Yes, the tvOS App Store quickly added over 1000 apps, but growth since that initial explosion seems slow. I dutifully check the “Best New Apps” section every week, only to be disappointed by the slow trickle of interesting new apps.

The problem isn’t a complete lack of apps (there were over 2600 back in December, and likely many more than that now), but a dearth of those that make the Apple TV compelling.

One of the complaints from developers is that there’s just no there there. In other words, there’s just not enough to the Apple TV to make developing for it worth the effort, particularly for smaller developers working on iOS.