Official WTV app also available 🙃

Why did I create a WTV Android TV app when there’s an official app? Good question, I’m glad you asked.

In 2023 I had a good look around and was unable to find any WTV app for Android TV. I started a proof of concept, but because I wanted to do it “properly” with WTV login for accessing on-demand content, I quickly ran into trouble and gave up (and due to time constraints).

A few months ago, I picked the project up again but lowered the bar by only supporting live stream which is the most important use case for me anyway.

However, I made the mistake of not properly scouting the current ecosystem. I did so in 2023, but this time I only checked WTV’s website and the app store. Nothing to be found for Android TV, so I thought everything stayed the same (I figured they wound’t have the budget or something). But later, when I searched the play store for my app on an Android TV itself for testing, I discovered there does exist an official app now! When I check the Play store metadata, it does indeed mention a publication date of Sep 27, 2023. Although, badly advertised, if I may say so 🙊 In March 2025:

  1. The app was not mentioned on the website.
  2. The mobile app can not be installed on TV.
  3. The mobile app listing does not mention the TV app listing.

Nowadays, you can search the play store for a different type of device than the one you are currently operating. That way you can find the TV app more easily, but I forgot to check that and I also guess a lot of people don’t know about this. At the very least, nobody expects that an app that cannot be installed on Android TV, still has a TV sibling app (under a different app id). There is no technical reason (at least not today), so I still think they should at least “merge” the listings. It would boost visibility of the TV app in a huge way while making it much easier to install from a different device (browser or mobile/tablet).

In the meantime, I noticed they updated the website to include a “Smart TV” button. On the live stream, they also started to advertise the TV app. So it seems progress is being made. 😊

Given how I already had a working app and found my app a little more snappy, I decided to go ahead anyway. I also like to use it on my tablet. Before, I had good hope that my app would survive as there was no alternative. Given there is already an official app now, I can only hope the RMM (the company behind WTV) will allow my app to exist. If something would be non-compliant, I’m happy to make any required changes though.

If anything, it was a fun experiment trying to use flutter on Android TV!