No native Spotify app for Apple TV 'any time soon,' company says

People with a fourth-generation Apple TV shouldn't expect a native Spotify app in the near future, according to a product owner with the company.

Supporting tvOS has been "down prioritized," Samuel Erdtman said in a GitHub discussion thread noticed by AppAdvice. "You should not expect a release supporting it any time soon. I'm sorry about that."

People who have Spotify on another Apple device can use AirPlay to stream audio, but a native app would allow for a convenient "lean-back" interface.

The lack of a tvOS app gives a slight edge to streaming rivals like Pandora, and of course Apple, which now has Apple Music support preloaded on Apple TVs.

Spotify may consider the Apple TV a relatively minor platform next to iOS, Android, and desktops however, and still enjoys a considerable lead over Apple in on-demand streaming. While Apple is already up to 17 million subscribers a little over a year after launch, Spotify has over 40 million Premium subscribers alone, and many more using its ad-based free tier.

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17 Comments

revanmj

said about 7 years ago

Funny thing, they have a proper app for Android TV :)

MAU47

said about 7 years ago

This ultimately doesn't hurt anyone but their own subscribers, Apple doesn't care that there isn't a proper Spotify app, I highly doubt any measurable amount of people if any would not purchase an Apple TV due to lack of a proper app if they were already considering the purchase. I can only guess their subscriber base isn't really clamoring for the app.

coolfactor

said about 7 years ago

I've never used Spotify, so I don't have hands-on experience, but this seems like a bizarre decision. If they have an iOS app, wouldn't developing a tvOS counterpart be a cinch?

nolamacguy

said about 7 years ago

like amazon, it looks like spotify doesn't like its own customers, chosing to play platform politics rather than delighting their actual paying users.