Headmaster Axel Roest gives a tvOS lecture on do{iOS}

The first Dutch iOS conference takes place in Pakhuis de Zwijger on November 9th. Axel Roest, headmaster of The App Academy gives a lecture on do{iOS} on the recently published tvOS. We spoke with him about the possibilities of the operating system tvOS for Apple TV.

Apple TV has been here for a while. Why does it release its own OS now?

"Apple TV has always been Steve Jobs's toy, but has also never received the attention it deserves. You can stream films with it and with each update developers were hoping to get tools for programming which was always put off. Apple TV had no priority. But now it's finally here.

Is tvOS different from iOS?

"For programmers it is iOS with different screen sizes and operation. You can program both with Swift and Objective-C. For UX'ers it's a totally different world. An iPhone has lots of buttons which you can touch and something happens. On tvOS it works differently. You only have a remote control which has its limitations because it doesn't have a keyboard. It works with buttons which are in focus. So you need to scroll through the buttons to get to the function you want to use."

Is tvOS still interesting if it's so limited?

"Yes, because you can add the content on your TV. In sports, for example, the statistics can be shown. You can also watch two football matches at a time. This is convenient when the result of one match is of influence in the other. For Dr. Who fans all additional information can be given and games can be created which allow you to watch the next episode if you win. You can also check out in which episodes each character appears."

"It could also be useful for advertising purposes. If you see a nice Audi appear in a film you are watching, an advertisement can be shown with an attractive offer for the car. So commercially, tvOS can also be of significant importance."

Can we say that what used to be your second screen next to your TV, is now being integrated?

"In fact, your first and second screen are melted together and additionally, you can run all kinds of different apps on your TV. For example; it could be handy to assign a radar in the weather forecasts of the news, so that you are able to see what the weather will be like in your hometown. It also offers a new platform for games. Now you can run game apps on your TV whereas before you needed to connect your computer to your TV. This might become a huge new market."

But there are still restrictions on the remote control.

"True, but you can connect a keyboard to it, even though we aren't used to putting it on the couch. As a programmer you can use Apple's voice control software Siri, with which you can give commands to your Apple TV without touching the remote control. In addition, game controllers and joysticks can also be connected to Apple TV via bluetooth."

Could we say that what you do with Apple TV can actually be done with any modern TV?

"Generally speaking, yes. But the difference is that the apps can be made by a much larger group of developers. Developing an app for Philips or Samsung TVs is much more difficult, because these companies have to give their authorisation first and each brand will have its own programming code. Not many people develop apps for TVs. All iOS developers can now build apps for Apple TV and the community is much bigger because there are a couple of million of programmers who can do that."

Interested in the tvOS lecture? For more information, go to http://www.do-ios.com/

The App Academy is the Dutch coding academy offering bootcamp trainings in Amsterdam. We teach full-time iOS programming which covers all aspects of developing native mobile apps. Our bootcamps are intensive and prepare you to start working as an app developer at an agency, software company or on your own project.
During the bootcamp you will build mobile apps with fellow students. This will prepare you for a final graduation project and showcase on your app portfolio.

_code for it!