Everyone Disagrees With Me About the Apple TV

Well, that told me, didn’t it?

There are many reasons I love Medium, but the most important one is that it is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most interesting, vibrant blogging communities I’ve ever used.

For a tech reviewer like myself, it’s a treasure trove of opinion. It reveals what’s important to people, what they love, what they’re not so keen on, and the topics on which they don’t see eye-to-eye with you.

This week, I wrote an article about the Apple TV.

Apple should cancel it, I said.

I’ve just been through the 23 comments received so far, and only one person agrees with me.

As it turns out, I really am in the minority. It was a similar story on my Discord server, where I was deservedly poked at by some of the members for my brutal and unfair treatment of the Apple TV.

So, what did everyone have to say in defence of the Apple TV?

As it turns out, people LOVE the Apple TV

I’ve learned so much following the publishing of my ‘death to the Apple TV article’.

The use cases and defence laid out for Apple’s set-top box are pretty varied, and have even inspired me to think about how I might integrate one into my own life.

Here are my favourite responses.

My same code base can create apps for the TV as well as the Apple Watch, iPads, iPhones, iPods, macs, etc.

It’s lovely to hear from a developer’s perspective, because it’s easy to forget that the Apple TV is a development platform itself. I’m still not convinced it has a particularly exciting future in that regard, but maybe this year’s WWDC will prove me wrong.

For educational reasons Apple TV is a must have for schools.

Well, I genuinely didn’t take that into account. And I feel rather bad for not having done so. If you’ve got more thoughts on this, let me know in the comments.

I love the Apple TV, but they need to throw the Siri remote away and start over.

I feel lucky to have never used the current Apple TV remote. I don’t think I’ve read or heard one nice word about it.

I think Apple need to push it further into a light gaming system like what Nintendo did with the Wii.

Of all the things Apple could do with the next Apple TV, this is perhaps the most exciting. It feels like a huge opportunity missed; the iPhone and iPad have turned into brilliant gaming devices for a large number of people.

Apple’s first attempt at encouraging that audience over the the Apple TV failed. It shouldn’t have.

Apple TV is the most utilitarian thing Apple has ever produced and I’d hate see it cancelled.

That’s such an interesting point of view. I’d argue that the Mac mini is probably about as utilitarian as it gets for Apple, but maybe the Apple TV does sit in that camp also — particularly if its capabilities as a HomeKit hub really can be fully realised.

It is the only way to enjoy Fitness+ on the big screen

I’ve tested out Fitness+ myself and love it. But I’ve only ever done so on either my iPhone or iPad. And I can now completely see the attraction of having it accessible on the biggest screen in your house.

I think you’re overlaying your personal usage and situation as a generalisation of everyones usage or experience.

This is such an easy thing to do, and maybe I was guilty of that in my original article. Lesson learned!

Apple TV is the best streaming appliance by a mile.

In the UK, we have something called Sky, which is the terrestrial TV service of choice for a huge portion of the population — me included.

It’s not perfect, but it’s easily the best way to get your TV fix from most sources… apart from Apple TV+. I’d therefore argue that the Sky set-top box is a better streamer than the Apple TV, but (for the UK at least) it simply needs the Apple TV+ app to make it complete.

We love our Apple TVs in our family and have them all over.

I received a few comments like this. The Apple TV is clearly a family favourite in many households, which paints a completely different picture of the device (a good one!).

Love it.

Well, there you go. Sometimes, that’s all you need from a product.

So, was I wrong?

I still think that Apple needs to do something with the Apple TV hardware. The Apple TV+ service, as previously noted, needs longer to build its library — I have no issue with that.

But the box? For some of us, it’s just one box too many, I’m afraid. It needs to offer some seriously compelling reasons to make it into the homes of a wider audience and gain that coveted place beneath the TV.

We’re a couple of months away from WWDC, and, given what is clearly a pretty loyal fanbase for the Apple TV, I’m genuinely excited to see what happens next.

Who knows — maybe I’ll even buy one.

Thanks for getting involved, guys. Keep the comments coming!