Apple TV app to get major redesign before end of year as Apple looks to consolidate streaming position

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Apple looks to overhaul the Apple TV app to combine all entertainment services into one single app before the end of 2023, according to a top insider.

In his newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman discussed changes coming to the Apple TV app with information from “people with knowledge of the matter.” The new version of the app is rumored to be released in December as part of a tvOS software update and will also be available on iOS and iPadOS.

Changes are coming

Apple will “discontinue its dedicated apps on the Apple TV set-top box that let users rent and buy movies and shows. It will also remove the movie and TV show sections from the iTunes Store app on iPhones and iPads.” These changes are part of a move to make Apple “become a bigger player in the streaming world.”

The Apple TV app is also available on most Smart TVs, and Apple wants to get more people using the service to “subscribe to TV+ as well as third-party video services like Starz and Paramount+. The app already lets customers rent and buy programs, making a separate iTunes option unnecessary.”

Gurman says the app redesign is expected to include “a new side panel on the left-hand side for navigating between video categories, matching a design aesthetic used by Netflix Inc. and other streaming services.”

So much to look forward to – iMore’s take

These app changes come off a very positive year for Apple TV, including adding Major League Soccer with MLS Season Pass, which allows Apple TV to hold exclusive streaming rights for the MLS internationally. The Apple TV Plus streaming service just released one of the biggest films of the year, as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon hit cinemas last week before coming to the streaming platform, and we’ve also got Ridley Scott’s Napoleon to look forward to.

There is so much to look forward to for Apple TV users and Apple TV Plus subscribers over the next few months, and we might even see a glimpse of these new changes coming to Apple TV and tvOS on November 30 when Apple hosts its Scary Fast event where the company is likely to reveal M3 Macs.

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John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.