Question 1

How much does it cost to build an Apple TV app?

Accepted Answer

Past the $99/year Apple Developer Program fee, it's entirely about approach. A no-code OTT builder is usually a predictable subscription or project fee. A custom native build can run from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars depending on scope and that's before you add ongoing maintenance, DRM and CDN costs. We're not going to hand you a single number here, because anyone who does is guessing. Your real cost depends on catalog size, DRM needs and how much customization you actually want.

Question 2

How long does Apple App Store review take for a tvOS app?

Accepted Answer

Most reviews wrap up in 1 to 3 days. But payment-rule issues, broken demo logins or incomplete metadata get your app bounced and that restarts the clock. So the real answer is it depends on how clean your first submission is, not on some fixed Apple timeline.

Question 3

Do I have to use Apple In-App Purchase for subscriptions?

Accepted Answer

Generally, yes, if users are subscribing or buying digital content inside the app. The common workaround is an authenticate-only app, where people subscribe on your website and just sign in on Apple TV. There are exceptions, reader apps being the classic example, so check Apple's current guidelines for your category before you build the paywall, not after.

Question 4

What video format and DRM does Apple TV need?

Accepted Answer

Apple TV plays HLS natively and you want adaptive bitrate here, not a single fixed stream that chokes the moment someone's Wi-Fi dips. For protected premium content, Apple's native DRM is FairPlay Streaming, which means a FairPlay certificate and a license server, no way around either piece. If your content is free or ad-supported, you can probably skip DRM altogether.

Question 5

Can I reuse my Roku or Fire TV app code for Apple TV?

Accepted Answer

Not directly and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. tvOS runs on Swift/SwiftUI and the focus engine. Roku runs on BrightScript/SceneGraph. Fire TV runs on an Android-based stack. Three different worlds. What actually carries over is your back end: the same content API, the same streams, the same entitlement logic can feed all three. That's the real reason multi-platform OTT builders exist, they package one catalog into every store instead of making you maintain three separate native codebases.

Question 6

Do I need a separate Apple Developer account for Apple TV?

Accepted Answer

No. One Apple Developer Program membership covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS and tvOS. You'll create separate app records in App Store Connect, but a tvOS app can also ride along as a "universal purchase" with your iOS app under the same account.

Question 7

Can the same app serve VOD, live TV and IPTV on Apple TV?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A single tvOS app can handle on-demand libraries, live channels and IPTV-style linear streams together, as long as your back end serves up the right manifests and metadata. Just test live and linear playback on actual Apple TV hardware. Latency and buffering behave differently on a TV than they do on a phone and you don't want to find that out after launch.

Apps and Devices