Amazon's free ad-supported streaming service, IMDb TV, is coming to mobile devices, with the announcement of app support for iOS and Android tablets and smart phones. 

The IMDb TV app is supported by most connected TV platforms, save for Samsung smart TVs. 

Amazon has initiated an aggressive original programming strategy for IMDb TV, which includes a spinoff of its popular Amazon Prime Video originals series, Bosch, as well as a new reality court show built around Judge Judy star Judy Sheindlin. 

Update: Amazon said the sinister-appearing disappearance earlier Friday of its Prime Video app on Apple's iOS and tvOS app stores was merely the result of a technical glitch.

An Amazon spokesperson reached out late Friday with this statement: “Earlier today, there was a technical glitch that impacted the Prime Video app on iOS and tvOS devices. The issue has been resolved, and the Prime Video app is now once again available in the App Store.”

Here's our report from earlier today: 

Just as Amazon has finally buried the hatchet with Google, could it be entering another tech cold war with Apple?

As noticed by enthusiast blog AppleInsider, the Amazon Prime Video app has disappeared from Apple’s iOS app store, as well as its distribution hub for tvOS apps.

Using its trusty outdated iPhone 6S, MCN did a search in the iOS app store and confirmed AppleInsider’s report—Amazon Prime Video isn’t there.

Installations of Prime Video apps previously obtained through Apple are reported to be working fine.

Amazon reps have so far demurred comment. And as Variety noted, Apple representatives are steering inquires to Amazon.

As Variety also noted, Apple and Amazon have haggled over distribution of the Prime Video app since it was first released in 2012. It’s been steadily available on iOS since December 2017.

According to app tracker AppAnnie, Amazon Prime Video for iOS ranked as the fourth most popular entertainment app on the mobile platform as of Oct. 3.

Earlier this week, Google’s YouTube TV app debuted on the Amazon Fire TV, which was another step toward ending a lengthy cold spell between Google and Amazon. 

In a move that could significantly simplify the work of those developing applications for Apple devices, Bloomberg reports that Apple is aiming to enable them to create just one app serving both mobile and Mac computers by 2021.

Currently, separate apps must be developed for iOS, the operating system behind iPhones and iPads, and macOS, the software system that powers MacBooks and other Mac computers.

According to the report, Apple’s multi-step initiative, codenamed “Marzipan,” will spur the development of software for Apple devices, with developers needing to come up with just one app.

This certainly matters in the video market, where companies like Charter Communications, just for example, have to create multiple Apple software iterations for streaming services designed to run on Apple devices. For video, the big unanswered question is whether tvOS, the operating system that powers Apple TV, is also included in Marzipan.

Apple isn’t commenting.

Later this year, Bloomberg said, Apple plants to let developers port over their iPad apps to Mac computers using a new software development kit. Developers will still need to submit separate versions of their app to Apple’s iOS and Mac App Stores, but the new kit will mean they don’t have to write two different versions of the same underlying software code.

In 2020, meanwhile, Apple plans to release an SDK allowing the same convenience for iPhone apps. And by 2021, Mac application development would, under the plan, move to what is known as a “single binary,” merging iPhone, iPad and Mac applications into one app submitted to a single app store.

Bloomberg said that the leading edge of the plan could be unveiled in June at Apple’s annual developer’s conference.

Comcast said a report last week that it is purposely avoiding ongoing development of its streaming platforms for Apple platforms contains “numerous inaccuracies,” and that the story “wrongly conflates individual business dealings and relationships with Sky, NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable.”

However, the statement tweeted out by Matthew Strauss, executive VP of Comcast Cable, on Tuesday did not address one of BESTAppleTV’s key assertions: that Comcast actually told Apple that in early December that it would not build a tvOS app to stream pay TV subscriptions to customers.

“Comcast’s press release talked about a litany of subjects, but did not include the phrase, ‘Yes, we are actively working with Apple and the Apple TV team,' ” noted Diffusion Group analyst Michael Greeson to MCN.

Related: Comcast Anoints Roku, Shuns Apple TV Amid Now TV Development Push: Report

Did the enthusiasts blog, which is focused more on the business of Apple and Silicon Valley, and less on the cable industry, possibly conflate some things? Maybe. But again, Comcast’s protestations don’t necessarily damn BESTAppleTV’s post on this, either.

Comcast’s streaming ventures encompass numerous platforms and two other acquired divisions, each with their own relationships with Apple. Let’s unpack these first:

1. ) There’s Comcast’s Xfinity Stream app, which streams much of the company’s subscription cable TV experience to Roku and Samsung smart TV devices, and soon smart TVs from LG and Sony. This device ecosystem, enlisted under what is known as the “Xfinity TV Partner Program,” allows users to eschew their cable box for OTT devices.

2. ) There are the multiscreen/TV Everywhere capabilities that have been offered to Xfinity TV subscribers for years that allow them to authenticate their cable subscription through the individual apps of more than 130 programming networks. Xfinity TV subscribers can watch these channels on Apple TV, as well as Apple’s iPhone and iPad mobile devices, among many other third-party devices.

3. ) And then there is Now TV, the OTT platform launched by recent Comcast acquisition Sky in Europe, which Comcast says will furnish the technological backbone of a new streaming service being launched by its NBCUniversal division in 2020. Now TV also has apps for Apple TV and devices using iOS (the operating system in Apple mobile devices).

For its part, Comcast is claiming that Apple’s inclusion in Nos. 2 & 3 prove that it isn’t dissonant towards Apple—it merely hasn’t gotten around to carving out a deal for No. 1, the Xfinity Stream app, yet.

BESTAppleTV, meanwhile, claims that Comcast had no intention of ever introducing No. 1, Xfinity Stream, into the tvOS or iOS ecosystems.

And here’s where the news site gets accused of conflating: BESTAppleTV, quoting an unnamed source “connected to Comcast,” seems to imply that the operator’s elbow grease, in regard to streaming apps, is now being shifted away from Xfinity Stream and towards the new “Now TV” app. But Comcast will keep the same distance with Apple for that app, as well.

“Comcast is focused on the Now TV solution as the future of its streaming infrastructure and Apple has been told this,” the source is quoted. “Apple has also been informed Comcast will concentrate its [U.S. Xfinity] efforts on this platform, not on adding other third-party devices to the product mix with separate apps.”

The report also stated that Comcast will take the Now TV-based platform and distribute it on Comcast-branded Roku devices.

Does the source seem wildly off-base?

Diffusion Group analyst Greeson, who was quoted in the BESTAppleTV story, said that while he has no direct knowledge of Comcast and Apple’s dealings, keeping Apple out of the loop isn’t surprising behavior for a major pay TV operator like Comcast.

“Pay-TV operators have long been tentative about building deeper relationships with Apple, so in that respect, there's nothing new here,” Greeson added. “Apple has worked to build trust with legacy operators, and just a month ago announced support for Charter’s Spectrum TV App on Apple TV. At the present time, however, Comcast appears a bit less enthusiastic about such a partnership.”

Philo has announced its deployment on Android TV, Google’s fast-growing OTT platform.

Android TV is a version of Google’s Android operating system designed for digital media players. In May, Google reported that Android TV users had doubled year over year, with a number of pay TV operators in Europe starting to deploy the platform on slimline set-tops.

As with all apps deployed on Android TV, users can download the Philo app via the Google Play store.

Related: Law&Crime Finds Home on Philo

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based start-up Philo has made a number of changes to its Apple apps.

For iOS, which runs on iPhones and iPads, the virtual MVPD has added new navigation features, as well as the ability to create user profiles.

And for Apple TV, Philo has launched a new guide experience it says improves navigation and discovery.

Philo, meanwhile, has also kicked off a promotion that lets users pay the same price for its premium 50+ channel service as they do for the base $16-a-month, 40-channel Philo package, for six months. The premium package regularly goes for $20 a month.

Philo hasn’t released a subscriber number in quite a while. In October, Strategy Analytics pegged its total distribution at around 150,000 users. The vMVPD market has recently slowed its growth, with market leaders Sling TV and DirecTV Now each reporting reduced subscriber acquisition in recent quarters. 

Sony’s PlayStation Vue streaming service has become the first virtual pay TV platform to become available through the Apple TV app, the native application for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV devices.

The Vue app has been available for Apple's iOS and tvOS devices for some time. But this still matters to owners of those devices, since they don’t have to toggle between separate apps to find their programming. Users still need to download the Vue app to their device and log into their account. However, once they do, the Apple TV app will pull all of the live and on-demand programming they get through Vue and place it into relevant Apple TV buckets.

Related: Sony Adds 200 Locals to PlayStation Vue, Stays in vMVPD Fight

For example, on-demand content will all be placed into the “Watch Now” section of the Apple TV app, while shows a viewer has already started will be available in the “Up Next” bucket.

The Apple TV app has supported TV Everywhere apps from individual programmers like CBS and AMC for some time. But to import the content into the Apple TV app, users had to download each TVE app they wanted and authenticate their multi-channel subscription.

Notably, once users select content pulled from Vue, the Apple TV app will direct the user back to the Vue app. That’s how the Apple TV app works for content from other devices, as well.

Vue is an outlier among vMVPDs, with others hesitant to give up control of the user experience. But Vue could certainly use a good user experience edge in a competitive market.

Vue launched more than three years ago, but according to Strategy Analytics estimates released over the summer, only has around 745,000 subscribers. 

Dish Network said it is enabling customers to interact with live customer reps via Apple Business Chat, part of its broader, ongoing customer service effort dubbed “Tuned Into You.”  

“TV should be simple, so we’ve made reaching our live customer service representatives as easy as sending a text,” said Dish chief operating officer John Swieringa in a statement. “Adding messaging with Apple Business Chat is a powerful way to connect with us, giving another choice so you can pick what fits with your life.”

Dish customers can use Apple Business Chat to contact a live agent to ask questions, make account changes, schedule an appointment, or order pay per view movie or sporting events using their credit card on file. Apple Business Chat does not display customer contact information to an agent, so customers are in complete control of whether they want to share any contact information and can authenticate their account to make changes or purchases.

Related: Dish Unveils New Spokeslistener Spots

Customers can leave a conversation with Dish at any time and pick it back up when convenient, even on another Apple device linked to the user’s Apple ID. The conversation never times out and ends when a customer deletes the message thread in the Messages app.

To start an Apple Business Chat, customers can search for Dish on iPhone or iPad, then tap the Messages icon that appears next to the Dish search result. Soon customers will be able to open chat from the contact page of their MyDish app. Devices must be running iOS 11.3 or higher.

The Weather Channel is storming iOS with a revamped app that bakes in several new features, including a personalized home screen and a “narrative” that presents more meaningful data on weather conditions, including how long a rain storm will last, and will drive visitors to hourly forecasts.

The new app also includes 15-day forecasts and support for “3D Touch,” a navigation feature in iOS9 that’s determined by the amount of pressure the user applies to the screen.  The Weather Channel said its use of 3D Touch allows users to enter the app through four different screens – such as radar or an hourly forecast.

Other features include The Lift, the mobile morning show hosted by Al Roker that debuted October 15.

The Weather Channel offers a free, ad-supported version of the app, and an ad-free version that costs $3.99 per year.

The video below shows the new app in action:

Earlier this week, IBM has struck a deal to  acquire The Weather Company’s B2B, mobile and cloud-based web properties, including WSI, weather.com, Weather Underground and The Weather Company brand. The Weather Channel will not be acquired by IBM, but will license weather forecast data and analytics from IBM under a long-term contract.

The pomp and pageantry for the latest round of Apple’s inventions drew hordes of smartphone and tablet fans, but most eyes were watching for the technology giant’s latest gambit into the TV business.

Without a hint of hyperbole, Apple said the latest iteration of Apple TV — its new, shiny TV-connected device — represents “the future of television.”

While a bona fide over-the-top pay TV service from Apple remains a no-show (there’s still not a lot of “TV” in Apple TV), the CE giant believes its latest, greatest box is poised to transform the television business in ways less obvious, but more meaningful.

The late Apple chairman and CEO Steve Jobs famously called Apple TV a “hobby” back in 2007, when the first-generation product was launched, but comments from his successor, Tim Cook, indicate that the company is ready to take its video game to the next level and create some competitive headaches for traditional pay TV players.

“It really is the golden age of television,” Cook proclaimed at the media event in San Francisco. “As important as TV is, the TV experience itself hasn’t changed that much in decades … Today we’re going to do something about that.”

While analysts and industry watchers didn’t see the new Apple TV as something particularly earth-shattering, the platform does represent a quantum leap when compared with Apple TV’s previous generation.

A major difference is Apple’s decision to open up its ecosystem for apps that can run on the new Apple TV, which will use a new operating system, tvOS, that is based on iOS but optimized for the big screen. That should open up the floodgates for apps, creating a conduit for more over-the-top video, games and other services.

Apple has more than 11 million developers. “We can’t wait to see what apps they bring to the big screen,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said.

“Our TV vision is simple and provocative,” Cook said. “We believe the future of television is apps.”

That future also involves Siri, the voice-recognition technology that has been integrated into the new Apple TV, and a more-capable remote that also features a touch-based navigation interface that will let users swipe at will. Early on, Apple TV search will sift across the libraries of iTunes, Netflix, Showtime, HBO and Hulu, with more to be added later.

But what the new Apple TV has also contrasts with what it still lacks — no support for 4K, and nothing in the way of an Apple-delivered pay TV service.

Apple is reportedly developing an OTT “skinny bundle” TV service that will focus on broadcast-TV channels, but the company has been bogged down with negotiating rights to offer a service that can be offered nationally. Delayed, that offering is not expected to see the light of day until sometime next year.

By comparison, Sony PlayStat ion Vue’s multichannel-TV service currently lacks national distribution (it’s currently available in seven markets) and still doesn’t carry ABC. Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT TV service for cord-cutters, has yet to add any broadcast-TV channels to its lineup.

ALSO MISSING: THE ‘WOW’ FACTOR

Some analysts were not blown away by Apple’s new entrant, holding that it needed a “wow” factor that can help it stand out from the pack.

“It was exactly as we expected,” Colin Dixon, founder and chief analyst at nScreenMedia, said. “This was, in my mind, a me-too upgrade. This is Apple catching up with the competition. It gets them back to parity to everybody else in the market … If I’m Roku, I’m probably taking a deep sigh of relief.”

Granted, some of the luster was off the new Apple TV before its debut, as many (accurate) details about it leaked in the weeks leading to the event.

“First and foremost, every product was foreshadowed in the press,” music-industry analyst and critic Bob Lefsetz noted in a newsletter entry about Apple’s event, which also saw the intro of the iPad Pro (and a stylus called Apple Pencil), new Apple Watch gadgetry and two new smartphones — the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

“If Jobs were still running the company tyrannically, heads would have rolled,” Lefsetz said. “Where was the element of surprise?”

Dixon found the fusion of Siri and the Apple TV interesting, but said other OTT platforms have already taken the concept further. By way of example, Roku’s crossplatform search spans at least 17 video sources, including Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, HBO Go, Time Warner Cable’s TWC TV app, Netflix and Vudu.

Apple TV’s jump onto the gaming bandwagon, a move that represents a possible threat to console makers, also mimics what’s being offered via the Amazon Fire TV and (to a lesser degree) on Roku players. Games are also expected to play a key role on a new family of devices powered by Android TV. But adding a Wii-like gyroscope to the remote could help Apple “offer some pretty powerful games with this platform,” Dixon said.

Bringing an actual TV service to the Apple TV and tightening that experience “could make it much more interesting than it is today,” though, Dixon added.

PLAYING CATCH-UP

While it’s debatable as to whether the Apple TV had fallen behind from a capability standpoint, it’s clear that it has lost ground to the competition. While Apple has shipped more than 25 million Apple TV units so far, Roku held 34% of the streaming device market at the end of 2014, giving it the lead on Google Chromecast (17 million units shipped at last count) and Amazon Fire TV, with Apple TV bringing up the rear, according to Parks Associates.

“Given the pricing, Apple is targeting a premium market, rather than market share, so we would not expect to see significant lifts in overall share of sales but would expect to see a strong showing among a premium market segment,” Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates, said.

She believes, however, that the new Apple TV could steal some gaming share from platforms such as Xbox and PlayStation if it can carve out a niche between the core and casual gaming markets.

Still, the Apple TV’s open app approach could put pressure on Roku, Microsoft, and even pay TV operators to do the same.

PRESSURE TO OPEN UP

Apple’s decision to go with an open ecosystem for the new Apple TV “is a bold statement,” Jason Flick, the CEO of You.i TV, a maker of a crossplatform user interface platform that counts Sony Crackle and Corus Entertainment among its clients, said. “It’s a blow for others that are using a closed, more template-based approach. People will need to open up. It will raise the bar quickly for TV apps.”

That could create concern for multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) pushing forward with IP-based platforms and technologies such as the Reference Design Kit, which are designed to foster innovation and help operators create systems that support their own apps as well as those from third parties.

But so far, MVPD app lineups are relatively small. For example, Comcast’s X1 platform, which uses the RDK, supports a few apps from outside developers, including Facebook, Flickr, Pandora and a new set-top gaming service offered in partnership with EA.

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said he believes Comcast has something to worry about, particularly when it comes to Apple TV’s revamped interface. The new Apple TV UI and remote, he tweeted, “make Comcast’s X1 look ancient.” Ouch.

CABLE CONCERNS

But if cable operators are harboring fears about Apple’s new platform and the potential OTT TV competition it represents, they are showing it in a measured way.

“Apple is another competitor for us, a serious competitor for us,” Cox Communications president Patrick Esser said soon after the debut of the new Apple TV during an interview on Fox Business Network’s Closing Bell With Liz Claman. Traditional pay TV providers and their packages still provide more bang for the buck than what consumers can create on their own using OTT options, Esser said.

“I think our product is the best value on the market, and often customers go out, and by the time they buy a number of over-the-top services, they find out that [with] our multichannel video product they actually get more for the money they pay than they do if they go and try to pull it off of the Internet,” he said.

But is Esser “dreading” the adoption of Apple TV?

“No, I’m not,” he said, though he acknowledged that the video market is more fragmented than it has ever been. He said, Cox, like Apple, has opportunities to innovate over broadband. Cox has already created over-the-top offerings delivered outside its cable footprint, including flarePlay, a subscription gaming service, and a recently released free, video streaming aggregation app for youngsters called flareKids.

But the new Apple TV could open up more doors for programmers, a group that is increasingly going over-the-top and direct to consumers, though some are still trying to make heads and tails of it.

The new Apple TV is “more exciting than terrifying … It’s a little of both,” AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan said last week at an event in San Francisco hosted by technology website Re/code. “All of this technology means you can choose more and be dictated less by a bunch of people who work in television programming.”

Tale of The Tape: The New Apple TV

Price: $149 for a 32-GB model; $199 for a 64-GB model. Apple is still selling the older Apple TV model for $69, making it the low-end entry-level model of the lot

Availability: End of October

Size: 3.9 inches by 3.9 inches by 1.3 inches

Weight: 15 ounces

Ports and interfaces: HDMI 1.4, 802.11ac WiFi with MIMO, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0, IR receiver, USB-C (for service and support)

Processor: A8 chip with 64-bit architecture

Video formats: H.264 (up to 1080p and 60 frames per second)

Remote: Bluetooth 4.0 wireless (for non line-of-sight), IR transmitter, researchable battery (three months on a single charge), Siri integration, built-in accelerometer and gyroscope

Content: OTT offerings on board with the new Apple TV in the early going will include MLB.tv, HBO Now, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, Watch ABC, YouTube, CNNGo, NBC Sports Live Extra, Fox Now, PBS Kids, PBS, USA Now, WatchESPN, Watch Disney, and NHL GameCenter

— Jeff Baumgartner

Apple is taking aim at subscription music services such as Spotify and Rhapsody with Apple Music, a new music app/streaming service that will feature a 24/7 live radio station called Beats 1.

The service, to launch in more than 100 countries on June 30, will fetch $9.99 per month for an individual subscription, and $14.99 per month under a family-friendly tier that will provide access to as many as six members. Apple Music will initially be offered on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC starting June 30, and will be available on the Apple TV and Android phones sometime this fall, the company said.

Apple will prime the pump for Apple Music with a three-month free membership. Users will get to pair music purchased or ripped from CDs at the iTunes Store alongside Apple Music service’s new streaming library, which features a catalog of more than 30 million songs. The service will also include a curated “For You” playlist and tight integration with Siri.

Apple said Beats 1 will broadcast live to over 100 countries, and will be lead up by DJs Zane Lowe in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenuga in London.

Apple Music Connect, another element of the service, will provide an avenue for artists and fans to connect via the service, enabling artists can share lyrics, backstage photos, videos or even release songs. Fans, in turn, can comment on what artists have posted and share via Messages, Facebook, Twitter and email.

Apple also used its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco to preview iOS 9, which will bring some new multitasking features, including a new Slide Over feature that lets user work in a second app without leaving the first. iPad users will also have access to a new picture-in-picture capability that enables them to resize the video window. During the event, Apple demonstrated the feature using the WatchESPN app.

Apple has released the iOS 9 beta software and SDK to developers, and will follow with a public beta program in July. iOS 9 will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 4s and later, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad 2 and later, iPad mini and later.

Apple also showed off the next software release for the new Apple Watch, watchOS 2, noting that it will support native applications. It’s due out this fall as a free update to the Apple Watch.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also shared a new milestone, noting that the Apple App Store has surpassed 100 billion app downloads.

One World Sports is bowing its app for mobile devices.

A hybrid, Watch One World Sports, is available at no charge in the Apple and Google Play stores.

Watch One World Sports delivers live-streamed games, matches and other programming to authenticated subscribers of the global sports network's distribution affiliates, including Verizon FiOS, Dish, Charter, Cablevision, Mediacom, Google Fiber, RCN and a growing number of systems through its master agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative. The network, presenting soccer from around the globe, including the New York Cosmos, Japanese basesball, hockey, basketball and cricket, is available to some 30 million homes across the nation. 

Additionally, the app provides content to all users, regardless of whether they are subscribers, enabling them to follow the network’s sports via video highlights, updated specifically for the app throughout the day, and on-demand content from an extensive library drawing from the network’s broad portfolio of global sports. The app also offers RSS feeds of news, standings and league tables; Twitter feeds; and a program guide.  Other features include Twitter and Facebook sharing tools and navigation by sport.

“There are two undeniably growing trends among younger sports fans,” said Alexander “Sandy” Brown, One World Sports president and CEO.  “One is that they consume sports on mobile devices; the other is that they have an increasingly global viewpoint.  Watch One World Sports hits the sweet spot for any sports fan.”

ESPN has launched a new version of its sports info app that’s been optimized for iOS smartphones and iPads and Android handsets, with plans underway to extend that work to Android-powered tablets as well.

The new, customizable ESPN App, not to be confused with the WatchESPN authenticated TV Everywhere app, features up-to-the-minute scores, news and video highlights. Among other new features, it lets users share content on Facebook, Twitter, via email and SMS, and offers a “NOW” view that blends ESPN updates on any sport or team with the latest available photos, videos and social media content.  Via its On-Air tab, the app also integrates free access to the live ESPN  Radio stream.

The overhaul, versoin 4.2 of the app, also drops SportsCenter branding, which had earlier been tapped to replace the app’s original ScoreCenter branding. 

In a post about the changes and the new app, Ryan Spoon, ESPN’s SVP, digital product placement, noted that the sports programmer is in the process of creating a consistent look and feel across the ESPN Website and ESPN  app. 

“With today’s release, we begin the process of unifying those experiences through a single brand, a common aesthetic and consistent interface,” he noted. “As we redesign ESPN.com and build all of these products globally, we are excited to have ESPN be the consistent brand across a unified suite of products.

And the new approach will probably play better on the international stage. "SportsCenter means a lot here. It doesn't mean as much when you get out of the United States," John Kosner, ESPN's executive vice president of digital, told The Verge. 

Spoon added that the new iPad release is actually an extension of the iPhone app, enabling what amounts to a universal app that runs across iOS devices.

“And we of course have several enhancements and new features coming in the subsequent weeks, including a version for Android tablets,” Spoon said, noting that the app will share aspects of the new version of ESPN.com, coming in April.