iOS 1.4.8 and tvOS 1.5.2 are here. It is the biggest overhaul since the apps were first released in 2018. The changes go deeper than you might see at first glance.
Netstream TV is gradually bringing all platforms up to the same level. The First Screen led the way, followed by WebTV. Now it is the turn of iOS and Apple TV. Both apps now follow the same design principle as the First Screen. Logos, colours, icons and backgrounds have been aligned. Both apps now support Light and Dark Mode and have their own Home Screen for the first time. And more has changed under the hood than meets the eye.
From old to new: a question of patience
Eight years of app development leave their mark. The app was continuously developed, but Apple’s platform has changed fundamentally over that time. New frameworks, new design paradigms, new possibilities. At some point you reach the stage where incremental adjustments are no longer enough and the question arises whether a complete restart would be the more honest route.
We reached that point more than once. A rebuild would have simplified a lot. But it would also have meant taking a stable app in productive use off the market. So we chose the other path: step by step, screen by screen, without interrupting ongoing operations. What you see is the new design, Light and Dark Mode and the Home Screen. What you don’t see is just as relevant.
One app per platform, not one app for all
We could have built a single interface for all devices. We didn’t. That was a deliberate decision.
iPhone and iPad get the native Tab Bar and support Liquid Glass on iOS 26. Apple TV gets a Side Menu, as familiar from the First Screen. Each platform gets what feels right there.
That takes more effort. But an app that behaves on every device the way you expect from that platform is a better app. Consistency across all Netstream TV platforms, yes, but not at the expense of the platform’s own experience.
{ dev_mode: true }
With Xcode 18, the new tvOS 17 minimum target and Swift 6 strict concurrency, Apple has ushered in a new stage of development. For us, this was not a constraint but a welcome opportunity to put the code on a more solid foundation.
Two major structural projects are under way: ReSwift is gradually being replaced by Combine and ObservableObject, screen by screen. Storyboards are giving way to programmatic UI, also gradually.
One particular challenge remains the variety of hardware: Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K are both in use but differ considerably in performance. Every decision in the code has to work on both devices. That sounds like a minor detail, but in practice it is a constant balancing act.
To be continued
This was not the end but the foundation. The apps’ range of features will be expanded step by step. As always, the current status is in the changelog at netstream.ch/tv-updates.
