Planet of the Apps TV Show: A New App TV Show by Apple
Planet of the Apps is a new TV show by Apple. This will mark the tech giant’s first attempt at broadcast television. The show will feature aspiring technopreneurs and coders pitching app ideas to a panel of celebrity judges. As mentioned on the official site, Planet of the Apps is coming soon to Apple Music.
Planet of the Apps TV Show: A New Opportunity for App Developers
Planet of the Apps shows viewers and aspiring entrepreneurial developers what it takes to be an app developer and will be a very inspirational show for the next generation of developers,
- Eddy Cue, SVP Internet Software Services at Apple.
What is the Challenge on Planet of the Apps?
Contestants on Planet of the Apps will have 60-seconds to pitch their app idea to the judges, and if selected, will partner with a judge for expert guidance during project creation, implementation, marketing, and testing.
Tech executives from Uber, Yelp, and Musical.ly will also help guide developers throughout various stages of the competition in order to prep them for the final pitch to LightSpeed Venture Partners. The winning developer will receive up to $10 million investment to launch their app. While the finalists will still receive an exclusive feature in Apple’s App Store.
Planet of the Apps: What’s in it for Aspiring iOS App Developers?
Aspiring iOS app developers will benefit from the guidance of top business executives, helping them to grow as entrepreneurial developers. The expected panel includes:
- will.i.am (CEO of i.am+, a Hollywood-based creative tech suite)
- Jessica Alba (Co-Founder of The Honest Company, a mission-based consumer goods company)
- Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO of Vayner Media, a full-service digital media agency)
- Gwyneth Paltrow (Founder of Goop, a weekly lifestyle publication)
These branding experts act as mentors throughout the series — giving advice on market positioning, business operations and marketing communications, in order to help contestant’s scale their app ideas. And with over 2.2 million mobile apps available on the App Store today, aspiring iOS developers everywhere can benefit from insights on breaking through the clutter.
There will also be cameos from tech giants like Yelp!, Uber and Musical.ly as the competition heats up past the pitch. These companies will provide real-world expertise to the contestant’s app ideas and executions.
Building a great app is hard but breaking through the noise and finding an audience can be even harder,
- Ryan Hoover, Product Hunt Founder + Planet of the Apps Adviser.
Why is Apple Interested in App TV Shows?
Apple’s first attempt at original content is being seen as “superficial” to say the least from notable developers and techies alike. The show is being marketed to a mass audience instead of the community that’d directly benefit from such content. Because of this, Planet of the Apps is making tech seem like Hollywood — something that the techverse is not okay with so far.
While conceptually, the idea behind this show is relevant and applicable to the workforce today — we can’t help but ask why Apple is interested in promoting technical content to nontechnical users?
Planet of the Apps: Apple Hit or Miss?
While the app TV show offers promise to the everyday consumer market, the show is missing the real audience — those who are involved in and work in technology. As such, the show is already under fire from developers — largely due to the panel of celebrity judges. Though they’ve been successful at running various elements of larger businesses, how are they relevant in regards to mobile app development?
As Paul Haddad (developer of popular iOS apps such as Tweetbot) concludes: why didn’t Apple ask successful app developers instead of successful celebrities to judge this series?
While that’s up for debate, it’ll be interesting to see what direction this show goes in. Will we see critique on Swift and Xcode execution or hear branding tips for apps with positioning problems? Regardless, one thing is for sure: with spiked interest in computer science and web development, there has never been a better time for the release of a technopreneurial show.
You can find Apple’s first TV show, Planet of the Apps, exclusively on Apple Music in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, check out the official trailer for Planet of the Apps below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Twitter.
