At the bottom of a press release about the global streaming debut of F1 The Movie, Apple writes:
Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity.
Yes, that means people will watch Apple TV (the streaming service) in Apple TV (the app) using Apple TV (the digital media player). From now on, those of us who write about Apple will have to treat “Apple TV” as a modifier or work hard to create clarity through context. The very next paragraph in Apple’s press release runs smack into this issue:
Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac…
While “Apple TV+” may not have been the most inspired name, removing the “+” hardly qualifies as creating a “vibrant new identity.” Craig Federighi’s WWDC jokes about Apple’s “crack product marketing team” being “fully baked” are starting to feel less like humor and more like accurate commentary.
It seems to me that it would be a lot less confusing if they could continue to call the set-top box Apple TV, call the streaming service Apple Streaming, and call the apps on devices Apple Video. Naming the app TV was actually quite dumb, as you watch more than just TV content using it. Naming the set-top box Apple TV still makes a lot of sense, since you actually connect it to a physical television. TV+ I thought was dumb for the subscription streaming service, but renaming it TV is even dumber.
I agree that the + was pretty stupid. There was a trend of streaming services naming themselves with a plus at the end, which I’m pretty sure started with Disney+. It was followed by Paramount+, Apple TV+, AMC+, and so on, ad nauseam. And it was always stupid.
A plus sign at the end of your product or service name implies that it is better than your baseline product or service. A good example is the iPhone 7 Plus, which was a slightly more powerful version of the iPhone 7 with a larger screen. Made perfect sense.
When there’s no baseline, just the “plus”, the plus in the name is superfluous and confusing. And people quickly stop saying it. I never hear anyone refer to streaming services with the plus when speaking, only in writing. People just say “Disney” or “Apple” (not even “Apple TV”, just “Apple”) or “Paramount” or whatever—because everyone knows exactly what they’re referring to from the context, making “plus” just an extra syllable that adds zero meaning.
Agreed, Adam. The renaming follows the foolishness of “Apple Music” meaning both the app (iTunes) and the paid subscription service. Clarity, not confusion, should be the aim of any company, particularly the tech world.
They should have renamed it Apple TV$ so you’d know it was the paid service
I remember years ago when Microsoft got a trademark for “Windows” (by itself, no add-on) which I thought was ridiculous, but then Apple has claimed ordinary words like TV, Books, Mail, etc. I’m surprised they haven’t renamed Safari to Browser.
This naming stuff doesn’t seem that hard. Why does Apple struggle so?
Because of the confusing naming, I bet tons of people think you can only get Apple TV (streaming) if you have an Apple TV (box).
I can just imagine the fun Apple testers will have when writing a user testing script!
Turn on Apple TV.
Search for Apple TV.
Subscribe to Apple TV.
Arrrgh!
I wonder if they plan on discontinuing the TV hardware box and just have an app? If so, I’ll have to find a new set top box as my cable company has moved everything to WiFi for which I use my TV 4K to connect to my television.
The rumor mill has been buzing for months about a new version of the box. So, the renaming of the streaming service provides an excellent opportunity for renaming the box (and the app).
My guess about why a lot of streaming services and apps are called Plus is that traditional cable channels were in existence long before Internet video services. For example, the Disney Channel was the only way to watch Disney content at home without buying tapes or discs back in the day. And the only way to not watch something at a scheduled time was to set up a low quality VHS or Beta recording or, later, program a DVR in advance.
So in the eyes of movie studios and TV networks, the ability to “enhance” one’s cable TV subscription with HD content on demand was seen as a “plus”. And once a couple of companies used “plus” for their streaming services, others, in typical entertainment industry fashion. did the exact same thing.
As for Apple, it’s hard to say why its recent branding and product names don’t seem that inspired. One factor could be that it is now a huge multi-national company with a global, multi-lingual customer base. Then again, “Apple II” and “Performa” aren’t exactly exciting names.
Now, to be consistent, Apple should rename their MacBook Air/Pro to Apple Laptop Air/Pro, their iMac to Apple Desktop Screen and their Mac mini/Studio/Pro to Apple Desktop mini/Studio/Pro. MacOS should of course be renamed DesktopOS
The Apple TV device will be renamed. The rumors point to an expansion of the HomeKit ecosystem. I predict the new name with start with Home-, to complement the HomePod (where -Pod refers to any speaker). HomeStream? HomeBox?
I know several. And they also think that if you buy the box, it includes the streaming service. Trying to clarify the confusion is not easy. This name change will make it even harder.
I just checked and the current model is about the 31st so it should be called the iMac 31. However if Apple is moving to a chronological numbering system, than the iMac model released next year will probably be the “iMac 27”. I didn’t differentiate internally the model groups I counted using screen sizes.
