Third party apps may finally land on the Apple TV this fall

apple tv ui

I know, I know. There’s so many different Apple rumors these days, going in so many different directions, it’s hard to keep track. There’s the 4.8-inch iPhone, and the budget iPhone, and let’s not forget about the iWatch, which has become extremely popular as of late.

But try to block all of that out for a second, and focus on the Apple TV. A new report is out today from Tech Crunch’s well-connected MG Siegler, who says that talk of Apple’s broader television plans is picking up, and we could see something happen as early as this fall…

From his TechCrunch report:

“The rumor that Apple would unveil some sort of Apple TV SDK at an event next month turned out to be bogus (as most things analysts say about Apple prove to be). But that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. In fact, I’d bet on it sooner rather than later.

I haven’t heard anything specific about the SDK, but the chatter about Apple’s broader television plans has been picking up. And if that chatter is to believed, something is happening this fall — likely late fall. As always with Apple, those plans are subject to change (and, in fact, have changed a few times in the past — see: “Project Sphere”). As you might imagine, content deals remain a bitch, yet remain vital to such a project. But multiple sources suggest everything is finally lining up for this fall.

The bogus report he’s referring to is that of Jeffries analyst Peter Misek. In a note to investors on Wednesday, Misek said that his ‘channel checks’ indicated Apple was planning a March ATV media event. But the story was quickly “noped” by Apple-insider Jim Dalrymple.

We’ve actually seen the ‘apps are coming to Apple TV’ headline pop up quite a bit over the last few years. Last year, in fact, leading up to WWDC, it was reported that Apple was going to unveil a TV SDK for third party developers. But that scoop obviously never materialized.

And that’s actually what Siegler suggests could happen this year. He says that in order to launch an Apple TV App Store in the fall, Apple would have to unveil it months in advance to give developers time to do their thing. And what better place to do that than its WWDC event?

As far as hardware goes, it’s not known if Apple’s short-term TV plans involve a full-blown television set, the current hockey puck, or some souped up set-top box. But, as Siegler points out, it really doesn’t matter, as long as it can run the apps. Just ask Xbox founder Nat Brown.

Thoughts?