Connected Tvs How to Ensure Your Apps Bring a Delightful Digital Experience to Your Users Living Rooms

Connected TVs How to ensure your apps bring a delightful digital experience to your users living rooms.

WHITEPAPER | DECEMBER 2014 T elevisions Get Connected

Connected TVs have quickly taken their place next to other connected gadgets we have come to know, like smartphones, tablets, and wearables. These devices, present in 35 million U.S. households and growing, are redefining how audiences consume media. Connected TV devices mean that subscribers can choose from thousands of movies or TV shows offered by Neflix on a Friday night without ever switching to their cable. This places increased pressure on developers and QA teams alike, as they must work together to deliver a delightful digital experience in the living room. Launching winning connected TV apps must take developing and testing one step further than the traditional approach used for smartphones or tablets.

C onnected TVs On The Rise

Television is the reigning champ of media. According to Forrester Research, as of 2012, 114.7 million U.S. households have at least one television, and 35.9 million of those households have more than four sets. With a growing trend toward consuming media over the Internet and connected devices, it should come as no surprise then that connected TVs have seen widespread growth and adoption. Connected TVs, in one form or another, are present account for 29% of the total TV landscape in the U.S.

1 What factors are responsible for the acceptance and growth in the connected TV space? The main driver behind the adoption of connected TVs is the access to fast Internet access at home in developed economies. Consumers do not have any trouble establishing a fast Internet connection in their homes; so connected devices are a natural fit.

A second factor is the popularity of streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix. YouTube, in particular, streams over 4 billion videos a day with 60 hours worth of video uploaded every minute. The average person spends around five hours a day engaging with all screens ranging from television, to smartphone, to tablet for streaming purposes. Usage of connected TVs is heavily skewed toward Netflix subscribers.

Falling hardware prices combined with shortening of the TV upgrade cycle have dropped the price of connected TVs, making them more affordable, which has increased the speed of adoption. Collectively these three factors can be attributed to the growth of the connected TV.

T he Connected TV Ecosystem

When we say “connected TV” what do we mean? Most people view the phrases “connected TV” and “smart TV” as interchangeable but they are not. Connected TV refers to the entire industry as a whole. Smart TVs are a subset of the category. The connected TV landscape is broken down into three parts: gaming consoles, smart TVs, and streaming devices. According to Business Insider, gaming consoles account for 54% of the overall connected TV landscape, while smart TVs holds 38% and streaming devices sits at 6%.

2 Gaming Consoles Gaming consoles are the most common device consumers use for streaming Internet to the TV, as these devices make up 54% of the connected TV landscape. More than half of all U.S. households own at least one gaming console, with roughly 19 million households using their device to stream online TV and movies.

The top players in this space include Xbox, PlayStation and Wii. All three devices offer streaming video options and allow for download of apps such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Instant Video. The Xbox Video Store and PlayStation store also offer the ability to purchase shows not available on any of the popular streaming services if a user decides they want to.

Smart TVs Smart TVs are gaining momentum and could in the coming years replace gaming consoles as the most common device consumers use for streaming Internet to the TV. Smart TVs place a strong emphasis on better video options for users, and are not meant to be another method to search Google but rather enhance the daily television watching experience. This allows users to enjoy a unified interface and experience without having to switch between inputs.

What defines a smart TV? A smart TV is any television set that has Web-enhanced features built on top of a traditional experience. A smart TV set includes apps, unlimited streaming and synchronization over multiple devices. Smart TVs have Web apps, both a mixture of video and non-video app categories, that are pre-loaded onto the device and all have their own app stores that allow for complete customization when it comes to apps available on the

3 device. Applications on smart TVs are meant to take the place of traditional TV channels to add more to the experience.

The smart TV landscape is dominated by four key players: Samsung (41%), Vizio (33%), Panasonic (14%), and LG (12%). Each player has an established foothold in the overall TV industry and made the decision to take the technology available to them and offer a connected device option. This poses a challenge to developers and QA teams as each player has their own software and back-end system, which means both developing and testing differs from device to device.

Streaming Devices Streaming devices are the third and least commonly used connected TV option. A streaming device connects to the TV to provide additional features, such as access to apps and the Internet. Each streaming device is populated with a collection of apps that the user can use via their traditional TV set. Users do not have to connect a streaming device to a TV that is Wi-Fi-enabled in order for the device to work, simply plugging into a HDMI port on a TV is enough.

The top streaming devices are Apple TV, Roku, and Google Chromecast. Google is also releasing a new Android TV product in conjunction with Android 5.0 Lollipop. Amazon is getting into the TV streaming realm with its new Fire TV streaming stick as well. Each streaming device functions differently but all aim to offer a similar end-user app experience.

Apple TV

Apple TV does not have an app store, but rather gives the user direct access to iTunes for easy rental of movies and TV shows. However, you are not able

4 to get to any apps via the iTunes store, all apps available on Apple TV are pre- installed on the device. A total of 24 apps are already incorporated on the device including a mixture of video and non-video apps such as Flickr, Hulu Plus, Rotten Tomatoes, ABC News, NBA TV and others. Apple TV also allows for screen display, letting the end user project anything from their smart phone, tablet or computer to the TV through Apple’s AirPlay standard. Users have the ability to either purchase an Apple remote or download the “Remote” app to their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to control the device.

Roku

A Roku device has the Roku Channel Store, which allows the user to add additional channels or remove those that they will not use. There is a mixture of free and paid channels to chose from including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go and games like Angry Birds. Roku offers a free iOS and Android app that can be accessed via the channel store, App Store or Google Play that allows the end user to project pictures, videos and photos directly from their smart phone onto the TV screen.

Google Chromecast

Google Chromecast is an USB-like device that plugs directly into a TV’s HDMI port and casts both entertainment and apps from the users smart phone, tablet or computer to the TV. Chromecast only supports iOS and Android smart phones are tablets. Apps are pre-installed on the device and include a mix of video and non-video apps such as WatchESPN, Songza, DailyBurn, Netflix and Vevo. Chrome is also an available app so that users can browser the Internet via their device while it projects on the TV screen.

5 C onnected TV Fragmentation

Despite devices that more or less do the same thing, the connected TV landscape is highly fragmented.

The streaming device ecosystem is divided into two development environments: open and closed. Apple TV follows a closed ecosystem, in which app developers have to follow a much more careful approach to designing. Apps are only allowed onto the iTunes library on a case-by-case basis. This puts increasing pressure on developers and QA teams to make sure the app is properly tested. Roku and Google Chromecast, by contrast, have an open environment. This means that developers are given total freedom when it comes to designing apps and all are welcomed onto the devices. Open environments are easy to program for, allowing apps to be written in HTML, opening them up to developers, while closed systems tend to use a native language (like Objective-C). This open and closed environment greatly effects how QA teams function. Closed environments are much harder to test on and require a deeper understanding of the entire QA process. Open environments make testing similar as the back-end is more accessible and there are not as many hoops to jump.

The smart TV environment is much more complicated and severely more fragmented, providing developers and QA teams with a real headache. Six main players who all utilize their own proprietary operating systems and software dominate the landscape for smart TVs. Each of these players has their own SDKs, accreditation process, distribution system and resulting on- TV app stores—a real pain point for development and testing.

Let’s take a closer look at the platforms behind each of the key players.

6 Samsung Smart TV

The Samsung Smart TV supports Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms as well as 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. The platform also has its own SDK, Samsung Smart TV SDK 5.0. Included in the SDK is an Eclipse-based App Editor IDE, which gives developers tools to create these smart TV apps. By providing this app creation tool, Samsung is looking to make developing apps for their app store, Samsung Smart Hub, simpler. The Samsung Smart TV platform also provides TV emulators for all three supported platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux) so that developers and QA teams can test in pre-production in a development environment before testing in production or on a real smart TV.

Vizio Smart TV

Developing apps for the Vizio Smart TV is considerably much easier than most other smart TV platforms. The Vizio Smart TV supports HTML5, an Internet language used for structuring and presenting content on the web. Specifically, HTML5 makes for deployment across multiple proprietary operating systems and software development environments with very little to no modification. By supporting HTML5, Vizio makes both the development and testing of apps on the devices much easier. There is little work on the development side (i.e. re-writing the code) if an app is written in HTML5 across all platforms that support HTML5.

The Vizio Smart TV has its own app store, VIZIO Internet Apps Plus. Because the TV’s platform is based in HTML5, it makes for much quicker access to the latest and most popular apps. Unlike with other app stores, there is no need for the user to update the apps; they are automatically updated so that there

7 is a seamless experience for the end user. Apps that are shared across smart phones, tablets, and smart TVs will look and function the same, keeping a consistent flow throughout all devices. VIZIO Internet Apps Plus allows for second screen connectivity, enabling a user to browse shows via their smartphone or tablet and then play them on the TV itself. This second screen connectivity is limited to compatibility with iOS and Android devices only.

Panasonic Smart TV

Similar to Vizio, the Panasonic platform also offers support for apps written in both HTML5 and Javascript. This makes developing and testing easier, as described above.

The VIERA TV, the smart TV offering from Panasonic, has its own on-TV app store called Internet Apps Navigator. This app store is not already installed on the TV, though, and has to be downloaded via the Market, which is pre- installed on the device.

LG Smart TV

LG provides its own SDK, the webOS TV SDK, which provides tools for WebOS TV app development and an emulator for testing. The emulator is a VirtualBox- based emulator, which allows for the installation, running, and debugging of an app. It provides a computer environment that is similar to the actual WebOS TV and lets you test.

Developers may recall webOS, the mobile operating system that used to run Palm smartphones and PDAs. Palm sold to Hewlett-Packard which let webOS development whither before HP sold the remnants of the operating system to LG which employs it exclusively in smart televisions.

8 The LG Smart TV has its own app store designed specifically for its TVs, LG SmartWorld. The app store lets users download a mixture of free and fee- based apps across numerous categories including games, entertainment, music, and lifestyle. Navigating the app store is done through the magic motion remote control, or by downloading the free LG TV Remote app for Android and iOS devices.

W hy Does TV Testing Matter?

As traditional television gradually becomes obsolete and connected TV adoption continues to grow rapidly, continuous testing will become more vital than ever. Consumers of connected TVs are looking for a seamless omni- channel experience and expect relevant content to be served up quickly without a hitch. TV consumers value quality at the highest level—and many will pay for it—as studies from Accenture show that 35% of connected TV users will pay more money for a device that is perceived to have higher quality.

The stakes are even higher for connected TV applications. If expectations are not met, it can lead to app abandonment and a hindered reputation for not only the app, but the entire smart TV set, streaming device or even gaming console. Simply: If apps don’t work, users tend to abandon them. Even on television sets.

Users expect an app to perform as seamlessly on a connected TV as it does on their smart phone or tablet, which means testing has to be done across multiple screen sizes and devices. There is no differentiation in the minds of the consumers; these devices should work together and produce the same result.

9 But it goes far beyond just content. These applications must delight their users in every way, including the look and feel, ease of navigation and responsiveness of the app. Because these features impact the users experience with the device and can be the driving force behind bottom line growth and reputation, it is crucial for usability testing to be a top priority.

Even more than that, users do not just consume content, but they talk about it, too. Whether they love or hate the device, users turn to social media, reviews and all other mediums to broadcast their user-experiences. If the experience does not delight the user, they will be vocal about it.

T est for Success

With apps for connected TVs replacing the channels associated with traditional TVs, it is crucial to ensure your app works in the real world. With in-the-wild testing, testers can find bugs as they use the application where you intend your users to be—in their homes, sitting on the couch or laying in bed. Testing in-the-wild helps your QA team cover all devices, reducing your overhead for purchasing and storing.

Functional Testing To guarantee your application succeeds with users and their connected TV devices, you need to ensure it works as it was intended. Testing with real devices in the home allows your application to undergo real conditions resulting in real feedback. Functional testing in-the-wild does more than just give defects and feedback; it allows you to test on specific television models and numerous platforms and devices.

10 Usability Testing Without touch, you have to relay on other methods to navigate through the app on the connected TV device, and Usability Testing gets to the heart of how intuitive and easy to use your app is. For connected TV devices, this is a combination of how intuitive the remote control device (whether an actual device or an app installed on your smartphone or tablet) is and how it interacts with the connected TV device More than that, the remote control must make using the device and in turn the app, simplier for the user. Remote usability testing allows you to discover where the issues are in real-time and in real situations in the home.

Localization Testing Localization testing ensures your app is properly formatted and translated for the markets you play in. We use in-market natives who can provide the proper context for you to ensure your app meets the cultural norms. Every issue is then verified by an additional in-market native to ensure the accuracy. When it comes to media, there are different content and app licensing rules that must not be overlooked. For example, a movie may be released on Netflix in the U.S. that is not available in Latin America; localization testing will ensure that details like this are not overlooked.

C onclusion

Connected TVs are the newest iteration of connected gadgets and as adoption continues to grow they will become the new standard for consuming media. It is crucial for QA teams to test the functionality, usability and localization of

11 their app on real connected TV devices before users get their eyes on them. Failing to delight users can directly affect the apps success, as well as the reputation and bottom line of the brand behind it. Connected TV devices are here to stay, so it’s time to perfect your testing strategy across this highly fragmented landscape to ensure a delightful digital experience that is sure to add more fuel to the rapidly growing adoption fire.