In this conversation, Simon Grimm interviews Giovanni Laquidara, a developer advocate at Amazon, about TV app development with React Native. Giovanni shares his experience working with React Native at Amazon and explains how React Native can be used to develop TV apps. He also discusses the challenges and considerations when developing for TV, such as the 10-foot UI, navigation, and remote control interaction. Giovanni recommends using separate repositories for different TV platforms and emphasizes the importance of designing for readability and accessibility in TV apps. Building TV apps with React Native requires handling fragmentation, focus management, and performance considerations. Integration with TV remotes can be challenging due to different key mappings. Testing on various platforms is crucial. TV apps often focus on streaming media, but there are opportunities for educational, fitness, and gaming apps. The developer experience is improving, and AI services may be integrated into TV apps in the future.

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Giovanni Laquidara

• Giovanni LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glaquidara/
• Giovanni Twitter: https://x.com/giolaq

Links

• Giovanni App.js talk: https://www.youtube.com/live/s0wn7qpBoB8?t=12161s
• Build Expo apps for TV: https://docs.expo.dev/guides/building-for-tv/
• React Native tvOS Github: https://github.com/react-native-tvos/react-native-tvos
• IgniteTV template: https://github.com/react-native-tvos/IgniteTV

Takeaways

• React Native can be used to develop TV apps for platforms like Android TV, Fire TV, and tvOS.
• Developing for TV requires considering the 10-foot UI, where users are typically three meters away from the screen.
• TV app navigation should be easy and seamless, with a focus on simplicity and avoiding complex interactions.
• Separate repositories are recommended for different TV platforms due to the fragmentation and differences in SDKs.
• Designing for readability and accessibility is crucial in TV app development. Building TV apps with React Native requires handling fragmentation, focus management, and performance considerations.
• Testing on various platforms is crucial for TV app development.
• TV apps often focus on streaming media, but there are opportunities for educational, fitness, and gaming apps.
• The developer experience for TV app development is improving.
• AI services may be integrated into TV apps in the future.
• Deployment to app stores follows similar processes as mobile apps.