Android ITV Player app exclusive to Samsung

Android ITV Player app exclusive to Samsung

TV catchup app ITV Player has been released for Android. Yay! But you can only use it on Samsung devices until 31st August. Booo!

It’s been a while coming, but the new ITV Player app has finally hit the Google Play store. It seems pretty good too. All you need is a compatible Samsung device running Gingerbread (Android 2.3) or above and the developers say you can:

  • Catch up on programmes from ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV
  • Watch over 3G/4G or Wifi
  • Free to download with unlimited usage
  • Browse recommended programmes
  • Search for programmes by channel or alphabetically

The user interface looks pretty swish too.

Whilst the millions of Samsung owners won’t be too worried about their exclusivity deal, I’m sure there will be non-Samsung owners who’ll be pretty darn miffed when they try to install it. So why?

James Micklethwait, Online Product Director of ITV says it’s because of the fragmentation of Android across different manufacturers’ devices:

The fragmentation of the Android ecosystem is well known therefore, as a commercial broadcaster, it makes sense for us to partner with the leading manufacturer of Android devices to further increase our technical knowledge of the operating system. We plan to launch the app onto other Android devices in the future.

So it’s nothing to do with a profitable deal between the two? Hmmm…

The other worry is that this sort of exclusivity deal will become more common, making your choice of phone a choice of apps at the same time.

Are you a non-Samsung owner who was looking forward to the new ITV Player app? Does this grind your gears or couldn’t you give a monkeys?

ITV Player in the Play Store

Comments (2)

  1. Eric
  2. Rich1967