The Problem With Side-Loading Apps (Particularly on the AppleTV)
I setup a Raspberry Pi in my living room specifically for Retro Pie. I would've loved to have the same functionality on my Apple TV, but it's too annoying of a process to maintain and I'll explain why.
Side-Loading an application is essentially when you install an application from a source other than a device's App Store. It's usually a term used for doing it on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, or smart watches.
I generally enjoy living within Apple's "walled garden" but I really wish there was an easier way to use emulators on the AppleTV. Gaming on the ATV is better than most people think (it's not going to make people ditch their Playstations and Xboxes), but most of the games in the app store are far too niche (nobody else is playing or has even heard of it), or they feel like rip-offs of mainstream games. Asphalt 8 or Modern Combat 5 are impressive mobile games but they feel like compromised copies of games like Forza and Call of Duty, respectively. I'm not asking to run Star Wars Battlefront or Elite Dangerous on my little streaming box. I would, however, think it would be great to use for enjoying older NES or SNES games on.
Up until the ATV 4K, you had to connect 4th gen ATV to a Mac using a USB-c cable, use iOS App Signer to sign the app, and then use xCode to package and push your app to your ATV. It's an annoying process. The real kicker is your Apple Developer account. You can create a free dev account with Apple, or you can pay $99/yr for a pro dev account. With regards to side-loading apps, the Dev account you use can make a difference of how often you need to re-side-load your app. With a pro account, you only have to do it once a year (which isn't that bad IMO). For a free account, you have to do it every 7 days.
I have the ATV 4k, so I can push it via wireless as opposed to needing to plug my computer into it every week. Either way, having to do that process every 7 days sounds annoying enough to just keep using my RPi for retro gaming.
What is Side-Loading?
Side-Loading an application is essentially when you install an application from a source other than a device's App Store. It's usually a term used for doing it on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, or smart watches.
I generally enjoy living within Apple's "walled garden" but I really wish there was an easier way to use emulators on the AppleTV. Gaming on the ATV is better than most people think (it's not going to make people ditch their Playstations and Xboxes), but most of the games in the app store are far too niche (nobody else is playing or has even heard of it), or they feel like rip-offs of mainstream games. Asphalt 8 or Modern Combat 5 are impressive mobile games but they feel like compromised copies of games like Forza and Call of Duty, respectively. I'm not asking to run Star Wars Battlefront or Elite Dangerous on my little streaming box. I would, however, think it would be great to use for enjoying older NES or SNES games on.
Up until the ATV 4K, you had to connect 4th gen ATV to a Mac using a USB-c cable, use iOS App Signer to sign the app, and then use xCode to package and push your app to your ATV. It's an annoying process. The real kicker is your Apple Developer account. You can create a free dev account with Apple, or you can pay $99/yr for a pro dev account. With regards to side-loading apps, the Dev account you use can make a difference of how often you need to re-side-load your app. With a pro account, you only have to do it once a year (which isn't that bad IMO). For a free account, you have to do it every 7 days.
I have the ATV 4k, so I can push it via wireless as opposed to needing to plug my computer into it every week. Either way, having to do that process every 7 days sounds annoying enough to just keep using my RPi for retro gaming.
Comments
Post a Comment