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As previously rumored, Twitter is launching a new version of its app today for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Microsoft’s Xbox One. As you might expect from an app designed to be used on your TV, the focus here is on watching live-streaming video and browsing curated content from Vine and Periscope — not just seeing abuse from random Twitter eggs on the biggest screen in your house.
NFL’s Thursday Night Football games will all be streamed via the app (and will be free to access without a pay TV subscription or a Twitter account), as well as content from MLB, the NBA, and media organizations including Bloomberg News. Exclusively on Apple TV viewers will be able watch "live premium video [and] Tweeted video clips" side-by-side, says Twitter, an experience which sounds a little disorientating.
Viewers will also be able to browse a Twitter timeline as they watch live-streamed games, as shown in the picture above. This may sound a bit unnecessary for people used to browsing the app on their phone while watching the game, but it has the potential to introduce new users to Twitter's key features — which is, of course, half the point of the company's push into live-streaming sports.
The apps will be available globally via the App Store for Apple TV. For the Xbox One they'll be available markets around the world including the US, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. And for Amazon's Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick they'll only be available in the US and UK.