Brightcove Makes it Easier to Develop Dual-Screen iOS and Apple TV Apps

Brightcove announced today the introduction of App Cloud Core, a free edition of the company's app platform that allows developers to create native iOS apps using HTML5 and JavaScript. In addition, one of the major new features of the API is the ability for developers to easily create dual-screen apps for iOS devices to broadcast content to the Apple TV over AirPlay.

The new solution enables media publishers to develop rich content apps for the iPhone and iPad that simultaneously control content, data and information presented on an HDTV while displaying synchronized content on the iPad or iPhone. The unique dual-screen solution leverages Apple's AirPlay technology, which allows viewers to use applications that simultaneously present content, interactive options and data on both the touch device and an Apple TV.

This ability to broadcast separate content to a user's device and Apple TV is not new (Real Racing 2 HD Demo), but the new APIs provide another easy way for developers to implement these features. Brightcove offers this demo of how it can be used:


There's been a lot of attention to how Apps might work on a television interface. Microsoft recently announced a new technology called SmartGlass which offers a two-way Airplay-like standard that allows mobile devices to act as second screens for content being displayed on TV from an Xbox.

Beyond Apple's own efforts with AirPlay, there has been rumors that Apple might take it a step further with a fully developed Apple TV app model as well as the possibility of a full Apple television set in the near future.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 17 Models Rumored to Feature Redesigned Dynamic Island

Monday July 7, 2025 7:38 am PDT by
iPhone 17 models will feature a redesigned Dynamic Island user interface, according to a post today from Digital Chat Station, an account with more than three million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The account has accurately leaked some information regarding future Apple products in the past. The account did not share any specific details about the alleged changes that are ...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Prime Day Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Monday July 7, 2025 10:55 am PDT by
Amazon is back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront. With the event now underway, we're tracking numerous all-time low prices on Apple gear right now. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a...

Top Rated Comments

gnasher729 Avatar
170 months ago
This would be very nice, and I wouldn't be surprised if Apple adds a related API in the future but it is definitely not possible right now. I won't be surprised if they never add it in order to prevent apps from surreptitiously sending views to a screen.
This has been possible and actually quite easy to do with Cocoa for a long time. First you check whether [UIScreen screens].count >= 2. There is always one screen, but if this count is 2 or more then you have an external screen.

Next you get the second screen, that's [[UIScreen screens]objectAtIndex:1]. Get its bounds by calling the bounds method, create a window, set it to be on the second screen, add a view, and that's it. That's all to get started.

If you want to do it really well, you can ask iOS to tell you when external screens are added or removed, you can ask what resolutions are available and change the resolution if you want. But it's all really easy to do.

Designing a useful user interface may be a little problem, since your external screen won't be a touch screen; so if you put a button on the external display, nobody will be able to press it. Second display is purely for display.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
170 months ago
$ 99/month is not making it easier at all.
Free version is a teaser. Full features ain't free.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
filmantopia Avatar
170 months ago
is it me or is Apple moving to console more than an actual TV. AppleTV v.3 could with a little more room be a contender for casual gaming. :D

That's the thing, if Apple's intending on a successful "TV-like device", the device needs to possess significant feature improvements over a standard TV & Apple TV combo. Something pretty drastic. I'm in the camp that thinks it's going to happen.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Damian Ragar Avatar
170 months ago
Nice but, having to invoke the bottom bar to launch the content via airplay kills the deal IMO. Would be far more intuitive to have the app push the content via AirPlay natively via some kind of button/menu.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdriftmeyer Avatar
170 months ago
I already pay $99 a year to Apple to make my apps which can be natively programed to do this whole two screens, multi screen stuff (see Real Racing, the native Video app etc). And it's really not that hard if you bother to learn the SDKs.

So why would I pay, or worse make my users pay, any amount for such function. I might as well write DO NOT DOWNLOAD MY APP at the top of my description. These are folks that balk at spending even 99 cents for most stuff, especially games.

----------



I can agree with that. In fact I still strongly believe that all that 'real tv' talk is actually Apple updating their Cinema Display line up with higher quality and bigger sizes. I would happily pay for a 40-46 inch 1080p Retina Display with a healthy frame refresh and HDMI etc to plug in my blu-ray, my apple tv, my cable box, my computer rather than the same for a 'smart' tv that is full of a bunch of stuff I'll never use.

Not to mention the whole HTML5/Javascript solution when I've got all the heavy APIs I could desire to do the heavy lifting and then customize my functionality in C/ObjC/ObjC++/C++ via LLVM/Clang/OpenCL without adding a footprint, namely WebKit, on top just to then develop on top of that in a mark up language and a scripting language.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mad Mac Maniac Avatar
170 months ago
YES! I would love to see this capability enabled for many of my apps. This is definitely a step in the right direction. I was hoping to see Apple promote/encourage this somehow with something like that, but good to see someone doing it!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)