Streaming > Streaming Devices 262 262 people found this article helpful Can You Install Apps on the Apple TV? Stream TV, movies and music on your Apple TV by installing apps By Sam Costello Sam Costello Facebook Twitter Writer Ithaca College Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 27, 2021 Reviewed by Jerrick Leger Reviewed by Jerrick Leger Jerrick Leger is a CompTIA-certified IT Specialist with more than 10 years' experience in technical support and IT fields. He is also a systems administrator for an IT firm in Texas serving small businesses. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Streaming Devices Apple TV Roku Chromecast Fire TV Apple TV is a terrific device for streaming TV, movies, and music—whether that be Apple Music or another streaming platform—from the internet to your TV. It even comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps that make it easy for you to start enjoying the device right away. Lifewire But what if you want to add additional features or functionality to your Apple TV? What happens if a streaming video service you love isn't pre-installed on the Apple TV or you want to play a game? Can you download Apple TV apps from the App Store like you can with an iPhone? The answer: It depends on which model you have. Installing Apps on 4th and 5th Gen Apple TV: Yes Apple If you have the 4th generation Apple TV, which Apple introduced in Sept. 2015, or the Apple TV 4K, aka the 5th generation model, that debuted in Sept. 2017, you can download Apple TV apps to it. Those versions of the Apple TV are built around the idea that, as Tim Cook said when introducing the 4th gen. model, apps are the future of television. Installing apps on the 4th or 5th gen. Apple TV is similar to and just as easy as, installing them on an iPhone or iPad. The operating system that runs on the Apple TV, called tvOS, is slightly different from iOS, so the steps for installing apps on it are slightly different, too. Just like on the iPhone and iPad, you can redownload apps on Apple TV, too. Go to the App Store app on your Apple TV, select the Purchased menu, and then select Not on This Apple TV for a list of apps available for redownload. Installing Apps on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Gen Apple TV: No 2nd Generation Apple TV. Mikepanhu / Wikimedia Unlike with the newer models, users cannot add their own apps to the 3rd, 2nd, or 1st generation Apple TV models (except in one case, as we'll see). That's because the 3rd generation Apple TV and earlier models don't have an App Store for third-party apps. But that doesn't mean that new apps don't get added. While users can't add Apple TV on their own to these Apple TV models, Apple adds them from time to time. When the Apple TV debuted, it had less than a dozen channels of Internet content. By the time Apple stopped making these models, there were dozens. Apple no longer supports the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Generation Apple TV, so new channels are no longer being added to those models. For the latest apps and most options, upgrade to one of the new Apple TV models. There was generally no warning when new channels appeared, and users couldn't control if they were installed or not. When you turned your Apple TV on, you'd find that a new icon had appeared on the home screen and that you now had new content available. For example, the WWE Network wrestling streaming service simply appeared on Apple TV screens with no advance warning when it launched in Feb. 2014. Sometimes Apple bundled new apps in with updates to the Apple TV's software, but new channels often debuted as they were ready. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit