Why are UK TV catch-up apps (itv player, all 4, demand 5, etc.) Available on fire tv but not Android

[Android Central Question]

Why are UK TV catch-up apps (itv player, all 4, demand 5, etc.) Available on Amazon fire tv devices but not on ogival Android TV devices?

Despite the fact they are both Android based. Even Side loading the fire TV versions to Android TV, the apps don't function well or have Amazon app store dependencies that are unavailable. It's a big blow for Android TV that makes it an inferior system.

 

[Almeuit]

Why are UK TV catch-up apps (itv player, all 4, demand 5, etc.) Available on Amazon fire tv devices but not on ogival Android TV devices?

Despite the fact they are both Android based. Even Side loading the fire TV versions to Android TV, the apps don't function well or have Amazon app store dependencies that are unavailable. It's a big blow for Android TV that makes it an inferior system.

You would have to ask the devs of those apps. If they don't make them for Android then .. well .. that is your answer why. Google doesn't program all the apps you see in the app store -- devs do.

 

[Mooncatt]

You would have to ask the devs of those apps. If they don't make them for Android then .. well .. that is your answer why. Google doesn't program all the apps you see in the app store -- devs do.

This is the first I've heard of such a service, and I looked into it a bit. It looks like the legality of the service may be questionable. I don't know UK laws, but I did see some news reports of court cases ruling it can only be used in certain ways (especially excluding mobile data transmitting). So it could be possible in this case that Google sees potential liability in hosting the app and is blocking it.

Of course, that's only speculation on my part.