After debuting exclusively on iPhone and Android, Quibi has slowly expanded to more platforms. In May, the company added AirPlay and then Cast support – but now they are offering apps for streaming players for the first time.
Quibi is now available to stream natively on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV devices like the new Chromecast with Google TV. On Apple TV devices, the app has integration with Apple’s TV App.
By adding the new devices, Quibi is now available to the 40 million active Fire TV devices, as well as millions of those with Apple TV and Android TV. The biggest missing platform at this point is Roku, and to a lesser extent gaming consoles and Smart TVs.
Not available on their TV Apps, is their “Turnstyle” technology, since the TV Apps play in landscape. Turnstyle allows for seamless fullscreen viewing whether the consumer is holding their phone in landscape or portrait mode, which doesn’t lend itself to the big screen.
Quibi’s April 6 launch didn’t go as the company planned it would. Not only did the short-form streaming service launch right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because people were forced to stay at home, it’s mobile-only viewing model became a point of contention for users.
According to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower, Quibi was the fourth ranked app based on number of downloads for iPhones at launch. However, that number tanked to 284 in June, well below Disney+, which was at 50 and HBO Max, which was at number 67, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Quibi claimed 3.5 million customers and 1.3 active users in May, while Sensor counted 2.9 million customers. Despite the discrepancy, founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, who raised $1.8 billion for the streamer, along with his CEO Meg Whitman, was disappointed. “It’s not up to what we wanted. It’s not close to what we wanted.”
With the pandemic still raging and no clear end in sight, the streamer had no choice but to bring the service to the TV.