Google adds Apple’s TV app to latest Chromecast device

Alphabet Inc’s Google has added Apple Inc’s TV app, which includes paid streaming service Apple TV+, to the latest Chromecast TV device, the search giant said on Thursday.

The move comes at a time when Apple has grown warmer to granting access to its services to hardware devices outside its ecosystem, with Chromecast users getting access to its renowned originals like “The Morning Show” and “Greyhound”.

Apple in 2019 had made its TV app available on Amazon.com Inc’s Fire TV devices and Roku Inc’s platform.

“In addition to Chromecast with Google TV, the Apple TV app will also be available on Google TVs from Sony and TCL,” Google said in a blogpost.

Google had announced the move late last year, after having said Apple Music would soon be available on Google smart speakers.

The pandemic has seen traditional pay-TV consumers shift increasingly to streaming services for entertainment-on-demand while sheltering at home, boosting subscribers to platforms like Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co’s Disney+ and AT&T Inc-owned HBO Max.