[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htC9sHr34K0″]
Video of iOS apps running side-by-side on Apple TV.
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has been working with a developer named TheMudKip to add iOS application functionality to the Apple TV. The tweaking is still in its early stages, but the concept of running applications was at least proven. In order to accomplish the task of running iOS applications on the Apple TV, the software that powers the app launcher, the iOS Springboard, had to be rewritten.
Rewriting the springboard also allowed for another neat, new feature: side-by-side apps. This concept was demonstrated as early as WWDC 2011 on an iPad, but is much more powerful and important on a device like an Apple TV. One can imagine opening several news applications to have a big view of what is going on in the world, or having different chat applications for different services simultaneously in use. We will update on the progress of this hack as more information comes in. More images after the break:
