Smart TV App Development Without Coding: Pros, Cons, and Platforms

People are now leaning towards watching videos, accessing apps, and engaging with content directly from their smart TV screens. The entertainment, educational, and sports business sectors should pay attention to the TV platforms as a lucrative opportunity to gain profit and become recognizable to a larger audience.

The problem lies in developing a smart TV app. The process is rather time- and labor-consuming. However, there is one attractive way to approach smart TV application development — using no-coding platforms. Let’s move on to how you can create these apps without diving into the complexities of coding.

Why does your company need a smart TV app?

Before talking about coding, let’s explore why you should care about smart TV application development.

Here are some strong reasons your company should jump on the smart TV app bandwagon:

• Smart TV apps let you reach millions of users who love consuming content on bigger screens.
• The immersive experience that smart TVs offer is unparalleled compared to mobile devices or computers.
• Being present on major smart TV platforms significantly boosts your brand’s visibility and recognition.
• Engaged smart TV audiences mean better monetization through ads, subscriptions, or in-app purchases.
• Getting in early with smart TV app development can set you apart from competitors who haven’t yet explored this space.

What is app development without coding?

No-code development is a method that lets people construct apps using graphical user interfaces instead of traditional programming. These platforms include pre-built components, drag-and-drop functionality, and visual processes.

Because no-code platforms are meant to be user-friendly, even non-developers may create reliable and useful apps.

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of this simplified approach.

Advantages

• Accessibility. The most obvious one. As we’ve said, no-code platforms make app development accessible to individuals without technical expertise.
• Speed. No-code development is really fast if you need a simple app or MVP with only core functions required.
• Flexibility. Users can quickly iterate and make changes to their apps without extensive re-coding.

Disadvantages

• Limited customization. No-code platforms may not offer the same level of customization as traditional coding. This is the reason why they aren’t quite suitable for complex projects.
• Platform dependency. Users might become dependent on the platform for updates, features, and troubleshooting.
• Performance constraints. No-code apps might not perform as well as their coded counterparts in terms of speed and efficiency.

source: generated with DALL-E 3

Popular services for smart TV application development without coding

Samsung Tizen Studio with visual programming

Supported platforms: Samsung smart TVs (Tizen OS).

Samsung’s official development environment for Tizen (the operating system) offers visual tools for app creation. The platform provides official support and comprehensive tools for creating high-quality Tizen apps.

LG webOS IDE with visual tools

Supported platforms: LG smart TVs (webOS).

LG’s Integrated Development Environment for webOS includes visual tools and templates. The great benefit is direct support for webOS features and access to LG’s development resources.

Roku SceneGraph developer extensions (SGDEX)

Supported platforms: Roku TVs and devices.

Roku provides a framework with visual components that can be used without extensive coding. The framework ensures a simplified app creation process with extensive documentation and community support.

You.i TV Engine

Supported platforms: Multiple, including Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, and Tizen.

This is a platform allowing for the design of cross-platform TV apps with a visual development environment. It offers robust cross-platform capabilities and extensive design tools.

Glitch (for web-based apps)

Supported platforms: Smart TVs with web browser capabilities.

Glitch allows the building of web applications using visual editing, which can then be adapted for smart TV browsers. It is easy to use for web-based TV apps due to quick iteration and sharing.

Other options for building a smart TV app

No-code is not the common option to create a smart TV application. The more traditional ways are native and framework-based development.

Below is a comparison of native and framework approaches for smart TV apps.

Wrapping up

No-code smart TV application development has many advantages, though its flaws partially overshadow them. No matter what type of development you choose, don’t deal with it alone. Contact a professional smart TV app development company and decide how to make your smart TV app in a really smart way.