Adult video subscription service FyreTV (website not safe for work) launched the first native porn app for Google TV devices Monday. The app isn’t distributed through Google Play because Google doesn’t allow any adult content on its app store. Instead, it can be downloaded directly from FyreTV’s website, which is possible because Google TV makes it possible to install apps from third-party sources.
A FyreTV representative told us via email that the company believes in “in the long term viability of the platform and its open policies,” adding:
“We saw how Android went from last to first in terms of mobile market share and we are expecting a similar result here. Plus with their international rollout it allows our users from a wider range of countries to experience FyreTV the way it was meant to be experienced, on the TV.”
FyreTV’s app on a Google TV.
FyreTV is one of a number of companies trying to become a kind of Netflix for porn, offering a number of different subscription packages for consumers of adult content. The company initially sold its own set-top box, and more recently started to target connected devices like Roku, and the Boxee Box. FyreTV isn’t the first company to target Google TV – adult studio Vivid launched a Google TV-optimized HTML5 website last year.
However, we were told by FyreTV that they prefered the native app approach. “From what we have seen users are more likely to engage with the service when they feel it is a ‘part’ of their device and not just another website,” the company representative told us, adding that FyreTV is nonetheless working on an HTML5 site for connected devices as well. “We do see HTML5 as an important factor in providing FyreTV access to a wider user base, particularly on TV devices that would never allow us to go native,” he said.
