Open Source Apple TV App with Live TV

l984_451
Thu, 01 Jan 2026 01:26:38 +0000
Apps & Creations

Hey all!

TLDR: I’m developing an open source tvOS app called Rivulet and it is ready for use and testing.

Join the TestFlight here.

Source code here.

Over the past few months I developed an Apple Watch app that connects to Plex so you can stream or download your audio library directly from your watch (TestFlight here if you’re interested).

While developing that app, I started considering developing an open source Apple TV app as well. The official Plex app is fine, but there are a few bugs that have never been addressed or fixed, and I am sick of my HomePod sitting useless because the Plex app cannot play to it correctly.

To solve my problems and have some fun, I have created Rivulet, a native tvOS app.

This project has fairly opinionated designs and logic, with a few focal points:

Simplicity - What is the best design to get me to the media I want to watch.

Live TV - Plex’s live TV is, to put it nicely, sub-par. I’ve spent too long trying to get it to work well for me (kudos if you don’t have this problem). I don’t want live TV in a separate app, so this solves my problems. You might could use this just for live tv. Go for it.

HomePod Integration - The Plex app has never worked well when setting HomePod as the default audio output on my Apple TV. It hurts to have a HomePod sitting there collecting dust while my sub-par tv speakers play sound. This app helps the hurt.

Vertical Scrolling - I have never liked scrolling sideways. I use horizontal scrolling for some of the “infinite” lists, but use vertical scrolling whenever practical.

Apple-esque - I like most of Apple’s designs. I want this to feel somewhat native.

Here are some screenshots from the app.

Would love for everyone to check it out and use it if you like it! I’m sure there will be plenty of issues found, so if you can report them in GitHub.

If you’re a developer and like whats been started here, feel free to contribute with some PRs!

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year!

19 posts - 7 participants