Apple TV Apps Can Now Support Facebook Login

Application developers looking to take more advantage of Apple TV will be pleased to know that Facebook just announced the beta launch of a new SDK for tVOS, which it says will help them “build immersive social experiences” on the platform.

The new SDK would also include the ability for developers to allow users to share links, photos and video from tvOS to Facebook and help developers understand their audience with Facebook-based analytics. Facebook’s SDK for tvOS, however, will users to quickly login using their Facebook credentials.

The SDK is likely to gain enough traction, given that Apple TV issues are not limited to a single user.

With the new technology, users will simply have to go to facebook.com/devices on their computer or smartphone and enter an 8-digit confirmation code to connect the Facebook account with Apple TV. On the new Apple TV, logging in involves using the onscreen keyboard to enter a password, and it’s one of the screw-ups the company needs to fix.

So, games developers may want to encourage users to share high scores to Facebook, while shopping apps may also choose to give users the opportunity to share their favourite deals. Developers can download the SDK from Facebook’s developer site. That’s not the smoothest process in the world, and will depend on developer support, but it’s about as good as we can hope for given that Apple no longer lets you use your iPhone as a TV keyboard.