Do you think TV app development is the same as mobile, but bigger? You couldn’t be further away from the truth—and in this episode, we’ll explain why.
In the 49th episode of React Universe On Air, Łukasz Chludziński teams up with Michael Khirallah, Senior Director of Engineering at DIRECTV, and Chris Trag, Head of Developer Evangelism at Amazon, to explore the complexities of building TV apps with React Native.
From optimizing performance on decade-old hardware to managing focus behavior across different TV remotes, they share hard-earned lessons on turning a single codebase into seamless experiences across every screen in your living room—and maybe even your basement.
Building scalable TV apps: Strategies, tools, and real-world lessons from React Native experts
This episode takes a no-nonsense approach to building cross-platform TV applications, with practical advice and real-world experiences shared by guests, including:
- Eighteen TV platforms, one codebase—find out how to tackle the technical and UX challenges of building for Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Tizen, and more—all with React Native. Learn why cross-platform development is not just a time-saver, but also a way to deliver a consistent user experience.
- Performance optimization, also on legacy devices—with devices like Samsung’s Tizen TVs released in 2017 (running Chromium 47!), performance is a serious concern. Michael and Chris share real-world techniques for optimizing TV apps, from architectural choices to strategies that avoid unnecessary performance hits on newer devices.
- Testing across multiple platforms—the complexity of TV app development doesn’t stop at coding. Our host and guests discuss how they balance unit, integration, automation, and manual testing, leveraging tools like AWS Device Farm and custom-built frameworks to ensure stability across all supported platforms. What’s in it for you? Tips on automating QA without compromising on thoroughness, and why manual testing remains a crucial step for end-user experience.
- Custom abstraction layers for consistent UX—building apps for TVs means dealing with wildly different remote controls and navigation models. Hear how DIRECTV engineers developed custom abstraction layers for focus management and accessibility, and why this approach is crucial for creating seamless, intuitive interfaces.
- React Native Directory & open source contributions—learn about Amazon’s initiative to test all 1,200+ public libraries for Fire OS compatibility and how recent updates to React Native Directory filters can save you time when choosing the right tools for your next project.
- Use cases with all the challenges and opportunities—from dealing with unique key bindings on TV remotes to solving the challenges of delivering a unified experience on vastly different hardware, this episode dives into practical scenarios and how-to approaches that you can apply in your own projects.
Resources mentioned in the episode
Don’t just listen—get hands-on! Check out the episode resources, including links to frameworks, libraries, and tools mentioned in the discussion. Download Mastering the Big Screen: React Native for TV to step up your TV app development game today, and share your experiences with the React Universe community.
- Mastering the Big Screen: React Native for TV guide
- Łukasz Chludziński on X, Bluesky, and GitHub
- Michael Khirallah on X, LinkedIn, and GitHub
- Chris Trag on X, LinkedIn, and web
- React Universe Conf 2025 panel “Over the Top”: Building Streaming Apps for Mobile, Web, and Smart TVs
- Giovanni Laquidara & Eric Fahsl – Extending React Native Apps to the Big Screen
- Max Phillips – TV Apps in the Wild
- React Native Directory
