The iPhone apps like Netflix and Hulu already have me authenticated so they should provide the mechanism of authentication to the Apple TV apps.

I fire up the Netflix app on the TV and then it provides the option to be setup by the companion iOS app. During this time it’s broadcasting on the local network for the iOS app. When the iOS app is launched, it sees the broadcast and replies back to the Apple TV. When the TV app sees this reply it generates a random set of numbers and sends its reply.

The iOS companion app then asks the user to verify that the code they are seeing on the TV is correct. If the user accepts then the iOS app goes to the Netflix API to ask for a new oAuth user token. This token is then sent back to the Netflix app on the Apple TV and the user is automatically signed in.

Human Usability

The HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) is a great document but it’s time to accept that humans want usable products. It makes no sense that these devices should be siloed: they should be capable of helping each other out to improve the experience of the user. When I buy a new device some of the magic is lost when I have to spend a frustrating amount of time typing into a onscreen keyboard. At least a cable box is pre setup….