Apple TV app sizes limited to 200mb

Apple TV apps will be limited to a maximum size of 200MB, according to developer documentation for the set-top box.

It states that there is no persistent local storage for apps on the Apple TV. This means apps must be able to store data in the iCloud and “retrieve it in a way that provides a great customer experience”.

Any app larger than 200MB must be packaged and loaded using on-demand resources. Apple says that as apps have resources that are only used in certain states, specific resources can be requested only when they are required.

It says, for example, in a game with numerous levels, the user will only need the resources associated with the current and next levels, and little else.

The 200MB limit would rule out the current download sizes of some of the top 30 top grossing iPhone games such as Hearthstone, Marvel: Contest of Champions, The Sims FreePlay, Jurassic World: The Game, WWE SuperCard and Fallout Shelter.

But it should be noted however, one game show off on Apple TV during Apple’s press event last night was Transistor, which has a download size of 1.84GB for iOS. This means more graphically intensive games will still be able to run by taking advantage of the iCloud, despite the lack of local resources and app size limit. This can be done by assigning on-demand resources with tags.

You can find more information about how on-demand resources and tags work on the Apple developer website.