Skip to main content

App developers wanted for Apple’s first reality TV series, ‘Planet of the Apps’

The pun is terrible, but Apple has officially revealed its first reality TV show Planet of the Apps. The show was first mentioned back in March but Apple didn’t delve into much detail on how or what to expect from the show. Fast forward four months and the company is finally opening up.

Applying gives developers the chance to compete for the attention of venture capitalists who are looking for the next big thing. Executive producers include artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, as well as Ben Silverman and Howard Owens, who both are known for working as co-executive producers on The Biggest Loser.

Recommended Videos

Driving the show is the idea that the app developers should have a vision “to shape the future, solve real problems, and inspire change within our daily lives.” While that may be vague, it’s also broad enough to encompass the show’s hosting of 100 developers, each with their own take on the concept. “We can really tell their stories as we explore how apps are developed and created and incubated,” says Silverman. The developers will be filtered out during the application process.

Interested developers who are legal residents of the U.S. are required to send in their applications through August 26 this year. But sending in the application isn’t necessarily the end of the process. Prospect Productions is helping to bring this project to life and they say that anyone selected will need to be available for non-consecutive shoots in Los Angeles between late 2016 and early 2017. Developers also need to have a functioning app (betas are also accepted) that works on either iOS, MacOS, tvOS, or WatchOS by October 21 to be eligible for participation.

Benefits for participants who make the cut may benefit in three ways: hands-on guidance from what Apple claims to be top-notch experts in tech and entertainment, venture capitalist funding of up to $10 million for the duration of the season, and a feature position in the App Store when the show is finished, something that’s sure to catch the eye of the happy-to-spend owners of Apple products.

The obvious downside to this deal is that everyone can follow the personalities on the screen, and should something go awry in interpersonal relations it may end up doing more harm than good for the developers that end up joining the show.

It seems that Apple may enter television in more ways than one. Some may remember Vital Signs, which we haven’t heard of since word spread about the joint Apple and Dr. Dre project this February. Be it fierce dramas with orgies or app-developing mayhem in reality television, if Vital Signs ends up hitting the screen in people’s homes as well, it signifies an expansion into the television market by one of the world’s most influential enterprises.

Dan Isacsson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Being a gamer since the age of three, Dan took an interest in mobile gaming back in 2009. Since then he's been digging ever…
Praise Kier: Severance renewed for season 3 at Apple TV+
A man and woman look at a computer in a dark room.

Innies and outies can rejoice. Severance has been renewed for season 3 at Apple TV+.

On X, Severance executive producer Ben Stiller wrote, "So some fans are asking for Season 3 of Severance. What do you say, @tim_cook?" Apple CEO Tim Cook replied with a video that focuses on groups of three.

Read more
What’s new on Apple TV+ this month (May 2025)
A man and two women stand in front of the pyramids.

Apple TV+'s ambitious model of leaning almost exclusively on original content has paid off in a big way, as the streamer now has multiple Emmy and Oscar wins to its name. (Including one of TV's best shows, Severance.) Every month, Apple TV+ showcases a practical embarrassment of riches when it comes to star talent, and this month is no exception. Although the new content is a little sparse compared to other months, it's still worth a look.
This month, John Krasinski and Natalie Portman team up for the action-adventure film Fountain of Youth, while Alexander Skarsgård takes center stage as a conflicted, murderous cyborg in the new series Murderbot.
Looking for more content? Check out our guides on the best new shows to stream, the best movies on Apple TV+, the best shows on Apple TV+, the best shows on Netflix, and the best shows on Hulu.

Need more suggestions?

Read more
Amy Adams joins Javier Bardem in Apple TV+’s Cape Fear series
Amy Adams puts her hands on her head in Arrival.

Amy Adams is joining the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear.
Per Deadline, Adams will star and executive produce alongside Javier Bardem in Cape Fear, a TV show based on John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners. Adams will play Amanda Bowden, an attorney married to a fellow lawyer, Steve. Bardem, also an EP, stars as Max Cady, a nefarious killer from the Bowden's past who gets out of prison and begins terrorizing the family.
The 10-episode series was announced at Apple TV+ in November. A Friend of the Family's Nick Antosca will be a writer and the showrunner on Cape Fear, with Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese attached as executive producers.

The Executioners was first adapted into a movie for 1962's Cape Fear. Gregory Peck and Polly Bergen starred as married couple Sam and Peggy Bowden, while Robert Mitchum played serial killer Max Cady.

Read more