LG’s smart TV platform, webOS, is now open to app developers

Just like how a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so too, is a Smart TV as “smart” as the apps that run on it. You can have all of the hardware capability available, but if it is unable to be accompanied by the relevant apps to keep it going or to maximize its potential, then it is all for naught. LG has then taken the step to unveil its Software Development Kit in order to assist developers in creating new LG Smart+ TV apps without being bogged down like in the past. There is this new website that will enable developers to be able to obtain all of the required information in order to churn out high quality webOS TV apps.

LG is out to persuade developers of the merits of webOS smart TVs after it released an SDK for the platform, announced at CES in January this year, which enables third-party apps to be built for it. The Korean company, which bought the webOS patents and source code from HP in 2013, says the SDK (which also has a website of resources) supports Windows, Mac and Linux environments and works with a range of standard coding technologies. The smart TV space is increasingly competitive, but LG says it picked webOS “because of its history and origins as a developer-friendly platform.” We are fans of the user interface that LG has put on webOS, but it remains to be seen whether it can convince developers to put their efforts into a platform that is less visible than that of rivals like Samsung.