Skip to main content

Facebook video app is now available on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TVs

Samsung QLED vs. OLED
Rich Shibley/Digital Trends
You can now tune into Facebook videos from your friends and global live broadcasts on Apple TV.

Fittingly dubbed “Facebook Video,” the new app from the social network offers videos shared by your network of Facebook friends, along with clips from Pages, top Live Videos from around the world, and recommended content based on your activity.

The app made its debut on Samsung’s line-up of Smart TVs, including its new QLED TV range, on Monday. Now, it has been spotted on Apple’s fourth-generation set-top box, 9to5 Mac reports. Facebook also plans to bring the video-centric service to Amazon Fire TV.

The Facebook video app takes the platform’s mix of personal and public broadcasts beyond mobile, desktop and laptop devices and on to a bigger screen. Additionally, viewers can see their history in order to rewatch clips. You can check out how the app looks on Apple TV in the screenshots below, via 9to5 Mac.

Apple TV users can download the free app from the tvOS App Store right now — it is also currently featured on the App Store home page. Samsung Smart TV owners can access the app by logging into their Samsung Smart Hub and downloading it. Then, all you have to do is enter a one-time Facebook login.

The big blue social network is currently busy ramping up its video offering. The company is reportedly in advanced talks to bring Major League Baseball games to its new app and desktop and mobile video tab. It also recently secured a deal with Univision to broadcast 46 games from popular Mexican soccer league Liga MX.

Last week, the web giant revealed how it plans to incentivize publishers (including Live video creators and media companies) to create more visual content using ad revenue-sharing. For viewers, this will essentially result in having to sit through several potential ad breaks during longer live and prerecorded broadcasts on the Facebook app.

Updated 02-28-2017 by Saqib Shah: Added info of availability of Facebook Video on Apple TV.

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
NordVPN tries to scare you into using its new Apple TV app
NordVPN app listing on Apple TV.

As we've written previously, tvOS 17 opened the floodgates for VPNs to run on Apple TV hardware. And the major players are all on board, along with some you've likely never heard of because not everyone has a huge marketing budget. First it was ExpressVPN, and today NordVPN has announced its availability.

Whereas some companies tout a VPN's ability to let you watch content that's not available in your country — literally by routing your network traffic through another country — NordVPN is going with scare tactics in promoting its virtual private network on Apple TV.

Read more
The tvOS 17.2 update is now available with redesigned TV app
Apple TV tvOS 17.2 update screen.

It's update day in Apple land. And in addition to the new hotness that is iOS 17.2 for phones and tablets, and MacOS 14.2 Sonoma for, uh, Macs, we also have tvOS 17.2 for Apple TV.

We've been running the beta track for a little while now and already have talked about updates to the sidebar in the TV app, as well as new functionality for the Siri button on the remote control. And they're still there, which is good.

Read more
Apple TV’s tvOS 17.2 beta adds a sidebar to the TV app
The new sidebar visible in the TV app on Apple TV in the tvOS 17.2 developer beta.

The new sidebar is visible in the TV app on Apple TV in the tvOS 17.2 developer beta. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

One of the messier pieces of the Apple TV experience on Apple TV 4K hardware has long been Apple's TV app. It's where Apple has attempted to aggregate all the things you can watch on your Apple TV, from Apple TV+ to any number of installed applications. (Another seriously messy piece is the myriad things Apple has named "Apple TV." But that's another problem for another time.)

Read more