Redefining the screen: how social apps are transforming the audiovisual experience on TVs

For a long time, television reigned supreme as the primary entertainment medium at home. However, with the rise of mobile devices, consumption habits gradually migrated to smaller screens. Now, a new twist is underway: two of the world’s largest social networks, Instagram and TikTok, are aiming at the biggest screen in the house with dedicated versions for smart TVs. This initiative signals a significant transformation in the digital media ecosystem and reignites the competition with the already established YouTube, challenging how we interact with and consume content at home, creating new opportunities for creators and brands.

The next frontier of social networks

Instagram and TikTok, platforms born and shaped for the mobile environment, are now seeking to expand their reach into the television space. The proposal? Bring short, creative, and highly personalized videos to the screens of smart TVs. This move represents more than just a technical adaptation; it’s a strategic attempt to broaden user bases, diversify consumption formats, and explore new revenue streams in a scenario where streaming is rapidly growing.

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YouTube has already consolidated its presence on TVs, offering live streams, on-demand videos, and interactive features. Meta (the parent company of Instagram) and ByteDance (the company behind TikTok) are now following this path, viewing televisions as fertile ground for capturing new audiences, especially adults who are not as engaged in the mobile space.

Why now?

The timing of this transition is not random. In 2024, digital advertising investments within streaming platforms surpassed $26 billion. This attractive market is the driving force behind social networks’ decision to adapt their experiences for smart TVs. By conquering this space, Instagram and TikTok aim to increase user engagement on their platforms and explore broader, less intrusive ad formats with higher engagement potential. Moreover, advancements in television operating systems like Android TV, Fire OS, and Google TV make this adaptation more feasible. They offer features that make it easier to develop high-performing apps capable of providing smooth navigation even in environments controlled by physical buttons.

Adjusting the experience: from vertical screens to remote controls

The arrival of social platforms like Instagram and TikTok on smart TVs requires more than just a simple software conversion. It is a technical and creative challenge that involves rethinking the entire user experience. Unlike mobile devices, where screen tapping and fluid vertical navigation are intuitive and integrated into millions of users’ routines, televisions impose a different logic: remote control commands, shared viewing, and a more contemplative consumption pace. These changes demand significant adaptations. Instagram and TikTok were designed for individual, fast-paced journeys based on immediate response. Everything works with simple gestures, like swiping up or sideways, double-tapping to like, or pressing icons to comment and share. On the television, this flow needs to be replaced with directional arrows, limited buttons, and, often, a greater physical distance between the user and the screen. This profoundly changes how content is discovered, accessed, and interacted with.

ByteDance’s attempt in 2021 to bring TikTok to Samsung and LG TVs revealed some of these challenges. The project failed to attract an audience due to technical limitations and the lack of a user experience truly adapted to the new format. The interface mirrored the mobile version without considering the nuances of remote control navigation, making it impractical and unengaging. With low adoption, the initiative was quickly shut down. Now, the platforms return to this territory with accumulated learnings and a strategy more aligned with the expectations of the TV audience. The versions in development promise to offer a redesigned interface, with clearer menus, block-based navigation, and personalized shortcuts to simplify content access. There are also efforts to maintain the fluidity that made short videos so popular, with smooth transitions, fast loading, and video suggestions based on the user’s viewing patterns.

Another bet is visual personalization. On larger screens, elements like subtitles, interaction buttons, and progress indicators need to be more discreet but still visible from a distance. The design must balance aesthetics and functionality, without overcrowding the screen or compromising readability. Additionally, video layout might be adapted to better utilize horizontal space, perhaps with carousel videos, themed tracks, or content grids by category. This transition also implies adjustments in recommendation algorithms. TV users’ behavior differs from that of mobile users who browse in short intervals throughout the day. On television, sessions tend to be longer, and the audience is more willing to watch videos in sequence or follow longer content. The curation systems need to reflect this change, suggesting videos with higher retention potential and that fit the home environment.

For content creators, this new scenario represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Producing videos that work well on both formats will require creativity, attention to framing, and greater care with sound and lighting. The presence in environments with more visual noise or family sharing demands content that is more accessible and universal, with clear messages and immediate visual impact. This migration to the big screen may also encourage hybrid formats, such as thematic playlists, short episodes of independent series, or live presentations adapted to the new channel. The possibility of watching social videos in groups, with real-time comments and interactions via QR codes or complementary apps, is also being explored as part of the collective engagement strategy. By adjusting the experience for the world of smart TVs, Instagram and TikTok aim not only to expand their reach but also to reinvent how social networks are experienced in everyday life. Television, long seen as a passive medium, becomes a new extension of the participatory and creative culture that defines contemporary internet use. With this, the living room space ceases to be exclusive to series, movies, and news and also embraces the quick, visual, and connected language of social networks. This transformation could mark a new chapter in how we interact with digital content, now side by side with others on a much larger screen.

YouTube as an audiovisual reference

In light of the growing integration between social platforms and smart TVs, YouTube’s role stands out as a consolidated and hard-to-ignore example. The platform, owned by Google, was one of the first to recognize the potential of TV as a conducive environment for digital content consumption. While other social networks focused on smartphones and computers, YouTube was already investing in TV-optimized interfaces.

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Currently, YouTube is the most accessed service on smart TVs in many regions worldwide, even surpassing mobile consumption in hours watched per user in some markets. This success is not only due to the variety of available content but also to the intuitive navigation experience, which works well with remote controls, voice commands, and even integration with virtual assistants.

The platform also stands out for its robust infrastructure, offering low-latency live streaming, support for 4K and even 8K content, as well as personalized playlists and suggestions based on user behavior. These features, combined with a well-established monetization system, make YouTube a benchmark that other companies in the sector aim to match or surpass. Its global user base exceeds 2.7 billion people, meaning nearly a third of the world’s population is connected, in some way, to the experience offered by YouTube. The combination of accessibility, diverse content, and customization capability places the platform in a privileged position in the digital audiovisual market. It is in this context that Instagram and TikTok seek space. Both social networks have a loyal following, talented creators, and their own engagement dynamics. By attempting to adapt their apps for TVs, they are venturing into territory dominated by YouTube, which naturally intensifies the competition for attention on the big screen.

The challenge beyond presence

However, the challenge goes beyond mere presence on TVs. The goal is to deliver an engaging experience that translates the agility and visual style of mobile platforms to a shared environment, where consumption is slower, more collective, and often passive. In this new context, content must adapt, interfaces need to evolve, and algorithms must learn new behavior patterns. This competition between these giants is not just technical; it is also symbolic. What is at stake is the definition of the future of home entertainment, where social networks stop being pocket companions to occupy the center of the living room. In this changing scenario, YouTube remains the reference to watch, and, possibly, challenge with creativity and innovation.

TV as a stage for new formats

Bringing short videos to televisions opens the door to innovative formats. Continuous content sessions, thematic playlists, automated curation, and even live broadcasts with real-time chat are some of the possibilities under consideration. All of this is focused on an audience looking for light, quick, and visually striking entertainment. Moreover, the transition to TV broadens the usage spectrum of networks. Instead of being an individual activity on a phone, content consumption becomes a shared experience, bringing friends and families together around the same screen. This change may even influence the type of content that gains prominence on the platforms.

The future of content on TVs

The home audiovisual landscape is on the verge of undergoing a significant transformation. While the exact release dates have not been officially confirmed, insider information suggests that Instagram and TikTok versions for smart TVs are already in advanced testing stages. Developers are focusing efforts on popular TV models, such as those from Samsung and LG, with the first versions expected to be available to the public later this year. This movement is not just a simple change of device. It represents a strategic repositioning of social platforms, which now see television as a new territory to be conquered. While social networks once lived in the private world of mobile phones, they now aim to insert themselves into the collective space of the living room. This shifts not only the navigation experience but also the cultural habits surrounding content consumption.

If the initiative is well-received, its impact could be profound. Television, traditionally associated with movies, series, and news, could begin to accommodate a new layer of content: short videos, viral posts, influencer lives, and social interactions. What was once watched in silence, individually, would now be shared in groups, making social media consumption a domestic and collective phenomenon. This transition redefines television’s role at home. It no longer serves merely as a passive entertainment terminal but becomes a hub for dynamic digital culture. The expectation is that videos with informal language, creative aesthetics, and strong visual appeal will share space with more traditional productions, democratizing what appears on the screen and paving the way for new hybrid formats. Furthermore, the expansion to smart TVs could spark a new wave of monetization. The presence of social apps on television creates previously unexplored commercial opportunities, such as ads tailored to the big screen, real-time brand partnerships, and interactive experiences involving the whole family. Advertising gains new formats and possibilities, especially when combined with recommendation algorithms and segmentation, already trademarks of these platforms.

The role of the user

The user’s role also tends to evolve. They cease to be just a spectator and become more participatory. Even with the limitation of remote controls, the expectation is that integrations with mobile devices, voice commands, and QR codes will make the experience more fluid and interactive. This includes liking, commenting, sharing, or even starting challenges and thematic playlists directly from the TV. As the boundaries between social networks and traditional devices dissolve, a new connected entertainment culture emerges. This culture blends the immediacy of viral content with the more immersive experience of the big screen. The result is a proposal that values physical presence in the family environment without relinquishing global digital connection.

Social networks and technological advances

The advance of platforms like Instagram and TikTok toward smart TVs signals more than just a technical adaptation. It marks the consolidation of a new phase in the evolution of social internet, characterized by expanded formats, device convergence, and a redefinition of digital presence itself. Social networks are no longer restricted to screen taps and rapid scrolling with fingers. They are now occupying new environments, offering expanded experiences, and integrating into different moments of people’s daily lives. By migrating from mobile to TV, these platforms not only expand their reach but also their cultural function. From tools for quick, individual consumption, they now occupy a shared space where friends and families watch, comment, interact, and transform digital content into part of daily routine. This transition reshapes how content is produced, distributed, and, most importantly, experienced.

In this new context, content takes center stage. The format, device, or channel loses its prominence in favor of the message, the aesthetics, and the emotion it evokes. What matters is the ability to engage, provoke reaction, and build connections, whether through informative videos, comedic moments, creative tutorials, or personal narratives. Attention becomes the primary currency, and platforms must constantly innovate to earn it. For content creators, this shift represents a broadening of possibilities. Producing for a larger screen opens the door to new visual languages, integration with more impactful soundtracks, and scripts that can sustain longer or more collaborative formats. Moreover, adapting to the living room environment demands a different aesthetic sensitivity, closer to traditional audiovisual production.

For users, the result is a more fluid, immersive experience with the potential to integrate into daily life in ways that were once uncommon. Television, which for decades has been the primary entertainment medium in the home, gains a new function: a window into the dynamic, creative, and interactive world of social networks.

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For the platforms, this move marks the beginning of a new competitive phase. The battle for the audience’s time and attention is now taking place in a new territory, where consumption patterns shift, engagement standards evolve, and the audience expects more than just short, viral videos. They expect relevant content, intuitive navigation, and experiences that make sense on the big screen.

We are witnessing a profound reconfiguration of the digital ecosystem. The TV screen, once separate from the social world, is now an extension of social networks. What was once intimate is now collective. What was transient is now part of the domestic landscape. And what was exclusively digital is getting closer to the sensory and emotional experience that defined the era of television. In this scenario, social networks without limits are not merely a technical expansion or audience growth. They represent a transformation in the way we connect, consume, and participate in digital culture. This is the beginning of a new coexistence between technology, creativity, and presence. A coexistence that, it seems, is just beginning.