Apple TV+ to drop the "plus"

This is going to confuse things more.

In a press release for the upcoming move F1, Apple has detailed some new information about the movie, but the most interesting detail came at the end of the press release. Apple additionally wrote that Apple TV+ is "now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity."

This "vibrant" identity was most likely created to simplify and unify the Apple TV app with the streaming service. Many people already referred to Apple TV+ as Apple TV and it is clear that Apple saw this, not just from this recent change, but from many small changes, specifically with the Apple TV app.

If you want to watch Apple TV+ (now Apple TV) content on your iOS, iPadOS, or macOS device, you would use the aptly named Apple TV app, which was already transitioned to being called just Apple TV, not Apple TV+ a handful of years ago. Then, more recently, Apple has transitioned tvOS to not just have an Apple TV+ app, but rather a whole new interface that is clearly centered around watching Apple TV+ content, but can also be used to navigate to shows in other streaming services.

Then, more recently, Apple transitioned the Apple TV+ app on third-party devices such as TVs, streaming boxes like Rokus, Fire TVs and Chromecasts, and even Android devices to just be called the Apple TV app and also allow you to browse content from other streaming services and connect them to the Apple TV app. This sounds, then, like a pretty calculated move, and it will lessen the confusion of the difference between the Apple TV streaming service and the Apple TV app.

However, this introduces new confusions with the Apple TV streaming device. It will now be much more confusing to people if they are trying to talk about an Apple TV streaming device, or the streaming service, Apple TV. This could be remedied soon, since rumors suggest a new Apple TV streaming device on the horizon, and Apple could flip the script and rebrand that as well to indicate the difference between the streaming service and the streaming device.

The change from Apple TV+ to Apple TV is a necessary change that could either confuse things further, or unify and simplify the Apple TV brand for Apple. We will have to wait and see what Apple does soon.