Comparison

StarTimes ON vs Apple TV

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

StarTimes ON

Stream live TV channels, popular dramas, blockbuster movies, and live football matches from Africa and around the world. Access thousands of hours of entertainment, including kids and educational content, all in one app.

Highlights
  • Live TV streaming
  • Live football matches
  • Thousands of TV series
  • Blockbuster movies
  • Kids and education content
  • Local and international dramas
Features
Read full description

StarTimes ON is Africa's leading video streaming service for watching live TV and entertainment on your phone. Over 20 million users worldwide have installed the app, which offers the best video watching experience anywhere, anytime. Get this free App and you can instantly watch thousands of TV series, blockbusters, local contents, latest news and the most anticipated football matches. Plus, with tons of kids and education content, your children are gonna love StarTimes ON as well. StarTimes ON Key Offerings: LIVE TV We offers you more than 150 channels covering sports, movies, tv series, news, kids programs, music and documentary. Watch news, events and shows you crave on live channels, including ST NOVELA E PLUS, STAR LIFE, Zee Magic, DREAMWORKS, Bukkede TV, ST SWAHILI, ORISUN, ST KUNGFU, ST WORLD FOOTBALL, TOONAMI, SABC, NGW, ZNBC, NTV and so many more. Simply install the app and join the streaming party! LIVE FOOTBALL Live football match has been one of the best offerings of StarTimes ON, including UEFA Euro 2020, African Nations Championship, The England Emirates FA Cup, La Liga, Bundesliga, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey, Ghana Premier League, Uganda Premier League, Kenya Premier League, Zambia National Division One, UEFA Nations League and FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers. We bring you the latest football news, live scores, results, replays, fixtures, standings and video highlights. DRAMAS From Telenovela to Bollywood, from Chinese to Local Dramas, we've been collecting the best dramas from the whole world. Must-see TV shows likes Brothers, The Blood Moon, The General’s Daughter,The Heiress, The Good Son, Fists of Fate, Betrayal, To Die for Love, Gathbandhan, Asintado, Waaris, Wildflower, Lost Hearts, The Blood Sisters, Madhubala, The Secrets of EI Paraiso, Double Kara in Twi, Princess agent, The Land of Warriors, Ashes of Love and more. Exclusively available on StarTimes ON. MOVIES Get StarTimes ON and watch 1000+ high quality movies. Enjoy classic Kungfu movies, live blockbusters, Nollywood, Kumawood

About

Apple TV

This app is a central hub for exclusive original series, movies, and live sports like Formula 1 and MLB. It also aggregates content from your favorite streaming services, allowing you to buy or rent titles and discover new shows.

Highlights
  • Exclusive Apple Originals
  • Live Formula 1 & MLB
  • Buy or rent movies
  • Aggregate streaming services
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Continue Watching feature
Features
Read full description

Apple TV is the home of exclusive Apple Original shows and movies, Formula 1®, MLS, Friday Night Baseball, thousands of movies to buy or rent, and all the best programming from your favorite streaming services — all in one place. With an Apple TV subscription: • Stream thousands of hours of Apple Originals—thrilling dramas, epic sci-fi, and feel-good comedies, all with no ads—including Ted Lasso, Severance, The Morning Show, Silo, Shrinking, Slow Horses, and F1 The Movie. • Enjoy new releases weekly, with no ads. • Watch every Formula 1 Grand Prix™ live—with all-access coverage for every practice, qualifying, Sprint, and race. • Watch Friday Night Baseball, with live MLB matchups every Friday of the regular season. • Watch every Major League Soccer match live throughout the regular season, the entire playoffs, and Leagues Cup, all with no blackouts. Discover more to watch: • Buy or rent newly released movies, and browse the Apple TV Store with over 100,000 movies and shows—including the largest selection of 4K HDR titles. • Add Apple TV Channels subscriptions and stream seamlessly in the Apple TV app — no additional apps, accounts, or passwords needed. • Connect over 100 video streaming apps to access all your favorite shows and movies in one place. Apple TV app makes all your TV watching easier: • Get personalized recommendations across everything you watch. • With Continue Watching, pick up where you left off across all your subscriptions and devices. • Add to Watchlist to keep track of what you want to watch later. • Browse sports to see live and upcoming matchups, and choose your favorite teams to automatically add games to Continue Watching and receive notifications for close games and more. • Easily find all of your purchased movies and shows in the Library. • Enjoy the best picture and sound quality in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos when available. • Stream over a Wi-Fi or cellular connection, or download to watch offline. • Find the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, as well as smart TVs and streaming devices. Requirements: • iOS devices using iOS 12.3 or later • Some features require internet access over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection • HDR video playback may not be available for all content or on all devices Apple TV subscription does not include third party-branded subscription services or content available for rental or purchase in the Apple TV app. In select regions, an Apple TV subscription may only be available as part of an iCloud+ subscription. If you subscribe to any Apple TV channels, payment will be charged to your Apple Account at the confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless they are canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Simultaneous streams may be limited on a per-subscription basis. The availability of Apple TV features, channels, and related content may vary depending on the country or region from which you attempt to access them. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your Settings on the Apple TV app after purchase. See https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww for the Privacy Policy. Apple TV app Terms and Conditions can be found at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html

Screenshots

StarTimes ON4 screens
Apple TV4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Apple TV at 4.8 against StarTimes ON's 3.5. Apple TV also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 21) and ratings volume (1.9M vs 216). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. StarTimes ON sells 21 one-off in-app purchases. Apple TV asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Apple TV holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Apple TV has 1.9M ratings behind it against 216, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of StarTimes ON's written reviews are positive against 43% of Apple TV's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
StarTimes ON versus Apple TV: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarTimes ONApple TV
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (216 ratings)4.8 (1.9M ratings) — better
Positive reviews29.5% of reviews43.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2161.9M — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS13.010.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB8 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperUnion Shine Holdings Co., LtdApple

Customer experience

StarTimes ON

All ratings216 ratings
Positive56.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative31.9%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive29.5%
Neutral13.6%
Negative56.8%

Apple TV

All ratings1,859,783 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews5,547 reviews
Positive43.2%
Neutral8.8%
Negative48.0%

User reviews

StarTimes ON

From 216 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fast and active app
  • 👍 Not too expensive
  • 👍 No need for decoder
  • 👍 Streams live TV and sport nicely
  • 👍 No buffering issues (for some)

Room to improve

  • 👎 Nothing is organized
  • 👎 Shows stupid football matches
  • 👎 Some commentary in Chinese
  • 👎 No code sent for mobile plan renewal
  • 👎 App crashes a lot

Apple TV

From 1.9M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Decent quality viewing experience
  • 👍 Impressive 4K and audio quality
  • 🤩 Fantastic original content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
  • 🤯 Confusing and unintuitive interface
  • 💰 Misleading pricing and pay-to-watch content
  • 🤔 Lack of user-friendly features
  • 😡 Terrible customer support

Bugs and requests

StarTimes ON

Reported bugs

26 issues
  • No code sent for mobile plan renewal
  • App crashes a lot
  • Repeating scenes in episodes
  • App crashes when launched multiple times
  • Subscription disappears after activation
Show 21 more
  • Paid for subscription but app says not subscribed
  • Asked to subscribe again and again
  • Cannot watch channels even with linked decoder
  • Cannot watch movies for free after update
  • Sound problems on a particular channel
  • No way to contact live customer agent
  • Login issues with smartcard limit
  • Subscription payment issues (Apple ID)
  • App not working as shown for live stream matches
  • App not optimized for iPad screens
  • Logs out of one device when trying on two
  • Menu list not visible after update
  • App keeps crashing
  • Poor network
  • No Filipino series, only Chinese
  • No live stream matches functionality
  • Misleading streams
  • Ads and bugs
  • Nothing is organized
  • Shows stupid football matches
  • Some commentary in Chinese

Requested features

24 requests
  • Allow Airplay
  • Add Cast feature to allow watching on TV
  • Bring ID channel to the app
  • Improve app for iPad screens
  • Allow watching on both Android and iOS simultaneously
Show 19 more
  • Add Jing Ju Cats show with all episodes
  • Fix sound problems on a particular channel
  • Fix login issues with smartcard limit
  • Fix subscription payment issues (Apple ID)
  • Add more Pro features
  • Upgrade casting feature like Youtube, Netflix
  • Fix repeating scenes in episodes
  • Fix menu list not visible after update
  • Fix app crashing issues
  • Fix network issues
  • Fix ads and bugs
  • Fix subscription disappearing after activation
  • Fix payment issues where app says not subscribed
  • Fix issues where user is asked to subscribe again and again
  • Fix issues where user cannot watch channels even with linked decoder
  • Fix issues where user cannot watch movies for free after update
  • Add Filipino series
  • Fix live stream matches functionality
  • Fix misleading streams

Apple TV

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Playback issues and random freezes
  • Incorrect episode/content display
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save/bookmark content for later
  • Improved content organization and navigation
  • Sync playback progress across devices
  • Chromecast/casting support
  • User profiles and personalized recommendations

In-app purchases

21 purchases

StarTimes ON

One-time21
  • StarTimes ON VIP-1$0.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-2$1.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-3$2.99
Show 18 more
  • StarTimes ON VIP-4$3.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-5$4.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-6$5.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-7$6.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-8$7.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-11$10.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-12$11.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-13$12.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-14$13.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-15$14.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-16$15.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-20$19.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-25$24.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-27$26.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-30$29.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-33$32.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-35$34.99
  • StarTimes ON VIP-44$43.99
None

Apple TV

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StarTimes ON free?
StarTimes ON is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Apple TV free?
Apple TV is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, StarTimes ON or Apple TV?
Apple TV is rated higher. StarTimes ON averages 3.5 out of 5 from 216 ratings, while Apple TV averages 4.8 from 1.9M ratings.
Do StarTimes ON or Apple TV have ads?
Both StarTimes ON and Apple TV show ads.
Which is updated more often, StarTimes ON or Apple TV?
StarTimes ON ships an update every 2 months, and Apple TV every 2 months. Most recently, StarTimes ON was updated on September 17, 2026 and Apple TV on September 26, 2026.

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