NRK TV

NRK, Norway’s largest broadcasting company, is investing heavily in offering options for streaming their content online. Schjønhaug AS helped develop the NRK TV app which is available for use on Apple TV.

Over the past few years, NRK has focused on making online streaming of their content as easy and convenient as possible. NRK TV has several different apps that can be used on iPhone, Android and on their website, and the app Schjønhaug AS worked on is the app developed specifically for use on Apple TV.

“NRK is a very well-known brand that most Norwegian people have a relationship with, and a lot of people use the app we developed frequently. It was fun to be able to work on an app that would be used a lot – and it was also exciting to get quick feedback from actual users of the app, since a lot of people post reviews on the App store,” says Andreas.

The NRK TV app for Apple TV consists of a code base in Swift, JavaScript, XML and CSS. Schjønhaug AS’s task was to further develop the existing app, and the work mainly consisted of maintaining and improving existing code as well as fixing errors. In addition, they developed new functionalities such as direct streams and GDPR-related tasks.

Great collaboration

Andreas enjoyed working with the team from NRK TV in the development of the app for Apple TV. He has also worked with NRK on another project that you can read more about here.

“I had a lot of fun working with the NRK TV team. There was a large team working on this app, and it was exciting to be a part of the project. The team consisted of talented people with a lot of commitment to their work, and I thought the project advanced naturally. I felt that I had enough time to do a thorough job, and felt as though NRK trusted me as a professional,” says Andreas.

One factor that was important to Andreas in this project was that the app should feel consistent for the users no matter where it is used, with a seamless cross-platform experience. When a company has many platforms, users may find that things aren’t completely connected across the different platforms. Andreas felt that users should be able to recognize the app on their phones, Apple TV and other platforms – the content should be adapted to different screens, but give the user the same experience.

User-friendly app with universal design

For Andreas and NRK, it was important that the app was user-friendly and easily accessible.

“Since NRK is a public broadcaster that’s meant to cater for everyone in society, it was extra important that the app worked well. For other projects I’ve worked on, it’s often an afterthought that the app should have a universal design, while this project emphasised that this should be taken care of from the start. NRK had its own accessibility expert who is 90% blind, and it was great to have him on the team. He was able to give great feedback regarding the experience of the app, which was very useful – it’s not always easy to understand the challenges blind and partially sighted people can have when it comes to using apps. That was an important learning experience for me, and since completing this project, I’ve had more focus on inclusive design in my other projects and with my new clients,” says Andreas.