Apple TV and Apple Music Bring Widgets, WhatsApp Sharing to Android

Apple TV for Android reached version 2.5 this week with the app’s first home screen widgets, and Apple Music jumped from version 5.2 to version 6.5 with a new button that sends songs straight into WhatsApp. Both updates landed within days of each other, according to a report from 9to5Google.

Apple just closed its best Services quarter on record, and Android now carries several times more active devices than the iPhone. Widget updates like these are one of the few ways Apple can reach paying customers on hardware it doesn’t sell.

Apple TV’s Widgets Come in Three Sizes, None of Them Flexible

The widgets ship inside version 2.5 of Apple TV for Android. There are three fixed sizes, and each one does a distinct job rather than just scaling the same layout up or down.

None of the three sizes can be resized once placed on a home screen, and all three match what Apple already shipped on iOS months earlier. Apple’s Apple TV app didn’t reach Android phones and tablets at all until a launch covering phones, tablets and foldables in February 2025. Widgets are arriving a little over a year later.

Apple Music’s New Widgets and a WhatsApp Shortcut

Apple Music’s jump from 5.2 to 6.5 is a bigger leap than its usual point releases. One likely explanation: Apple may simply be lining up its Android build numbers with iOS, where the app already sits at version 26.5.

Whatever the reason for the number, the update itself adds real functionality on top of the two widgets Apple Music already had.

• Pins – quick access to anything a listener has pinned inside the app, no menu digging required
• Live Radio – starts a station playing immediately, skipping the dedicated radio tab entirely
• Now Playing and Recently Played – the two widgets that were already there before this update
• WhatsApp sharing – sends a song, album, playlist or set of lyrics straight into a chat on Meta’s messaging app

The WhatsApp piece is a small addition on paper. But it plugs Apple Music directly into the app most people outside the US actually use to send things to each other, rather than relying on a generic share sheet.

Why Did It Take This Long for Android to Get Widgets?

Apple built its first Android version of Apple Music back in November 2015, months after the iOS debut, and the Apple TV app didn’t arrive on Android at all until 2025. Widgets are only showing up now because Apple has historically treated its Android apps as a lower priority than the rest of its Services lineup.

1. November 2015: Apple Music arrives on Android, months after its iOS launch, in what reporters at the time called Apple’s first real Android app.
2. February 2025: A native Apple TV app finally reaches Android phones and tablets, roughly a decade after Android became the world’s most-used mobile platform.
3. July 2026: Apple TV for Android hits version 2.5 with widgets, and Apple Music jumps to version 6.5 with Pins, Live Radio and WhatsApp sharing.

Neither app is resizable, and neither one introduces a feature Android didn’t already have from other apps years ago. Apple built both updates to match what iPhone owners could already do, not to push past it.

A Record Services Quarter

Apple’s fiscal second quarter, ended March 28, 2026, was the company’s best quarter yet by several measures. Total revenue hit $111.2 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, and Services revenue reached $30.98 billion, up 16.3% and an all-time high for that business.

Today Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said that in prepared remarks accompanying the company’s second-quarter results release. Services, the segment that includes the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare and iCloud, is now one of Apple’s fastest-growing businesses, and it doesn’t require anyone to buy a new iPhone.

Apple has been investing on the hardware side of that same living-room push too, recently refreshing the chips inside the Apple TV box and HomePod mini. Software updates on Android and new silicon at home point the same direction: Apple wants more paying Services customers, wherever their hardware comes from.

Android’s Device Count Dwarfs the iPhone’s

Android runs on roughly 70% of the world’s active smartphones, an installed base estimated at about 3.9 billion devices worldwide. iOS holds a share in the high twenties by comparison, according to global mobile operating system tracking data.

That gap is the real audience for Apple Music and Apple TV subscriptions going forward. iPhone sales are strong, with iPhone revenue setting a March quarter record this year, but the iPhone’s own user base is a fraction of the phones Android runs on globally. Every Android owner who pays for Apple Music or Apple TV+ is a Services customer Apple reached without selling a single piece of hardware.

Widgets Don’t Close the Revenue Gap

Despite Android’s device advantage, iOS still captures roughly 64% of global consumer app spending, even while running well under a third of the world’s devices. Android wins on volume. iOS still wins on what people actually spend once they’re inside an app.

That split explains why Apple keeps its Android apps functional rather than fully featured. Widgets, Pins, Live Radio and WhatsApp sharing all bring Apple Music and Apple TV closer to parity with iOS, but none of them are exclusive to Android and none of them are new ideas. Spotify and other Android-first apps have offered resizable widgets and direct chat sharing for years.

Apple Music now sits at version 6.5 on Android, more than four years and dozens of point releases behind where the same app sits on iPhone. Android users get the widgets iPhone owners have had for months. They still can’t resize a single one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What version of Apple TV for Android added widgets?

Version 2.5 of Apple TV for Android introduced the app’s first home screen widgets, offered in small, medium and large sizes that all jump directly into playback when tapped.

Can Apple Music widgets be resized on Android?

No. None of Apple Music’s or Apple TV’s Android widgets can be resized once placed, a limitation that also applies to their iOS counterparts.

What does Apple Music’s WhatsApp sharing feature let you send?

The feature, added in Apple Music version 6.5, lets Android users share songs, albums, playlists and lyrics directly into a WhatsApp chat instead of using a generic share sheet.

When did Apple TV first come to Android?

Apple’s native Apple TV app arrived on Android phones, tablets and foldables in February 2025, roughly a decade after Apple Music made its own Android debut in November 2015.