"Planet of the Apps" premiered on Apple Music last night, and Apple has now made the first episode available to watch online for a limited time.

planet of the apps premiere
The season premiere featured the developers of Pair, Twist, and Companion, who each pitched their apps to influencers Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and will.i.am. The apps which make it to the final round of the show will receive up to $10 million in funding and featured placement in the App Store.

The overall theme of the show is comparable to Shark Tank, but with more of a reality TV spin like The Voice. The developers appear at the top of an escalator, make a brief pitch about their apps, and as long as they receive at least one "green light" from the judges, they can continue their pitch.

Variety called Planet of the Apps a "bland, tepid, barely competent knock-off of Shark Tank" in its review, but noted the show is "not terrible."

Planet of the Apps, hosted by Beats 1 radio DJ Zane Lowe, will be released on a weekly basis through Apple Music.

Top Rated Comments

69Mustang Avatar
110 months ago
pitched their apps to influencers... Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and will.i.am.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
okay, okay, I'm better now that I got that outta my syste-

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Serious now. Apple should take a page from Netflix and Amazon. Use some of that huge cash pile and buy some quality original content. Not... this.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
triton100 Avatar
110 months ago
Wow from literally cringing when I saw the trailer and first heard of this I just saw the first ten minutes and it's actually not that bad at all. Really really surprised. Interesting ....
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
somerandommacperson Avatar
110 months ago
No offense to the lovely Jessica Alba, but what the BLEEP does she know about apps beyond twitter and facebook?
She's a business women and an investor
https://******************/person/jessica-alba
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
110 months ago
Interesting responses. What these critics are failing to realize is that despite what they think they know about these advisors, they have all successfully turned into very wealthy entrepreneurs because they understand the importance of things like general accessibility, use cases, and promotion.

Therefore, if you aren't independently wealthy based on an app (or really anything else) you've developed and successfully promoted, what exactly are you laughing at? It's easy to say that you have a great concept and are a hidden gem but frankly if you don't know how to sell it, then who cares?

Remember back when Jessica Simpson decided to quit acting and singing and start a clothing line? It's a billion dollar brand, based on boots from department stores. Think about that.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EightyTwenty Avatar
110 months ago
Naw, I'm good.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
110 months ago
Not sure this is the same 69Mustang as the above seems out of character.
Would be interesting to hear your take on the actual show as you usually have some insightful comments.
TIA
One in the same. Disclosure: I have an inherent bias against reality type TV. I view it as the lowest common denominator in entertainment. That being said, I actually watched the episode. Still feel the same. It was not entertaining, interesting, nor informative... to me. Could that be my aforementioned bias? Partially, yeah. But more so, and specifically related to my original quote, Alba, Paltrow, and William don't resonate with me as it relates to apps. As @Kaibelf very accurately pointed out, they are all successful in their own right, but their individual successes don't translate to the environment of the show. At lease in my mind they don't. I totally understand that celebrity brings eyeballs. This is after all, entertainment. A show with successful app developers as "influencers" might resonate more with me, but would probably bore the face off the general public.

All that being said, I'd estimate my derision of the show is 60/40 reality tv bias/show content. As stated in the serious portion of my comment, I'd really like Apple to use some of that cash to buy some quality original content like Netflix and Amazon.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...