DoApp TV

DoApp TV is the Android TV experience of the DoApp platform, bringing local-news content to the big screen for television stations, newspapers, and radio outlets across the United States. As on mobile, some media companies ship their own separately branded TV app, all built from a single shared codebase, architecture, and feature release cycle, reaching their audience on connected TVs and streaming devices through a video-first, lean-back experience designed for the remote control.

The app adapts the platform's local-news content to the television, with a focus on video and an interface built for the living room. Its main features include:

Lean-back TV Experience

Built for Android TV, the app uses a lean-back interface designed for navigation with a remote control, presenting content in rows and cards that are easy to browse from across the room.

News Sections and Content

The app organizes each outlet's local-news content into sections and categories, drawing on the same content backbone as the platform's mobile apps so the television experience stays consistent with what each publication covers.

Live Streaming

Live streaming is central to the experience. The app streams each outlet's live news broadcasts straight to the television, letting viewers watch local coverage as it happens on the big screen.

Video on Demand

Beyond live coverage, the app plays each outlet's on-demand video content, giving viewers a continuous, big-screen way to catch up on local news whenever they want.

Pre-roll and In-App Advertising

The app serves advertising, including pre-roll ads at the start of videos, giving each publication a way to monetize its content on the television screen.

As Senior Android Engineer at Zinio, I developed and maintained the Android TV apps alongside the platform's mobile work, within a single team that also included iOS, backend, design, and Product.

Development and Architecture

I built and maintained the Android TV experience using Clean Architecture and MVVM, with a lean-back interface based on the Android Leanback library, integrating video playback and the shared content backbone so the television apps stayed aligned with the rest of the platform.

Video Playback and Advertising

I integrated ExoPlayer for video and live-stream playback and the IMA extension for pre-roll advertising, together with Google Mobile Ads, adapting the platform's monetization to the television form factor.

Shared Libraries

I worked with the shared internal libraries used across the platform, including the content, network, ad-configuration, and measurement modules, reusing on TV the same foundation that powered the mobile apps and reducing duplication across form factors.

Testing

I covered the codebase with unit tests using JUnit and Mockito to keep the television apps reliable.

CI/CD and Store Releases

I owned the related CI/CD and managed the release process, publishing and maintaining the Android TV apps on Google Play in line with its TV-specific requirements.

Collaboration

I worked closely with Product Owners and the UX/UI team, as well as the iOS and backend engineers in the same team, to define and deliver the television experience.