Apple's plan to own your TV is becoming clear (AAPL)

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This week, Apple will announce a new Apple TV feature that allows people to discover new TV shows from a single app, USA Today reports.

This feature, reportedly known internally as “the Watch List,” will "recommend shows based on the content viewers access through their Apple TVs."

Basically, the app will tie together whatever services you have, from Netflix to FX to Hulu, and provide you with a centralized place to find new shows to watch. 

This seems to fit into Apple's new plan for TV, which revolves around building an advanced TV guide rather than creating its own TV package, industry sources told Recode's Peter Kafka in August.

Apps and TV

Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared that the "future of television is apps," a refrain that has been repeated by Apple execs over and over since then.

But navigating separate apps is a horrible way to watch TV, and it seems that Apple has finally seen the light.

This new “Watch List” is right in line with recent Apple TV updates, which emphasize things like Siri's ability to circumvent the app system, and seem to move further and further away from the app system.

Beyond deeper Siri integration, Apple also unveiled an Apple TV feature in June called "single sign-on." While Apple didn't go into the details of exactly how it would work, the idea is that a content service like Netflix or HBO would connect to Apple's system in a way that lets you use a single log-in for all services on your Apple TV.

The right choice

It's easy to see why Apple is going this way.

Most people don't want to navigate 100 different app menus and designs, each ostensibly tailored to the type of TV content that lives within them. It's annoying to deal with an ESPN app, and a Netflix app, and a Showtime app, and a Sling TV app.

So most people, in their hearts, don't really want an Apple TV as it was initially conceived.

What's much better is a universal search and suggestion mechanism that fetches you the right content — as fast as possible. That is what Apple seems to be building toward, and this new feature feels like a first step.

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