Creating universal applications for Consoles (PS4/XBoxOne)

Question

I have been looking all over the place for an answer but I haven't found anything on this yet.

I want to create an application (not a game) for PS4 or XBoxOne but so far none of the related websites provides either a good documentation or any answers on such a question. I want to create applications like Netflix and Hulu Plus.

Does anyone have any clue on how to do this either through Unity3D or through other IDE's, any links or tutorials will suffice?

Answer 1

Right now Xbox One development is not broadly available. Microsoft announced that with Windows 10, they will be opening up to a much bigger set of developers.

Get the Visual Studio 2015 preview and start learning how Universal Apps work on PC and phone. That will prepare you for when Xbox becomes available as a development target.

Answer 2

For PlayStation there is something called LibJScript. This is used primarily for application making on PS platforms (PS3/PS4/PS Vita). It also contains Canvas2D so if you have made any HTML games before it should feel familiar.

It is probably worth mentioning that you need to have access to a Sony development Platform. The process is detailed at https://www.playstation.com/en-us/develop/

Answer 3

Historically the PS4 and XboxOne have been a partner-only platform. Though Sony hasn't announced plans to make PS4 non-game apps available to indie-developers, I can help point you in the right direction.

1. Build your apps with WinJS 4.0.1 (or greater) and ES5
2. Package your Javascript-Based app for Windows 10 Hosted Web App (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/dn705792.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396)
3. Contact Sony Developer World (https://developer.sony.com/) to request Media Application (non-game) access

Hint: Sony non-game apps support something pretty darn similar to step #2

Good Luck!