YipTV says iOS and Android Apps are important for subscribers to watch international TV shows on smartphones and tablets. YipTV is the first multi-channel Over the Top (OTT) television provider of personalized, low-cost TV content.

"For many people new to the United States, their smartphones and their apps truly are their lifelines to the world around them, whether for voice calling, texting or using their data plans to watch TV programs," Michael Tribolet, YipTV co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.

"Their video-ready smartphones with apps like ours for Apple's iOS and Android operating systems often are substitutes, if not replacements, for TVs or set top boxes."

Executives at the new OTT broadband television service felt they couldn't launch the service without offering robust, full-featured iOS and Android apps that enable users to watch programming on their mobile devices.

YipTV execs knew that a substantial portion of their intended audience considers their mobile phones and tablets among their most needed and prized possessions as they strive to establish new lives for themselves in America.  YipTV's market research indicated that mobile phones are one of the first - and often the only - devices that new arrivals obtain and rely upon most to stay connected with family and friends here in the U.S. and back in their native homelands.

"That's why our apps for iOS and Android are free downloads once subscribers sign up from the Apple AppStore and GooglePlay," Tribolet said. "And for consumers who have their phone settings in, say, Spanish, our apps intuitively and automatically download in Spanish."

Tribulet added that iOS and Android both have strong documentation on how to build apps and ample third-party support among developers. This made it easy for YIPTV's developers to develop apps that work seamlessly on iPhones, iPads and the many different flavors of Android smartphones and tablets.

The new tech eliminates the need for cable or satellite TV subscriptions.

"Another benefit is even if subscribers learn of an event by word of mouth or on the spur of the moment, our mobile apps allow instant gratification so people can use their phones to watch live events as they happen on channels such as beIN Sports or sports channels in Latin or South America," Tribolet said. "Our mobile apps allow consumers to select the channels they want to watch, and at a fraction of what they would pay for some of the same content from traditional cable or satellite providers. It's the users' ability to control their own watching experiences.

"And speaking of mobile screens, because smartphones have been in market now longer than Smart TVs, smartphones continue to drive the innovation that's showing up in Smart TVs," he said.

YipTV also can be viewed on a traditional TV screen using an Apple TV or a Google Chromecast device.