At Candyspace, we believe thoroughly in making digital products that are loved by everyone. It’s so important that technology is both functional and fun – digital solutions should solve problems and provide their users practical solutions, but they should also seek to do so creatively and in a way that’s engaging and exciting for an audience.
As streaming platforms mature and user expectations continue to shift, many of the most impactful innovations aren’t necessarily headline-grabbing new technologies, but subtle shifts in product design that respond directly to how audiences behave on mobile.
We asked two of our senior developers – Josh Rideout, Lead iOS Engineer, and Tiago Almeida, Lead Android Engineer – to share which recent mobile platform innovations they believe have real strategic implications for streaming products. These aren’t just shiny features; they reflect underlying trends in user interaction and content engagement that any forward-thinking digital product team should be tracking.
Josh Rideout on Apple SharePlay: Reintroducing shared viewing in a mobile-first world
‘SharePlay isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s Apple formalising the way people already want to watch content: together, even when they’re apart.’
Apple’s SharePlay, integrated into FaceTime, allows users to synchronise content playback across devices while on a FaceTime call. Everyone in the session can interact with the content — pause, rewind, fast-forward — in real time, all while speaking to each other. Picture-in-Picture support lets viewers stay in conversation while browsing elsewhere on their device, and recent updates have extended the feature to live sports.
From a developer’s perspective, SharePlay reveals how system-level integrations can transform passive content consumption into real-time, social interaction — without platforms having to build full chat or co-viewing frameworks themselves.
Why SharePlay matters strategically:
- Bridges the gap between on-demand and live – Creates appointment viewing moments around key releases, ideal for events like reality TV finales, award shows, or tentpole dramas.
- Enhances content discovery through social interaction – Users naturally introduce content to others during co-viewing sessions, functioning as a high-trust referral mechanism.
- Strengthens viewer retention around ritual content – Co-watching encourages scheduled, repeat engagement, making episodic content stickier and more habit-forming.
- Supports commentary-driven formats – Great for genres where viewers talk through the action, like dating shows or talent competitions, bringing back second-screen behaviour natively.
- Delivers a seamless shared experience – Playback remains perfectly synchronised across participants, crucial for keeping the shared moment intact.
‘SharePlay isn’t about building a social network — it’s about giving content a social dimension in the moments that matter.’
For streaming products, the takeaway is clear: integrating real-time, co-experienced features – especially around high-engagement content – can create richer, more memorable user experiences. It’s an elegant example of how a system-level feature can enhance a platform’s emotional utility without requiring heavy UX lift.
Tiago Almeida on Edge-to-Edge design for Android: Maximising impact on a growing range of devices
‘Sometimes the most meaningful innovations are about design maturity, not complexity.’
Edge-to-edge design on Android refers to layouts that make full use of the available screen real estate, extending UI elements to the furthest visible edges of the device. It’s a subtle shift that aligns with Google’s Material Design direction, but one that has growing importance as screen sizes diversify across phones, tablets, and foldables.
From a development perspective, it’s not just about aesthetics — it’s about performance, platform alignment, and meeting user expectations.
Why Edge-to-Edge design matters strategically:
- Delivers a more modern, polished UI – Offers a visually immersive experience that reflects current design standards and elevates perceived product quality.
- Optimises for large and foldable screens – Makes the app feel responsive and tailored to the device form factor, crucial as Android hardware continues to evolve.
- Improves navigation and touch gesture compatibility – Well-implemented insets reduce accidental swipes and create smoother interactions for gesture-based navigation.
- Positions the app competitively – Users increasingly judge app quality on visual fidelity and smoothness. Edge-to-edge design helps avoid the perception of a dated or under-optimised product.
- Reduces technical debt for the future – As Google continues pushing developers towards this design pattern, adopting it now prevents future rework and ensures ongoing platform compatibility.
‘A clean, immersive layout isn’t just visual polish — it’s part of how users assess the professionalism and relevance of your product.’
In a space where attention to detail can define user loyalty, edge-to-edge design is a quiet but critical step toward building modern Android experiences that meet user expectations across device types.
Final thoughts from the team
Both SharePlay and edge-to-edge design are fairly minimal features on the surface, but significant when you consider their impact on how users engage with content. They represent a broader shift toward making streaming experiences socially aware, visually optimised, and native to the way audiences behave on mobile.
As developers and product managers we see features like these not as optional extras, but as indicators of where the best digital products are headed: towards experiences that are more connected, immersive, and adaptive — without overengineering.
