Smithsonian Channel App

Project Overview

Smithsonian Channel is dedicated to television that explores the history of our planet, life and culture, introducing a brand new way to watch, find and explore vast video collections. As part of the Paramount+ ecosystem, the mobile app delivers award-winning documentaries and educational programming to curious minds worldwide with seamless streaming, offline viewing, and personalized discovery features.

When Viacom Inc. merged with CBS, our team worked hand-in-hand with internal ViacomCBS engineering and content teams to migrate the Smithsonian iOS and AppleTV apps to a new proprietary and monolithic technology stack. We were deeply integrated into the client's workflow, functioning as an extension of their own mobile development organization while maintaining agile delivery practices and transparent communication across distributed teams.

Technical implementation focused on migrating complex content logic from legacy applications while integrating DRM protection (FairPlay for iOS/tvOS, Widevine for Android), TV Provider Authentication for subscriber verification, and adaptive bitrate streaming via HLS/DASH protocols. The architecture prioritized COPPA-compliant data handling for educational content, parental controls for family accounts, and offline download capabilities with encrypted local storage while maintaining sub-3-second video start times and 99.5%+ playback success rates across diverse network conditions.

12M+

Combined Downloads

Platforms

99.5%

Playback Success

Our Role & Responsibilities

Technical contributions and key deliverables

Native Mobile Development

Built native iOS app with Swift 5+, AVKit/AVFoundation for smooth 4K HDR playback and Picture-in-Picture support with reactive programming patterns
Developed Android app using Kotlin with ExoPlayer integration for adaptive streaming and background playback with coroutine-based async operations
Implemented tvOS version with focus navigation, Siri Remote support, and top-shelf content previews for living room experience
Engineered offline download manager with encrypted storage, expiration policies, and queue prioritization for premium subscribers

Enterprise Collaboration

Coordinated with Paramount+ content teams via Agile sprints, Jira tracking, and bi-weekly stakeholder reviews across distributed teams
Partnered with legal/compliance to implement COPPA, GDPR-K, and educational content guidelines across all features and platforms
Collaborated with UX researchers on family-friendly navigation patterns, parental gate flows, and accessibility testing for diverse users
Worked with DevOps to establish CI/CD pipelines using Fastlane, Jenkins, and automated testing across comprehensive device farms

Technical Implementation

Integrated Braze for personalized content recommendations, push notification campaigns, and engagement analytics with A/B testing
Deployed New Relic for real-time performance monitoring, crash reporting, and streaming quality metrics with custom dashboards
Implemented Firebase Analytics for user journey tracking, feature adoption measurement, and conversion funnel analysis
Established automated regression testing with XCTest, Espresso, and snapshot testing for UI consistency across OS versions

Educational Compliance & Safety

Designed COPPA-compliant data collection with verifiable parental consent flows and minimal data retention policies for child safety
Implemented parental controls including content filtering by age rating, watch time limits, and multi-profile management for families
Created educator resources section with curriculum-aligned collections, discussion guides, and classroom tools for school integration
Ensured all third-party SDKs underwent privacy review and were configured for educational-use compliance with regular audits

Technical Challenges & Solutions

Complex problems we solved during development

DRM Migration

Challenge: Migrating legacy content protection to new DRM system without disrupting existing subscriber access during transition
Solution: Implemented dual-DRM support with gradual migration, license server fallback, and seamless key exchange for existing users
Result: Zero playback interruptions during migration with 99.8% successful license acquisition rate

TV Provider Authentication

Challenge: Supporting 50+ cable/satellite providers with different OAuth implementations and entitlement verification systems
Solution: Built unified authentication layer with provider detection, SAML/OAuth abstraction, and cached entitlement validation
Result: 99.5% authentication success rate with <5 second login time across all supported providers

COPPA Compliance

Challenge: Educational content for children required strict COPPA compliance with zero tolerance for privacy violations
Solution: Implemented privacy-by-design architecture with data minimization, parental consent workflows, and regular compliance audits
Result: 100% COPPA compliance with zero violations during production operation and successful FTC reviews

Offline Content Management

Challenge: Managing downloaded documentaries with licensing windows, storage constraints, and synchronization across devices
Solution: Built content lifecycle management with automatic expiration, intelligent storage optimization, and background sync
Result: 45% reduction in cache size through compression with 99.3% download success rate

Technical Stack

Technologies and tools used in this project

iOS & tvOS

Swift 5.7+ Objective-C VIPER MVVM RxSwift AVKit/AVFoundation FairPlay DRM SwiftLint TestFlight

Android

Kotlin 1.8+ Java 8+ MVVM ExoPlayer 2.18+ Coroutines/Flow Widevine DRM Jetpack Components AppCenter

DevOps & Testing

Jenkins CI/CD Fastlane Bitbucket GitHub Enterprise XCTest Espresso Snapshot Testing Firebase Test Lab

Integrations

New Relic APM Braze Engagement Helpshift Support Multi-DRM Viacom CMS AWS CloudFront HLS/DASH Streaming TV Provider OAuth

Project Outcomes

Measurable results and achievements

Market Performance

12M+ combined downloads across iOS, Android, and AppleTV platforms
Top 5 Education & Documentary app in 25+ countries during launch period
4.3+ star average rating across App Store and Google Play platforms

Streaming Performance

99.5% playback success rate across all supported devices and platforms
<3 second video start time on standard broadband connections
4K HDR streaming support on compatible devices with adaptive bitrate

Compliance Excellence

100% COPPA compliance with zero violations during production operation
Successful FTC compliance reviews with no remediation required
All third-party SDKs passed privacy review for educational use

Educational Impact

Successfully migrated legacy content library without subscriber disruption
Educator resources adopted by 500+ schools for curriculum integration
Maintained 99.7% uptime during high-traffic documentary premieres

Smithsonian Channel