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The Case: Two Names, One Suspect

A search for "short tv" in an app store turns up a crowd of lookalikes, a Chinese studio's press history and, somewhere in the middle, a hit app called ShortMax. That knot is the case this file tries to untangle. The main theory is simple: the ShortTV brand fruit love island that a Chinese producer announced for the US, Canada and Australia and the app now sold as ShortMax are one and the same. Strong as the theory is, it is not proven, because no official rename announcement has surfaced. That is why we will go through the public records one clue at a time instead of taking anyone's word for it. Every clue is small on its own, and the weight comes from how neatly they line up. You ought to be able to judge the claim yourself by the end and, more practically, avoid installing the wrong short tv drama app.

Clue One: The Android Package Name

Every Android app carries a package name: a fixed internal ID that rarely changes even if the store title does. On Google Play, ShortMax's listing uses the package live.shorttv.apps. That's an curious choice for a brand called ShortMax, unless the app started life under another name. Developers typically choose the package ID at the very beginning, before marketing settles on a final title. A package that spells out "shorttv" is therefore the kind of fingerprint that survives a rebrand. Anyone can confirm this clue in seconds, because the ID also appears in the web address of the Play listing. On its own, though, a package name only suggests a history; it does not document one.

Clue Two: The Legal Entity Behind It

Clue number two is found in the fine print of both app stores. ShortMax's seller on the App Store is SHORTTV LIMITED. On Google Play the developer is displayed as SHORTMAX LIMITED, while the legal entity behind it is again SHORTTV LIMITED, with an address in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Its terms of service, as well, are governed by Hong Kong law. Across app publishing, it is a common pattern for a studio to rename its consumer product while keeping the original company name. That does not prove the brands are the same, but it puts ShortTV's name on the contract you accept when you pay for ShortMax.

Third Clue: The Month of Launch

Timing is the third thread. ShortTV's launch is dated to September 2023 by Baidu's encyclopedia entry. The same month saw ShortMax appear, as Google Play giving September 3, 2023 and the App Store giving September 11, 2023. The overlap is more simply explained by a single product that launched once and later traded under a new name. Near-identical names on two unrelated brands debuting within the same few weeks would be a striking coincidence. China Daily was still referring to Jiuzhou's English-market app as ShortTV in January 2024, a few months after that launch. A shared month is nonetheless circumstantial, and that is why it matters mainly when combined with the other clues.

Clue Four: The Redirect Between Domains

Since it happens in your browser, the fourth clue is the easiest to check. As of September 2026, a permanent 301 redirect forwards anyone visiting shortmax.com to shorttv.live. That destination site offers web browsing of the same dramas the app streams. A permanent redirect is a deliberate server setting, not an accident of search results. The redirect links both names to one operator, since companies usually point a domain only at property they control. It is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement, even though nobody has written it down in a press release.

Fifth Clue: The Copyright Line

The trail ends with a footer. A ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site carries the line "© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED". Copyright lines tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. Put the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect alongside it, and the pattern is hard to read any other way. Cautious readers should nevertheless treat the rename as likely but unconfirmed. Nobody could find an official announcement of a switch from ShortTV to ShortMax, and the company might describe its brands differently in the future.

The Company Behind It: Jiuzhou Culture

Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer, is the company that stands behind the ShortTV name. A pair of overseas apps were launched by Jiuzhou, per a January 2024 report in China Daily: 99TV for Southeast Asia and ShortTV for the US, Canada and Australia. More than 600 mini-dramas for overseas markets had been produced by Jiuzhou, according to the same report. Of those, about 80% were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, whereas the remaining 20% were original overseas shoots. As the company put it, the cost of a 70-episode short series ran $100,000 to $150,000. Both dubbed Chinese stories and locally shot originals sit in the catalog, which that mix explains. Over 50,000 dramas in 19 languages are now claimed in ShortMax's own listing, a company figure that has not been independently audited. Coming from early 2024, those numbers should be treated as a snapshot rather than a current tally. The ownership trail running through SHORTTV LIMITED is what connects this studio to the ShortMax brand you see in stores today.

The Trouble With Look-Alike Apps

Since the short tv name is not protected in app store search, the case gets messier here. None of the unrelated developers publishing apps with nearly identical titles is connected to Jiuzhou or ShortMax. Only the developer field, which most people never read, shows the differences. It is easy for anyone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team to install one of these instead. In the table, you will find the developer names recorded in the store listings as of September 2026. Don't treat the icon or title as the real ID; the developer name is the real ID.

How Much It Costs

As ShortTV and ShortMax appear to be one product, pricing follows the ShortMax listing. As of September 2026, the Weekly Pass Pro in the US App Store is priced at about $19.99 per week, while a cheaper tier sits at about $9.99. Prices vary by country, platform and promotion, and one-time purchases run from about $3.49 to $24.99. We could not verify monthly or yearly plans, since the US store shows only weekly passes. Refunds are refused unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax, and passes renew automatically 24 hours before they expire, according to the terms. The developer's own replies on Google Play admit that its "free trial" wording confused some users. Reviewers on the App Store also complain about episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front. The App Store or Google Play subscription settings are where cancelling happens, and deleting the app does not stop the billing.

Before Installing: A Quick Checklist

A handful of checks take less than a minute and prevent most mix-ups. The idea is to confirm that you are getting the Jiuzhou-linked app and not a look-alike. It also helps you spot the pricing traps before you start a short series you cannot afford to finish. A site that offers modded versions or "unlimited coins" is pushing something unofficial and risky, so stay away from it. You do not need special tools for any of these steps, only the store page itself. Before you tap install, run through the list below.

1. Make sure that the developer or seller reads SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
2. Confirm that the Google Play install count sits at 100M+.
3. Check the in-app purchase list to see current weekly pass prices in your country.
4. Keep in mind that passes keep renewing automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
5. However similar the title, skip any app whose developer name matches none of the above.