The Case: One Suspect, Two Names
A search for “short tv” in an app store returns a crowd of lookalikes, the press history of a Chinese studio and, buried somewhere in the middle, a hit app named ShortMax. Sorting out that tangle is the whole case this file sets out to crack. The working hypothesis is simple: the app now sold as ShortMax and the ShortTV brand that a Chinese producer announced for the US, Canada and Australia are one and the same. The theory is strong, but it is not proven, because no official rename announcement has turned up. So rather than taking anyone’s word Haley Lohrli biography for it, we will walk through the public records one clue at a time. Each of the clues is small on its own, and the weight comes from how neatly they fit together. You ought to be able to judge the claim yourself by the end and, more usefully, steer clear of the wrong short tv drama app.
Clue One: The Package Name on Android
A package name, the fixed internal ID, is carried by every Android app, and it rarely changes even when the storefront title does. The Google Play listing for ShortMax uses the package live.shorttv.apps. That is an strange choice for a brand called ShortMax, unless the app started life under another name. Right at the start, before marketing settles on a final title, developers typically pick the package ID. The sort of fingerprint that survives a rebrand is therefore a package name that spells out “shorttv”. The package name, by itself, does not document any history; it only suggests one. Anyone can check this clue in seconds: the ID also appears in the web address of the Play listing.
Clue Two: The Legal Entity
The fine print of both app stores holds the second clue. In the App Store, ShortMax’s seller is SHORTTV LIMITED. Although Google Play lists the developer as SHORTMAX LIMITED, the legal entity behind it is again SHORTTV LIMITED, with an address in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. The company’s terms of service, too, are governed by Hong Kong law. Studios often rename their consumer product while keeping the original company name, a pattern familiar in app publishing. Even if it does not prove the brands are the same, it puts ShortTV’s name on the contract you accept when you pay for ShortMax.
Third Clue: The Launch Month
The timing is the third thread. According to Baidu’s encyclopedia entry, ShortTV launched in September 2023. ShortMax arrived in the same month, with Google Play listing September 3, 2023 and the App Store listing September 11, 2023. A single product that launched once and later traded under a new name explains the overlap more simply. It would be a notable coincidence for two unrelated brands with near-identical names to debut within the same few weeks. In January 2024, a few months after that launch, China Daily was still calling Jiuzhou’s English-market app ShortTV. Even so, a shared month is circumstantial, so it matters mainly alongside the other clues.
Clue Four: The Redirect Between Domains
Of all the clues, the fourth is the easiest to check, because it happens in your browser. As of September 2026, opening shortmax.com triggers a permanent 301 redirect to shorttv.live. That target site offers web browsing of the same dramas the app streams. Companies usually point a domain only at property they control, so the redirect connects both names to one operator. A permanent redirect is a deliberate server setting, not an accident of search results. This is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement, even though nobody has written it down in a press release.
The Fifth Clue: The Copyright Line
A footer is the final piece of evidence. Copyright notices tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. The line “© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED” appears on a ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site. The pattern is hard to read any other way when this is combined with the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect. Cautious readers should still treat the rename as likely but unconfirmed. No one 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 behind the ShortTV name. According to a January 2024 report in China Daily, Jiuzhou launched two overseas apps: 99TV for Southeast Asia and ShortTV for the US, Canada and Australia. According to the same report, Jiuzhou had made more than 600 mini-dramas for overseas markets. About 80% of them were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, while the remaining 20% were original overseas shoots. As the company put it, the cost of a 70-episode short series came to $100,000 to $150,000. Dubbed Chinese stories as well as locally shot originals appear in the catalog, which that mix explains. Now, ShortMax’s own listing advertises more than 50,000 dramas in 19 languages, a company figure that has not been independently audited. Those numbers date from early 2024, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a current tally. The ownership trail through SHORTTV LIMITED is what connects this studio to the ShortMax brand you see in stores today.
The Problem With Look-Alike Apps
The case gets messier here, because the short tv name is not protected in app store search. None of the several unrelated developers publishing apps with nearly identical titles is connected to Jiuzhou or ShortMax. The developer field is the only place the differences show up, and most people never look at it. Any one of these can easily end up installed instead by someone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team. The developer names recorded in the store listings appear in the table as of September 2026. Regard the developer name, not the icon or title, as the real ID.
| App name in store | Developer or seller | Available on | Installs | Tie to Jiuzhou’s ShortTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShortMax (package live.shorttv.apps) | SHORTTV LIMITED, Hong Kong | Android and iOS | 100M+ on Google Play | Likely the same app; rename unconfirmed |
| ShortTV: Watch Drama Shorts | HUNG LAM INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION JSC | Android | 1M+ | Not related |
| Short TV – Drama & Shorts | BullFX | Android | Not shown | Unrelated |
| Shortv | Instant Shadow Limited | iOS | Not listed | Unrelated |
What You Will Pay
Pricing follows the ShortMax listing, because ShortTV and ShortMax appear to be one product. In the US App Store as of September 2026, the Weekly Pass Pro costs about $19.99 a week, with a cheaper tier at about $9.99. Single purchases go from about $3.49 to $24.99, and prices differ by country, platform and promotion. Because the US store lists only weekly passes, monthly or yearly plans could not be verified. Passes are renewed automatically 24 hours before they expire, according to the terms, and refunds are denied unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax. A further complaint from App Store reviewers involves episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front. The “free trial” wording confused some users, which the developer’s own replies on Google Play admit. Cancellation happens in the App Store or Google Play subscription settings, and deleting the app does not stop the billing.
Before You Install: A Short Checklist
Most mix-ups can be prevented by a handful of checks that take less than a minute. The idea is to confirm that you are getting the Jiuzhou-linked app and not a look-alike. Before you start a short series you cannot afford to finish, it also helps you spot the pricing traps. Only the store page itself is needed; none of these steps requires special tools. Sites offering modded versions or “unlimited coins” are best avoided, because those are unofficial and risky. Before you tap install, go through the list below.
- Make sure that the developer or seller reads SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
- Confirm that the install count on Google Play shows 100M+.
- To check current weekly pass prices in your country, read the in-app purchase list.
- Remember that passes renew automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
- However similar the title, skip any app whose developer name matches none of the above.