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The Mystery: One Suspect, Two Names

A search for „short tv” in an app store returns a swarm of look-alike apps, the press history of a Chinese studio and, buried somewhere in the middle, a hit app called watch short dramas online ShortMax. The puzzle this file attempts to untangle is that very knot. The working theory is simple: the ShortTV brand that a Chinese producer announced for the US, Canada and Australia and the app now sold as ShortMax are one and the same. No official rename announcement has turned up, so the theory, though strong, is not proven. Instead of taking anyone’s word for it, we will walk through the public records one clue at a time. Taken alone, each clue is small; the weight comes from how neatly they fit together. More usefully, by the end you should be able to steer clear of installing the wrong short tv drama app, and also judge the claim yourself.

First Clue: The Android Package ID

The package name is a fixed internal ID carried by every Android app, and it seldom changes even when the storefront title does. The package live.shorttv.apps is what ShortMax’s Google Play listing uses. It is an odd choice for a brand called ShortMax, unless the app started life under another name. Developers typically set the package ID at the very beginning, before marketing settles on a final title. For that reason, a package that spells out „shorttv” is exactly the kind of fingerprint that survives a rebrand. A package name, by itself, does not document any history; it only suggests one. Anyone can verify this clue in seconds: the ID also shows up in the web address of the Play listing.

Second Clue: The Legal Entity Behind It

Both app stores’ fine print contains the second clue. The App Store shows SHORTTV LIMITED as ShortMax’s seller. Google Play lists the developer as SHORTMAX LIMITED, but the legal entity behind it is once again SHORTTV LIMITED, listing an address in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Hong Kong law also governs its terms of service. Across app publishing, it is a common pattern for a studio to rename its consumer product while keeping the original company name. This puts ShortTV’s name on the contract you accept when you pay for ShortMax, even though it does not prove the brands are the same.

The Third Clue: The Month of Launch

The third thread is about timing. ShortTV’s launch is dated to September 2023 by Baidu’s encyclopedia entry. ShortMax appeared in the same month, with Google Play listing September 3, 2023 and the App Store listing September 11, 2023. The simpler explanation of the overlap is a single product that launched once and later traded under a new name. If two unrelated brands with near-identical names debuting within the same few weeks, that would be a remarkable coincidence. China Daily was still calling Jiuzhou’s English-market app ShortTV in January 2024, a few months after that launch. Still, a shared month is circumstantial, so it matters mainly in combination with the other clues.

Fourth Clue: The Redirect Between Domains

The fourth clue is the easiest to check, because it happens in your browser. As of September 2026, anyone visiting shortmax.com gets sent to shorttv.live through a permanent 301 redirect. That destination site offers web browsing of the same dramas the app streams. No part of a permanent redirect is an accident of search results; it is a deliberate server setting. Businesses normally point a domain only at property they control, so the redirect links both names to one operator. This is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement, even though nobody has written it down in a press release.

Clue Five: The Copyright Notice

A footer is the last piece of evidence. The line „© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED” appears on a ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site. Copyright lines tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. Combined with the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect, the pattern is hard to read any other way. Still, careful readers should treat the rename as likely but unconfirmed. The company may describe its brands differently in the future, and no official announcement of a switch from ShortTV to ShortMax could be found.

Who Runs It: Jiuzhou Culture

Behind the ShortTV name is Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer. Two 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. According to the same report, Jiuzhou had produced 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. According to the company, a 70-episode short series costs $100,000 to $150,000. That mix explains why the catalog includes both dubbed Chinese stories and locally shot originals. ShortMax’s own listing now claims more than 50,000 dramas in 19 languages, a company figure that has not been independently audited. Those figures 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

Here the case gets messier, because the short tv name is not protected in app store search. Apps with nearly identical titles are published by several unrelated developers, and none of them is connected to Jiuzhou or ShortMax. It is easy for anyone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team to install one of these instead. Only the developer field, which most people never read, reveals the differences. Developer names as recorded in the store listings are listed in the table as of September 2026. Do not treat the icon or title as the real ID; the developer name is the real ID.

What It Costs

As ShortTV and ShortMax appear to be one product, pricing follows the ShortMax listing. In the US App Store as of September 2026, the Weekly Pass Pro costs about $19.99 a week, and a cheaper tier sits at about $9.99. Since the US store lists only weekly passes, monthly or annual plans could not be confirmed. Single purchases run from about $3.49 to $24.99, with prices varying by country, platform and promotion. Under the terms, passes renew automatically 24 hours before they expire, and refunds are turned down unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax. Another complaint from App Store reviewers involves episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front. The developer’s own responses on Google Play admit that its „free trial” wording confused some users. To cancel, use the App Store or Google Play subscription settings, since deleting the app does not stop the billing.

Before You Install: A Quick Checklist

In less than a minute, a few checks head off most mix-ups. The aim is to confirm 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. Since they are unofficial and risky, avoid any site offering modded versions or „unlimited coins”. None of these steps requires special tools, only the store page itself. This list is worth going through before you tap install.

1. Verify the developer or seller is listed as SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
2. Check that the install count on Google Play is at 100M+.
3. To check current weekly pass prices in your country, check the in-app purchase list.
4. Note that passes renew automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
5. No matter how similar the title looks, skip any app whose developer name matches none of the above.