The Mystery: One Suspect, Two Names
A search for «short tv» in an app store returns a crowd of lookalikes, a Chinese studio’s press history and, somewhere in the middle, a hit app named ShortMax. Untangling that tangle is the whole case this file takes on. The main theory is simple: the ShortTV brand that a Chinese producer announced for the US, Canada and Australia and https://short-reels.net/ the app now sold as ShortMax are one and the same. Strong as the theory is, it is not proven, since no official rename announcement has surfaced. Rather than taking anyone’s word for it, we will walk through the public records one clue at a time. The clues are each small on their own, so the weight comes from how neatly they line up. More usefully, by the end you should be able to steer clear of installing the wrong short tv drama app, as well as judge the claim yourself.
First Clue: The Android Package ID
Each Android app carries a package name: a fixed internal ID that seldom changes even when the storefront title does. ShortMax’s Google Play listing uses the package live.shorttv.apps. Unless the app began under another name, this is an curious choice for a brand called ShortMax. At the very beginning, before marketing settles on a final title, developers usually choose the package ID. The kind of fingerprint that survives a rebrand is therefore a package name that spells out «shorttv». By itself, though, a package name only suggests a history; it does not document one. Because the ID also shows up in the web address of the Play listing, anyone can confirm this clue in seconds.
Second Clue: The Legal Entity
Buried in the fine print of both app stores lies the second clue. In the App Store, ShortMax’s seller is SHORTTV LIMITED. The developer is shown as SHORTMAX LIMITED on Google Play, but the legal entity behind it is again SHORTTV LIMITED, listing an address in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Its terms of service, too, are governed by Hong Kong law. It is common for studios to rename their consumer product while keeping the original company name, a common pattern in app publishing. Although it does not prove the brands are the same, it places ShortTV’s name on the contract you accept when you pay for ShortMax.
The Third Clue: The Month of Launch
The third thread comes down to timing. Baidu’s encyclopedia entry dates ShortTV’s launch to September 2023. The same month saw ShortMax appear, with Google Play giving September 3, 2023 and the App Store listing September 11, 2023. The simpler explanation of the overlap is one product that launched once and later traded under a new name. It would be a notable coincidence for two unrelated brands with near-identical names to debut within the same few weeks. As late as January 2024, a few months after that launch, China Daily was still calling Jiuzhou’s English-market app ShortTV. That said, a shared month is circumstantial, which is why it matters mainly in combination with the other clues.
Fourth Clue: The Redirect Between Domains
Among the clues, the fourth is the easiest to check, because it happens in your browser. As of September 2026, anyone who opens shortmax.com gets sent to shorttv.live by a permanent 301 redirect. Web browsing of the same dramas the app streams is offered on that destination site. A permanent redirect is a deliberate server setting, not an accident of search results. The redirect ties both names to one operator, because companies normally point a domain only at property they control. Even though nobody has written it down in a press release, it is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement.
Fifth Clue: The Copyright Line
The trail ends with a footer. Copyright lines tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. One ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site carries the line «© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED». 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. Still, careful readers should 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.
Who Is Behind It: Jiuzhou Culture
Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer, is the company that stands behind the ShortTV name. A January 2024 report in China Daily stated that Jiuzhou had launched two overseas apps: 99TV for Southeast Asia and ShortTV for the US, Canada and Australia. Per that same report, Jiuzhou had made more than 600 mini-dramas for overseas markets. About 80% of those were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, while the remaining 20% were original overseas shoots. By the company’s estimate, a 70-episode short series costs $100,000 to $150,000. Dubbed Chinese stories as well as locally shot originals appear in the catalog, which that mix explains. Today, ShortMax’s own listing advertises more than 50,000 dramas in 19 languages, a company figure that has not been independently audited. Read those figures as a snapshot rather than a current tally, because they date from early 2024. 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
At this point the case gets messier, 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. Someone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team can easily install one of these instead. Below, you will find the developer names recorded in the store listings as of September 2026. Do not treat the icon or title as the real ID; the developer name is the real ID.
| Store app name | Developer or seller | Platforms | Installs | Link to Jiuzhou’s ShortTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShortMax (package live.shorttv.apps) | SHORTTV LIMITED, Hong Kong | Both iOS and Android | 100M+ on Google Play | Likely the same app; rename not confirmed |
| ShortTV: Watch Drama Shorts | HUNG LAM INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION JSC | Android | 1M+ | No connection |
| Short TV — Drama & Shorts | BullFX | Android | Not listed | Not related |
| Shortv | Instant Shadow Limited | iOS | Not recorded | No connection |
How Much It Costs
Since ShortTV and ShortMax appear to be one product, pricing follows the ShortMax listing. On the US App Store as of September 2026, the Weekly Pass Pro costs about $19.99 per week, and a cheaper tier sits at about $9.99. One-time purchases range from about $3.49 to $24.99, and prices vary by country, platform and promotion. Because the US store lists only weekly passes, monthly or yearly plans could not be confirmed. Refunds are refused unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax, and passes renew automatically 24 hours before they expire, the terms say. The «free trial» wording confused some users, as the developer’s own replies on Google Play admit. Episodes that cost up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front are also a complaint from App Store reviewers. To cancel, use the App Store or Google Play subscription settings, because deleting the app does not stop the billing.
Before You Install: A Brief Checklist
Most mix-ups are prevented by a few 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. It also helps you spot the pricing traps before you start a short series you cannot afford to finish. Because they are unofficial and risky, avoid any site offering modded versions or «unlimited coins». You do not need special tools for any of these steps, only the store page itself. This list is worth going through before you tap install.
- Verify the developer or seller is listed as SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
- Verify that the Google Play install count sits at 100M+.
- To see current weekly pass prices in your country, read the in-app purchase list.
- Keep in mind that passes renew automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
- Avoid any app whose developer name matches none of the above, however similar the title.