The Case: One Suspect, Two Names
When you type “short tv” into an app store, you get a crowd of look-alike apps, a Chinese studio’s press history and, somewhere in the middle, a hit app named ShortMax. The case this file attempts to untangle is that tangle. 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. That theory is strong, but it is not proven, because no official rename announcement has surfaced. Instead of taking anyone’s word for it, we will walk through the public records one clue at a Ashley Ahlquist actress time. Each clue is small on its own, and the weight comes from how neatly they line up. By the end of this file you should be able to judge the claim yourself and, more usefully, avoid installing the wrong short tv drama app.
First Clue: The Package Name on Android
A package name is a fixed internal ID carried by every Android app, and it rarely changes even when the storefront title does. The package live.shorttv.apps is the one ShortMax uses on Google Play. Unless the app started life under another name, that is an strange choice for a brand called ShortMax. At the very beginning, before marketing settles on a final title, developers usually pick the package ID. For that reason, a package spelling out “shorttv” is exactly the kind of fingerprint that survives a rebrand. On its own, though, a package name only suggests a history; it does not document one. Anyone can confirm this clue in seconds, since the ID also appears in the web address of the Play listing.
Clue Two: The Legal Entity Behind It
Buried in the fine print of both app stores sits the second clue. In the App Store, ShortMax’s seller is SHORTTV LIMITED. On Google Play the developer is listed as SHORTMAX LIMITED, while the legal entity behind it is again SHORTTV LIMITED, with an address in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Hong Kong law also governs its terms of service. In app publishing, it is a familiar pattern for a studio to rename its consumer product while keeping the original company name. 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.
Clue Three: When It Launched
The third thread concerns 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. Near-identical names on two unrelated brands debuting within the same few weeks would be a remarkable coincidence. One product that launched once and later traded under a new name explains the overlap more simply. 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, which is why it matters mainly in combination with the other clues.
The Fourth Clue: The Redirect Between Domains
Because it happens in your browser, the fourth clue is the easiest to verify. As of September 2026, loading shortmax.com triggers a permanent 301 redirect to shorttv.live. Browsing on the web of the same dramas the app streams is offered on that destination site. A permanent redirect like this is not an accident of search results but a deliberate server setting. Since companies normally point a domain only at property they control, the redirect links both names to one operator. Even though nobody has written it down in a press release, this is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement.
The Fifth Clue: The Copyright Line
A footer is the last piece of evidence. A ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site carries the line “© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED”. Copyright notices tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. The pattern is hard to read any other way once this is taken together with the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect. Even so, 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
The company behind the ShortTV name is Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer. Jiuzhou launched two overseas apps, per a January 2024 report in China Daily: 99TV for Southeast Asia and ShortTV for the US, Canada and Australia. Over 600 mini-dramas for overseas markets had been made by Jiuzhou, the same report said. Of these titles, about 80% were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, while the remaining 20% were original overseas shoots. A 70-episode short series costs, by the company’s own figures, $100,000 to $150,000. Dubbed Chinese stories as well as locally shot originals sit in the catalog, which that mix explains. These numbers date from early 2024, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a current tally. ShortMax’s own listing now claims more than 50,000 dramas in 19 languages, a company figure that has not been independently audited. It is through SHORTTV LIMITED’s ownership trail that this studio connects to the ShortMax brand you see in stores today.
The Trouble With Look-Alike Apps
Because the short tv name is not protected in app store search, the case becomes messier here. None of the unrelated developers who publish 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 read it. A person looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team can easily install one of these instead. Developer names as recorded in the store listings appear in the table as of September 2026. Don’t treat the icon or title as the real ID; treat the developer name as the real ID.
| App name in store | Developer or seller name | Platforms | Installs | Link to Jiuzhou’s ShortTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShortMax (package live.shorttv.apps) | SHORTTV LIMITED, Hong Kong | Android and iOS | 100M+ in Google Play | Likely the same app; rename unconfirmed |
| ShortTV: Watch Drama Shorts | HUNG LAM INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION JSC | Android | 1M+ | No connection |
| Short TV – Drama & Shorts | BullFX | Android | Not shown | Unrelated |
| Shortv | Instant Shadow Limited | iOS | Not listed | Not related |
The Price of It
Given that 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 a week, while a cheaper tier sits at about $9.99. Monthly or annual plans could not be verified, since the US store lists only weekly passes. One-time purchases run from about $3.49 to $24.99, and prices differ by country, platform and promotion. Under the terms, passes are renewed automatically 24 hours before they expire, and refunds are refused unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax. Episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front are also a complaint from App Store reviewers. Through its own replies on Google Play, the developer acknowledges that its “free trial” wording confused some users. Cancellation happens in the App Store or Google Play subscription settings, and deleting the app does not stop the billing.
Before Installing: A Brief Checklist
A few checks take less than a minute and prevent most mix-ups. Making sure you are getting the Jiuzhou-linked app and not a look-alike is the whole point. Before starting a short series you cannot afford to finish, it also helps you spot the pricing traps. Sites offering modded versions or “unlimited coins” are best avoided, because those are unofficial and risky. None of these steps needs special tools, only the store page itself. The list below is worth running through before you tap install.
- Check that the developer or seller reads SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
- Check the install count on Google Play sits at 100M+.
- Open the in-app purchase list to see current weekly pass prices in your country.
- Keep in mind that passes renew automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
- However similar the title, avoid any app whose developer name matches none of the above.