The Case: Two Names, One Suspect
When you type «short tv» into an app store, you are met with a crowd of look-alike apps, the press history of a Chinese studio and, somewhere in the middle, a hit app called ShortMax. Sorting out that tangle is the whole case this file takes on. The working hypothesis 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. Although the theory is strong, it is not proven, because no official rename announcement has surfaced. So rather than taking anyone’s word for it, we will go through the public Swallow Me Whole drama records one clue at a time. Taken alone, each clue is small; the strength comes from how neatly they fit together. More usefully, by the end you should be able to avoid installing the wrong short tv drama app, as well as judge the claim yourself.
First Clue: The Android Package ID
Any Android app carries a package name, a fixed internal ID that rarely changes even when the storefront title does. ShortMax’s listing on Google Play uses the package live.shorttv.apps. For a brand named ShortMax, this is an odd choice, unless the app started life under another name. At the very beginning, before marketing settles on a final title, developers typically choose the package ID. A package that spells out «shorttv» is therefore the kind of fingerprint that survives a rebrand. Anyone can confirm this clue in seconds, since the ID also appears in the web address of the Play listing. Still, a package name by itself only suggests a history but does not document one.
Clue Two: The Entity on Record
Clue number two is found in the fine print of both app stores. 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. Hong Kong law also governs the company’s terms of service. Across app publishing, it is a familiar 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, though it does not prove the brands are the same.
Third Clue: When It Launched
Timing is the third thread. The Baidu encyclopedia entry dates ShortTV’s launch to September 2023. ShortMax arrived in the same month, with Google Play listing September 3, 2023 and the App Store listing September 11, 2023. Were two unrelated brands with nearly identical names debuting within the same few weeks, that 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 referring to Jiuzhou’s English-market app as ShortTV in January 2024, a few months after that launch. Still, a shared month is circumstantial, so it matters mainly alongside the other clues.
Fourth Clue: The Domain Redirect
Since it happens in your browser, the fourth clue is the easiest to verify. As of September 2026, a permanent 301 redirect forwards anyone visiting shortmax.com to shorttv.live. On that destination site you can browse on the web the same dramas the app streams. Businesses normally point a domain only at property they control, so the redirect links both names to one operator. A permanent redirect like this is a deliberate server setting, not an accident of search results. Even though nobody has written it down in a press release, this is the closest thing in this file to a signed statement.
Fifth Clue: The Copyright Notice
The trail ends with a footer. Generally, copyright notices 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 once this is taken together with the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect. Careful readers should still treat the rename as likely but unconfirmed. No official announcement of a switch from ShortTV to ShortMax could be found, and the company may describe its brands differently in the future.
The Company Behind It: Jiuzhou Culture
The company that stands behind the ShortTV name is Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer. A January 2024 report in China Daily said that 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. Of those, about 80% were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, whereas the remaining 20% were original overseas shoots. A 70-episode short series cost, by the company’s figures, $100,000 to $150,000. Both dubbed Chinese stories and locally shot originals appear in the catalog, and that mix explains it. Today, ShortMax’s own listing claims more than 50,000 dramas in 19 languages, a company figure not independently audited. Treat 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 Look-Alike Apps Problem
Because 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. One of these can easily end up installed instead by anyone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team. The table below lists the developer names recorded in the store listings as of September 2026. Do not treat the icon or title as the real ID; treat the developer name as the real ID.
| App name in the store | Developer or seller | Platform | Installs recorded | Tie 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 not confirmed |
| ShortTV: Watch Drama Shorts | HUNG LAM INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION JSC | Android | 1M+ | Unrelated |
| Short TV – Drama & Shorts | BullFX | Android | Not shown | Not related |
| Shortv | Instant Shadow Limited | iOS | Not recorded | Not related |
What You Will Pay
Given that ShortTV and ShortMax appear to be one product, prices follow the ShortMax listing. In the US App Store as of September 2026, the Weekly Pass Pro is listed at about $19.99 per week, and a cheaper tier comes in at about $9.99. Since the US store lists only weekly passes, monthly or annual plans could not be confirmed. One-time purchases range from about $3.49 to $24.99, and prices vary by country, platform and promotion. The terms say passes renew automatically 24 hours before they expire, and refunds are refused unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax. The developer’s own responses on Google Play admit that its «free trial» wording confused some users. A further complaint from App Store reviewers involves episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front. Deleting the app does not stop the billing; cancellation happens in the App Store or Google Play subscription settings.
Before You Tap Install: A Brief Checklist
In less than a minute, a few checks head off most mix-ups. The point is to confirm you are getting the Jiuzhou-linked app and not a look-alike. Pricing traps also become easier to spot before you start a short series you cannot afford to finish. Since they are unofficial and risky, stay away from any site offering modded versions or «unlimited coins». No special tools are needed for any of these steps, only the store page itself. Work through the list below before you tap install.
- Confirm the developer or seller shows SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
- Check the install count on Google Play sits at 100M+.
- Read the in-app purchase list to see current weekly pass prices in your country.
- Note that passes keep renewing automatically until you cancel in your store settings.
- No matter how similar the title looks, avoid any app whose developer name matches none of the above.