The Puzzle: One Suspect, Two Names
Type “short tv” into an app store and you get a crowd of look-alike apps, the press history of a Chinese studio and, somewhere in the middle, a hit app named ShortMax. The case this file sets out to untangle is that very knot. The working hypothesis is a simple one: the app now sold as ShortMax verticalmicrodrama.net/series/the-bride-of-the-wolf-king and the ShortTV brand announced by a Chinese producer for the US, Canada and Australia are one and the same. The theory is a strong one, yet it is not proven, as no official rename announcement has turned up. That is why we will go through the public records one clue at a time instead of taking anyone’s word for it. Each clue is small on its own, and 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 Name
A package name is a fixed internal ID carried by every Android app, and it seldom changes even when the storefront title does. The Google Play listing for ShortMax uses the package live.shorttv.apps. Unless the app began under another name, this is an strange choice for a brand called ShortMax. A package ID is usually picked 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, on its own, does not document any history; it only suggests one. Anyone can confirm this clue in seconds, because the ID also shows up in the web address of the Play listing.
The Second Clue: The Legal Entity Behind It
The fine print of both app stores contains the second clue. The App Store lists SHORTTV LIMITED as ShortMax’s seller. Google Play shows the developer as SHORTMAX LIMITED, yet the legal entity behind it is once 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. A studio renaming its consumer product while keeping the original company name is a common pattern in app publishing. 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.
The Third Clue: The Launch Month
The third thread is timing. The Baidu encyclopedia entry dates ShortTV’s launch to September 2023. In the same month, ShortMax arrived: Google Play lists September 3, 2023 and the App Store lists September 11, 2023. If two unrelated brands with near-identical names debuting within the same few weeks, that would be a striking coincidence. The overlap is explained more simply by a single product that launched once and later operated under a new name. As late as January 2024, a few months after that launch, China Daily was still referring to Jiuzhou’s English-market app as ShortTV. A shared month is nonetheless circumstantial, which is why it matters mainly when combined with the other clues.
Fourth Clue: The Redirect Between Domains
The fourth clue is the easiest to verify, because it happens in your browser. As of September 2026, anyone who opens shortmax.com is sent to shorttv.live through a permanent 301 redirect. The destination site offers web browsing of the same dramas the app streams. Because companies normally point a domain only at property they control, the redirect ties both names to one operator. Nothing about a permanent redirect is an accident of search results; it is a deliberate server setting. Although 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 last piece of evidence is a footer. One ShortMax page on the shorttv.live site carries the line “© 2024 SHORTTV LIMITED”. Copyright lines tend to name the entity that actually owns the content and the site. When you add the package name, the seller, the launch month and the redirect, the pattern is hard to read any other way. The rename should still be treated by careful readers as likely but unconfirmed. Nobody could find an official announcement of a switch from ShortTV to ShortMax, and the company may describe its brands differently in the future.
Who Runs It: Jiuzhou Culture
Standing behind the ShortTV name is Jiuzhou Culture, a Chinese short-drama producer. A January 2024 report in China Daily stated that Jiuzhou launched two overseas apps: 99TV for Southeast Asia and ShortTV for the US, Canada and Australia. That report also said Jiuzhou had produced more than 600 mini-dramas for overseas markets. About 80% were dubbed adaptations of Chinese productions, and the remaining 20% were original shoots made overseas. According to the company, a 70-episode short series cost $100,000 to $150,000. This mix explains why the catalog holds both dubbed Chinese stories and locally shot originals. Dating from early 2024, those figures are best read as a snapshot rather than a current tally. ShortMax’s own store 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 Look-Alike Apps Problem
The case gets messier here, 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 someone looking for a shorts app from the ShortTV team to install one of these instead. The developer field is the only place the differences show up, and most people never look at it. Below, you will find the developer names recorded in the store listings as of September 2026. The real ID is the developer name, not the icon or title.
| Store app name | Seller or developer | Platform | Install count | Tie 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; the rename is unconfirmed |
| ShortTV: Watch Drama Shorts | HUNG LAM INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION JSC | Android | 1M+ | Not related |
| Short TV – Drama & Shorts | BullFX | Android | Not listed | Unrelated |
| Shortv | Instant Shadow Limited | iOS | Not listed | Unrelated |
The Price of It
Because 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 is priced at about $19.99 a week, with a cheaper tier at about $9.99. Monthly or annual plans could not be verified, since the US store lists only weekly passes. Single purchases go from about $3.49 to $24.99, and prices differ by country, platform and promotion. Per the terms, passes are renewed automatically 24 hours before they expire, and refunds are turned down unless the service is unusable because of ShortMax. Episodes costing up to 60 coins without clear pricing up front are another complaint from App Store reviewers. 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 Installing: A Brief Checklist
Most mix-ups can be prevented by a handful of checks that take less than a minute. The aim 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. Avoid any site offering modded versions or “unlimited coins”, because those are unofficial and risky. No special tools are needed for any of these steps, only the store page itself. Before you tap install, run through the list below.
- Make sure that the developer or seller reads SHORTTV LIMITED or SHORTMAX LIMITED.
- Confirm that the Google Play install count sits at 100M+.
- Check the in-app purchase list to see current weekly pass prices in your country.
- Note that passes renew 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.