It’s that time of year where we celebrate love, family and maybe even faith through the purchasing of things. For some of us, it might even be the time of year when we actually pause on QVC for a spell rather than flipping right on past it – just to get some ideas or whatever. This year, checking in with QVC more worth your while than usual, and not just to find out what delightful kitchen accoutrements David Venable has on his 2015 holiday gift list. This year, it’s worth literally reconnecting with QVC by way of its new Apple TV app – and observing how a network not typically associated with technological trend-setting (thought it probably should be), is stepping boldly into the future of interactive television.

The latest version of Apple TV has a lot going for it, including (extremely limited) Siri support, and a super-sleek interface that makes its competitors look and feel like digital Play-Doh. But its most exciting development in terms of expanding the horizons of digital television, is its full integration with the Apple platform family. Apple TV’s new platform, tvOS, takes the system of apps that make the company’s phones and tablets hum, and puts it onto the television screen. For the first time, the developers who create apps for iPhones and iPads can also gear those apps for Apple TV, and the potential for true interactive television within this new landscape is ocean-like in its vastness.

And yet still, most Apple TV apps continue to function as bigger-screen versions of their device counterparts, doing nothing to create a unique interactive experience within the living room. That is, except for QVC, who declined to be interviewed for this article – which is a shame because it would have been fun to ask about the process of implementing a few, seemingly simple advancements that inspired The Verge to call QVC “the single most interesting app in the Apple TV App Store.” Those advancement include the addition of a “speed buy” button to the familiar (and oft-parodied) information box that enables one-click purchasing without having to enter credit card and shipping information, and also the option to browse through the product carousel at the bottom of the screen to view additional details and purchase items previously featured on-air. Through it all, the live stream continues unabated. It’s a wonderfully convenient way to view and shop QVC without turning to a second screen (or god forbid, placing a call-in order), but more importantly, it points to what’s possible for TV content makers within this new technology.

What else might be possible for shows on Apple TV, now that the product has essentially fused a computer with its OS? The Voice could create one-click voting within the live telecast. The Price is Right could let viewers input their own guesses on item costs and see how close they get. News programs could let viewers take polls by simply pointing the remote. Think of any literally any show, and there is potential to create levels of interactions that drive tune-in and keep viewers’ eyes on the screen and not on their laps or their hands.

QVC will showcase plenty of presents this holiday season, but the best present of all is the showcase itself.

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