Jump to content

Android TV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Android TV
Android TV home screens
DeveloperGoogle
OS familyUnix-like (Linux)
Initial releaseJune 25, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-06-25)
Latest releaseAndroid TV 14[1] / May 15, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-05-15)[2]
Marketing targetSmart TVs, digital media players, set-top boxes, USB dongles
Available inMultilingual
Package managerAPK via Google Play
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux kernel)
Preceded byGoogle TV
Succeeded byGoogle TV (interface)
Official websiteandroid.com/tv/

Android TV is a smart TV operating system based on Android and developed by Google. It is available on television sets, soundbars, set-top boxes and digital media players. A successor to Google TV, it features a user interface designed around content discovery and voice search, content aggregation from various media apps and services, and integration with other recent Google technologies such as Assistant, Cast, and Knowledge Graph.

The platform was unveiled in June 2014, available first on the Nexus Player in October. The platform has been adopted as smart TV middleware by companies such as Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Motorola, Nokia, Toshiba and TCL.

Android TV products have also been adopted as set-top boxes by a number of IPTV television providers. The "Operator Tier" certification allows operators to distribute their own custom devices based on the Android TV platform.

History

[edit]

Android TV was first announced at Google I/O in June 2014, as a successor to the commercially unsuccessful Google TV. Some attendees received the platform's development kit, the ADT-1. The Information reported that the ADT-1 was based on a scrapped "Nexus TV" launch device that was being developed internally by Google.[3][4] Google unveiled the first Android TV device, the Nexus Player developed by Asus, at a hardware event in October 2014.[5]

The ADT-2 development kit device was released before the release of Android TV 9.0.[6] Android TV 10 was released on December 10, 2019,[7] together with the ADT-3 development kit.[8] Android TV 11 was released for the ADT-3 on September 22, 2020, while rollouts were planned for original equipment manufacturer partners in subsequent months.[9]

In September 2020, it was announced that Google TV experience that was designed to browse and discover content, will be available on televisions from Android TV OS partners starting in 2021.[10] In February 2021, an update to Android TV home screen was announced which added three new tabs at the top: Home, Discover, Apps. The 'Discover' tab presents personalized recommendations for movies, shows and live TV.[11]

Android TV 12 was released on November 30, 2021,[12] with rollouts planned for late 2022.[13] Android TV 13 was released on December 2, 2022 for developers using the ADT-3 development kit.[14]

Overview

[edit]

The Android TV platform is an adaptation of the Android OS for set-top boxes and as integrated software on smart TV hardware. It supports media and games apps from Google Play, although not all Google Play apps are compatible with Android TV.[15] Some Android TV devices, such as the Nvidia Shield and Razer Forge TV, are also marketed as microconsoles and are bundled with a Bluetooth wireless gamepad.[16][17][18]

The Verge characterized Android TV with leveraging Google's Knowledge Graph project; Chromecast compatibility; a larger emphasis on search; closer ties to the Android ecosystem including Google Play and Android Wear; and native support for video games, Bluetooth gamepads, and the Google Play Games framework.[19]

Subsequent releases of Android TV brought new features to the operating system, e.g. camera support (with Android TV 9), Auto low-latency mode for gaming (with Android TV 11), 4K UI, Refresh Rate switching & Text scaling (with Android TV 12) among others.

A special certification, called Android TV "Operator Tier", is available for pay television and other service operators allowing them to customize the home screen; manage UI as well as available apps, content or services on the Android TV devices that they provide to their subscribers; thus, differentiating from other operators and devices running Android TV as well.[20] [21]

By May 2022, Android TV has over 10,000 compatible apps,[22] up from the 6,500 available at launch.[23]

Features

[edit]

Content recommendations

[edit]

Available since February 2021, the 'Discover' tab on updated home screen presents personalized recommendations for movies, shows and live TV.[11]

Earlier, the Android TV home screen used a vertically scrolling, row-based interface, including a "content discovery" area populated by suggested content, followed by "Watch Now" rows that surfaced media content from installed apps.[24][25][26]

Purchasing

[edit]

Introduced in June 2023, the 'Shop' tab on Android TV home screen lets a signed-in user to explore movies to buy or rent and make purchases directly on the Android TV device. The tab also included 'Library' for accessing purchases made with same Google Account from YouTube, other Google TV and Android TV devices, and the Google TV mobile app.[27]

Voice control

[edit]

Android TV supports voice input commands allowing a user to search and discover content available through various apps and services as well as to control content playback using built-in Google Assistant. With Google assistant, users can also control their Smart Home devices.[28]

Casting

[edit]

Android TV supports casting via Google Cast from supported devices and apps.[28][29]

Google TV interface

[edit]
"Google TV (interface)" redirects here. For other uses, see Google TV (disambiguation).
Google TV
Google TV's home screen interface
Initial releaseSeptember 30, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-09-30)
Marketing targetSmart TVs, digital media players, set-top boxes, USB dongles
Available inMultilingual
Package managerAPK via Google Play
Preceded byAndroid TV
Official websitetv.google

A modified Android TV OS user interface, branded "Google TV", was introduced on the new Chromecast that was released on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the rebranding of the Google Play Movies & TV mobile app to 'Google TV'.[30]

Google TV as well as new Android TV interface is integrated with Google TV service.[10] [11] [27] [30] [31] The default ordering of content titles, apps, services including recommendations, watchlist or purchased titles appearing on Google TV is set by Google based on app popularity, installed apps, user saved services, and contractual agreements with Google's partners.[32] The Shop tab on Android TV allows a user to explore and buy or rent video titles distributed under Google TV service.[27]

Starting with some set-top boxes, dongles, and smart TVs launched in 2021, Google TV replaced the Android TV interface on all new retail devices by the end of 2022.[33] Devices launched with Android TV interface haven't been updated to Google TV but received a home screen redesign called the "Discover UI" with similar appearance to Google TV in February 2021.[34] By the first week of September 2023, it was rolled out to more countries.[35]

Google TV organizes live as well as on demand content titles from various services and installed apps into genres and topics including titles trending on Google Search.[10][36] It was announced as "a new entertainment experience designed to help easily browse and discover what to watch".[10] It features sponsored content and also offers an apps-only mode.[33]

Regional streaming services

[edit]

Google TV organizes available content from Google as well as various apps and services partners including app developers and film studios.[31] As of December 2023, it supports 50 streaming services in the US and various regional services:[37]

United States

[edit]

Australia

[edit]

Brazil

[edit]

France

[edit]

Germany

[edit]

Japan

[edit]

Italy

[edit]

New Zealand

[edit]

Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, etc.)

[edit]

Turkey

[edit]

United Kingdom

[edit]

Android TV devices

[edit]
Main article: List of Android TV devices
The ADT-1 digital media player, part of the official development kit for Android TV

Android TV has been used to power many types of devices, like smart TVs, smart projectors, set-top boxes and dongles.

During Google I/O 2014, Google announced that Sony, Sharp, and TP Vision/Philips would release smart TVs with Android TV integrated in 2015. It was noted that support for handling TV-specific functions, such as input switching and tuning, were natively integrated into the Android platform.[38][39]

Sony unveiled a range of Bravia smart TVs running Android TV at CES 2015.[40] Sharp released two TV models on June 10, 2015.[41][42] Philips announced that 80% of their 2015 TVs will run Android TV,[43] the first two models of which were released in June 2015.[43]

Google announced other television hardware partners in January 2016, including Arçelik, Bang & Olufsen, Hisense, RCA, TCL Corporation, Vestel, OnePlus and Realme.[50]

Numerous commercial set-top boxes and dongles have been released using Android TV, most notably Google's Nexus Player, the Nvidia Shield TV, and Xiaomi's Mi Box, Mi Box S, and Mi TV Stick.

Also, several pay television providers have released IPTV services using Android TV-based hardware as opposed to a proprietary set-top box.[69]

In July 2019, Android TV became available on soundbars.[70]

According to a report by TechCrunch in May 2023, several lines of budget-tier Android TV devices available for purchase from Amazon.com come preinstalled with malware.[71]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Android 14 for TV". Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  2. ^ "Everything you need to know about Google TV and Android TV OS". Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  3. ^ "The Information: ADT-1 Is Actually A Cancelled 'Nexus TV' Project, Head Of Android@Home Has Left Google". Android Police. September 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "Here's Google's Android TV developer kit, the ADT-1". Geek.com. June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  5. ^ "Nexus Player is Google's first Android TV device". The Verge. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Pardiwala, Ali (September 30, 2019). "Android TV Will Be Updated to Android 10 by End of 2019: Report". Gadgets 360. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Google releases Android TV 10, fulfilling promise for 2019 rollout". December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "Google reveals ADT-3 Android TV box with 4K and HDR, but it's only for developers". December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "Introducing Android 11 on Android TV". September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d "Google TV: Entertainment you love, with help from Google". Google. September 30, 2020. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Discover personalized recommendations on your Android TV - Android TV Community". support.google.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  12. ^ "Android 12 for TV". Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  13. ^ Schoon, Ben (March 24, 2022). "Google says Android TV 12 will start showing up on TVs 'later' this year, instead of 'early' 2022". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  14. ^ "Android 13 for TV is now available". Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  15. ^ "What apps are available on my Android TV?". Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "Hands On With the Razer Forge TV and Cortex Stream". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  17. ^ "Redesigned Razer Forge TV Harnesses Power of Ouya". Tom's Guide. January 9, 2016. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  18. ^ Smith, Ryan. "NVIDIA Announces SHIELD Console: Tegra X1 Android TV Box Shipping In May". Anandtech. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  19. ^ Opam, Kwame (June 25, 2014). "Google officially unveils Android TV". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  20. ^ Schoon, Ben (December 28, 2018). "Here's why pay TV operators are flocking to Google's Android TV". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  21. ^ Biljan, Ivan (February 9, 2023). "What is Android TV Operator Tier? Everything You Need to Know". UniqCast. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Schoon, Ben (May 12, 2022). "Android TV OS now has over 10,000 apps". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  23. ^ Hayes, Dade (September 30, 2020). "Google Adjusts TV Strategy, Merges Chromecast And Android TV Into Single Device". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  24. ^ "What is Android TV, how does it work, and which devices offer it?". Pocket-lint. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  25. ^ "The new Android TV home screen has the right ideas, but it's probably not enough". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  26. ^ Newman, Jared (June 26, 2014). "The Promises and Perils of Android TV". Time.com. Time, Inc. Archived from the original on June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  27. ^ a b c "Introducing Shop tab on Android TV - Android TV Community". support.google.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Android TV". Android. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  29. ^ "How Digital Signage App Works on Android Devices". Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  30. ^ a b Bohn, Dieter (September 30, 2020). "Google Play Movies & TV is now Google TV but it's not the same Google TV that runs on Android TV on the new Chromecast, it's an app". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  31. ^ a b "How Google TV and Android TV work - Google TV Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  32. ^ "Get recommendations that are relevant to you - Google TV Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  33. ^ a b Schoon, Ben (September 30, 2020). "Android TV will be replaced by Google TV". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  34. ^ Schoon, Ben (February 11, 2021). "Android TV homescreen gets revamped with some Google TV goodness". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  35. ^ Schoon, Ben (September 8, 2023). "Android TV's Google TV-like homescreen is rolling out more widely". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  36. ^ Ganapathisubramanian, Kalyan (December 2, 2020). "5 tips to tailor your Google TV recommendations". Google Blog. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  37. ^ Schoon, Ben (December 2, 2023). "Google TV integrates with over 50 streaming services and apps, here's the full list". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  38. ^ "Android TV will be in Sony, Sharp and Philips TVs next year". Engadget. AOL. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  39. ^ "Google announces Android TV hardware from Sony and Sharp at I/O". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  40. ^ "All of Sony's new smart TVs run on Android TV". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  41. ^ Jacob Kastrenakes (June 10, 2015). "Sharp's first 4K Android TVs are now available". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  42. ^ "Sharp introduces two new series of Smart TVs with Android TV on-board". Android Central. June 10, 2015. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  43. ^ a b "80% of Philips TVs for 2015 will be Android TV". Android Central. May 28, 2023. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  44. ^ "CES 2016: Android TV Spreads its Wings". Multichannel. January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  45. ^ Lardinois, Frederic. "Google Announces New Chromecast Audio And Android TV Hardware Partners". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  46. ^ Pratap, Ketan (June 25, 2021). "OnePlus TV U1S 65-inch review: Amazing overall package, almost". India Today. Archived from the original on June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  47. ^ "realme Smart TV 4K". realme (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  48. ^ "realme Smart TV". realme (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  49. ^ "TCL smart TVs with Android 11". January 21, 2021. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  50. ^ [44][45][46][47][48][49]
  51. ^ "StarHub TV+ Pro". StarHub. November 23, 2022. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  52. ^ "Transvision Xstream". Transvision (in Indonesian). December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  53. ^ "Transvision Xstream Seru!". Transvision (in Indonesian). December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  54. ^ "AIS Playbox". Android TV Guide. December 4, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  55. ^ "AIS Playbox (SDMC)". Android TV Guide. December 4, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  56. ^ The Korea Herald (May 21, 2015). "LG Uplus launches new Android TV services". Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  57. ^ "Freebox mini 4K brings Android TV international". SlashGear. March 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  58. ^ "Bouygues Telecom dévoile Miami, son futur décodeur Android TV". Clubic.com. June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  59. ^ "AirTV Player + Adapter review: An imperfect marriage of Sling TV and broadcast television". TechHive. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  60. ^ "AT&T's New Online TV Service Looks a Lot Like Current Offerings". Bloomberg.com. August 19, 2019. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  61. ^ Welch, Chris (March 2, 2020). "AT&T TV now available nationwide with Android TV set-top box — and a two-year contract". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  62. ^ Brodkin, Jon (March 4, 2020). "Struggling AT&T plans "tens of billions" in cost cuts, more layoffs". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  63. ^ "Android TV Box". www.proximus.be. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  64. ^ Baumgartner, Jeff (January 18, 2018). "Bell Canada Rings Up Ericsson for Upgraded TV Platform". Multichannel. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  65. ^ Baumgartner, Jeff (April 25, 2017). "Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service". Multichannel. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  66. ^ Noyes, Jayda. "SaskTel introduces maxTV Stream all-in-one service". 980 CJME. Rawlco Communications. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  67. ^ "SaskTel launches new IPTV platform maxTV Stream". Cartt.ca. August 22, 2018. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  68. ^ "Vodafone TV™". Vodafone Australia. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  69. ^ [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]
  70. ^ "Turn up the bass with Android TV soundbars". July 23, 2019. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  71. ^ Goodin, Dan (May 18, 2023). "Potentially millions of Android TVs and phones come with malware preinstalled". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Android TV.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Android_TV&oldid=1258715411"