- Android TV users have seen new discovery tabs in the game next
- It’s a server-side update, not a firmware update
- Android TV has been replaced by Google TV in retail products
Android TV gets an update that brings it much closer to Google TV.
The update that is being rolled out to select Android TV users at the moment and which have been photographed by users of R/AndroidtV SUDPTDIT, introducing new tabs at the top of the game next section: Top Selling movies, popular movies and shows and trending on Google.
If you’re a Google TV user, this will look very familiar as these tabs are part of Google TV’s home screen.
Android TV’s Play Next Bar on the Home screen updated with new tabs! From R/Androidtv
Does your Android -TV get an interface upgrade?
So far, there is no official word about which TVs get the update, but the Android TV in the photograph is running Android 9.0, so this seems to be an update in Google’s end rather than a software downturn. This means it must be universal.
Although Google has phased in Android TV since 2020 when it announced that Google TV would be the front end of its TV operating system in the future, Google has continued to make occasional updates to its older interface. For example, it gave the home screen a bit of a makeover at the end of 2024.
It is worth noting that when we talk about Android TV, we do not mean the underlying operating system: It’s Android TV and both Android TV and Google TV sit on top of it. This year’s version of the Operating System will be based on Android 16, and Google TV gets a visual update, ECLIPSA audio support, in-app calibration for streaming apps and several of Google’s Gemini AI.
