Android TV has been replaced, but apparently it’s still adding new and unique features of its own. why?
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Google TV debuted in 2020 as the next step in the Android TV OS, at least in consumer form. As of 2023, Android TV has effectively disappeared, as new devices launch almost exclusively with the Google TV experience. Still, Google has kept its promise and extended some of Google TV’s most exciting features to Android TV, including free Live TV.
But something strange happened this week.
Google has announced that Android TV will have a new “Quick Access” feature on its home screen. This row stores filters for the main row of the Android TV home screen. By default it’s the current ‘Play Next’, but you can toggle the filter settings to see trending content as well.
What’s strange is that Google TV doesn’t have the exact same functionality. Yes, Google TV’s home screen shows trending content, but there’s no way to filter it, and virtually all of it was already accessible through various other rows on Android TV’s home screen. , a new feature that Google essentially only has on Android TV.
In 2020, Google announced that Google TV would replace Android TV, while the latter would adopt some features from the new experience on existing hardware. So while it’s great that Android TV users have continued support, it’s very strange that this support goes beyond the bare minimum. To some extent, this suggests that Google’s plans may have changed somewhat. Will Android TV be around longer than we think? I would have said no before, but I don’t think so anymore.
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