Developer | |
---|---|
OS family | Unix-like (Linux) |
Initial release | June 25, 2014 |
Latest release | Android TV 14 [1] / May 15, 2024 [2] |
Marketing target | Smart TVs, digital media players, set-top boxes, USB dongles |
Available in | Multilingual |
Package manager | APK via Google Play |
Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux kernel) |
Preceded by | Google TV |
Succeeded by | Google TV (interface) |
Official website | android |
Android TV is an operating system that runs on smart TVs and related entertainment devices including soundbars, set-top boxes, and digital media players. Developed by Google, it is a closed-source Android distribution. Android TV 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, as a successor to Google TV, available first on the Nexus Player in October. The platform has since 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.
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. [3] 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. [4] [5] [6]
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. [7]
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. [8] [9]
By May 2022, Android TV has over 10,000 compatible apps available on the Play Store, [10] up from the 6,500 available at launch. [11]
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. [12] [13] Google unveiled the first Android TV device, the Nexus Player developed by Asus, at a hardware event in October 2014. [14]
The ADT-2 development kit device was released before the release of Android TV 9.0. [15] Android TV 10 was released on December 10, 2019, [16] together with the ADT-3 development kit. [17] 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. [18]
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. [19] 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. [20]
Android TV 12 was released on November 30, 2021, [21] with rollouts planned for late 2022. [22] Android TV 13 was released on December 2, 2022 for developers using the ADT-3 development kit. [23]
Available since February 2021, the 'Discover' tab on updated home screen presents personalized recommendations for movies, shows and live TV. [20]
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]
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]
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]
Android TV supports casting via Google Cast from supported devices and apps. [28] [29]
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. [30] [31]
Sony unveiled a range of Bravia smart TVs running Android TV at CES 2015. [32] Sharp released two TV models on June 10, 2015. [33] [34] Philips announced that 80% of their 2015 TVs will run Android TV, [35] the first two models of which were released in June 2015. [35]
Google announced other television hardware partners in January 2016, including Arçelik, Bang & Olufsen, Hisense, RCA, TCL Corporation, Vestel, OnePlus and Realme. [42]
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.[ citation needed ] Also, several pay television providers have released IPTV services using Android TV-based hardware as opposed to a proprietary set-top box. [61]
In July 2019, Android TV became available on soundbars. [62]
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. [63]
Initial release | September 30, 2020 | ||||
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Latest release |
| ||||
Marketing target | Smart TVs, digital media players, set-top boxes, USB dongles | ||||
Available in | Multilingual | ||||
Package manager | APK via Google Play | ||||
Preceded by | Android TV | ||||
Official website | tv |
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'. [67]
Google TV as well as new Android TV interface is integrated with Google TV service. [19] [20] [27] [67] [68] 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. [69] 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. [70] 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. [71] By the first week of September 2023, it was rolled out to more countries. [72]
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. [19] [73] It was announced as "a new entertainment experience designed to help easily browse and discover what to watch". [19] It features sponsored content and also offers an apps-only mode. [70]
Google TV organizes available content from Google as well as various apps and services partners including app developers and film studios. [68] As of December 2023 [update] , it supports 50 streaming services in the US and various regional services: [74]
YouTube TV is an American Internet Protocol television service operated by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, which in turn is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Announced on February 28, 2017, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor offers a selection of live linear channel feeds and on-demand content from more than 100 television networks and over 30 OTT-originated services, as well as a cloud-based DVR.
ITVX is a British over-the-top and ad-supported streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, FAST channels, and exclusive and licensed programming.
A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a technological convergence of computers, televisions, and digital media players. Besides the traditional functions of television sets provided through traditional broadcasting media, these devices can provide access to over-the-top media services such as streaming television and internet radio, along with home networking access.
HBO Go was an authenticated video-on-demand streaming service of the pay television network HBO. The service originally allowed subscribers to access HBO's on-demand programming via the HBO website, mobile apps, and digital media players, among other devices, through their television providers.
Google Play, which is also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, with it offering various media for purchase such as books, movies, musical singles, television programs, and videogames.
Miracast is a wireless communications standard created by the Wi-Fi Alliance which is designed to transmit video and sound from devices to display receivers. It uses Wi-Fi Direct to create an ad hoc encrypted wireless connection and can roughly be described as "HDMI over Wi-Fi", replacing cables in favor of wireless. Miracast is utilised in many devices and is used or branded under various names by different manufacturers, including Smart View, SmartShare, screen mirroring, Cast and Connect, wireless display and screen casting.
Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The user can control playback with a mobile device or personal computer through mobile and web apps that can use the Google Cast protocol, or by issuing commands via Google Assistant; later models introduced an interactive user interface and remote control. Content can be mirrored to video models from the Google Chrome web browser on a personal computer or from the screen of some Android devices.
Google Cast is a proprietary protocol developed by Google for playing locally stored or Internet-streamed audiovisual content on a compatible consumer device. The protocol is used to initiate and control playback of content on digital media players, high-definition televisions, and home audio systems using a mobile device, personal computer, or smart speaker. The protocol was first launched on July 24, 2013, to support Google's first-generation Chromecast player.
Wear OS is a closed-source Android distribution designed for smartwatches and other wearable computers, developed by Google. WearOS is designed to pair with mobile phones running Android or iOS, providing mobile notifications into a smartwatch form factor and integration with the Google Assistant technology.
Android Auto is a mobile app developed by Google to mirror features of a smartphone on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit.
Google TV, formerly known as Google Play Movies & TV, is a digital distribution service for movies and television series developed by Google. Launched in 2011 as part of the Google Play product line, the service offers search and discovery of video titles across multiple streaming services, including rental or purchase options, alongside watchlist features for accessing titles from eligible devices and platforms. In September 2020, it was relaunched as Google TV.
Foxtel Now is an Australian internet television service which offers subscriptions to over 50 live channels and hundreds of video on-demand titles. The service is owned by Foxtel, and officially launched on 11 August 2013 as Foxtel Play.
The Apple TV app is a line of media player software programs developed by Apple Inc. for viewing television shows and films delivered by Apple to consumer electronic devices. It can stream content from the iTunes Store, the Apple TV Channels a la carte video on demand service, and the Apple TV+ original content subscription service. On iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Vision Pro, and Apple TV devices it can also index and access content from linked apps of other video on demand services.
Google Lens is an image recognition technology developed by Google, designed to bring up relevant information related to objects it identifies using visual analysis based on a neural network. First announced during Google I/O 2017, it was first provided as a standalone app, later being integrated into Google Camera but was reportedly removed in October 2022. It has also been integrated with the Google Photos and Google Assistant app and with Bard as of 2023.
Stadia was a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. Stadia was accessible through Chromecast Ultra and Android TV devices, on personal computers via the Google Chrome web browser and other Chromium-based browsers, Chromebooks and tablets running ChromeOS, and the Stadia mobile app on supported Android devices. There was also an experimental mode with support for all Android devices that were capable of installing the Stadia mobile app. In December 2020, Google released an iOS browser-based progressive web application for Stadia, enabling gameplay in the Safari browser.
Android 10 is the tenth major release and the 17th version of the Android mobile operating system. It was first released as a developer preview on March 13, 2019, and was released publicly on September 3, 2019.
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced during the Apple Special Event of March 2019, where entertainers from Apple TV+ projects appeared onstage, including Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg. The service can be accessed through Apple's website and through the Apple TV app, which has gradually become available on many Apple devices and some major competing digital media players, including some smart TV models and video-game consoles.
Google Meet is a video communication service developed by Google. It is one of two apps that constitute the replacement for Google Hangouts, the other being Google Chat. It replaced the consumer-facing Google Duo on November 1, 2022, with the Duo mobile app being renamed Meet and the original Meet app set to be phased out.