A new version of Android comes out every year, and with that usually a lot of new features and changes behind the scenes. This year, with the launch of the first Android 12 Developer Preview, we also saw the release accompanied by previews for Android TV and Google TV for the first time. That’s cause for excitement in itself, but the updates themselves don’t really have much to offer.
Android updates usually don’t provide new TV features
I’ve been playing with Android TV 12 for the past day, specifically the Google TV flavor. From installation to settings, I honestly can’t find anything remarkable to tell you about, and that’s common on Android TV from the start.
The last time an Android update brought a major feature and UI revisions to Android TV was Oreo, when Google completely revamped the experience. Not much has changed since then. The next release, Android 9 Pie, was one of the bigger updates, but it still didn’t do anything major. Google has made some performance optimizations, added support for autofill (which has never been widely used) and added a new installation method that transferred much of the work to a nearby smartphone. The streamlined settings menu was the biggest user-level change.
Android TV 10 brought with it Project Treble, and also went through some more performance optimizations. User-oriented, however, this update has done nothing. The same was true of Android TV 11, which has seen virtually no adoption. The only notable changes for that update include low latency support, better gamepad support, and some improved TV features.
The simple fact is that most of the new features that Google gives to its TV platforms don’t come from Android updates, but from launcher updates, apps, and other methods. That’s a smart strategy too, as many of the changes that users really care about can be made without worrying too much about OEM partners.
Most of what’s new is behind the scenes
If you haven’t noticed a pattern at this point, most of the changes you find in Android TV platform upgrades are done out of the user’s view. Some people may run into the tweaks, but for the most part they will be invisible. Google described what’s new, at least in the first Android TV 12 preview, like this:
And for the largest screen in the house, the first Android 12 preview for Android TV is also available. You can not only bring the latest Android features to the TV with this preview, but also test your apps on the all-new Google TV experience. Find out more at the Android TV developer site and get started with your ADT-3 developer kit.
That’s … not helpful.
Based on the timing alone, it’s pretty clear that Android TV 12 will gain wider adoption, and as such, it means that this update is likely the first time Scoped Storage has any effect on Android TV / Google TV. For the average user, this never matters, but for those who want to sideload apps May encountered problems, although we can’t say we’ve encountered one so far. We also speculated that some of the tweaks in Android 12, such as HEVC transcoding, AVIF, multi-channel audio, and more, could be felt on TVs with the platform.
As for Google TV based on Android 12, there was literally only one user-centric feature I could find. On the “For You” tab, the home screen now shows a list of “Recommended Videos” powered by YouTube, complete with the logo. That is really nothing to get excited about, because Google could roll it out to the new Chromecast with an app update. To be honest, they probably already have and we just happen to see it here by chance for the first time.
Timely updates are the real reason for hype
Does this mean there is no reason for Android TV and Google TV users to get excited about Android 12? Absolutely not! The truth is, there are major Android updates never was a big deal for Android TV. The platform usually lags a full release and has literally skipped multiple versions of the operating system more than once.
Having an Android 12 update this early for TVs is a leap forward, and it’s also pretty telling that the preview build we ran on an ADT-3 also packs the February 2021 security patch. I don’t want to build expectations, but it really looks like updates are finally going to be a priority for Google with this renewed platform interest and I have to say, I’m in a hurry.
When will Android TV 12 be released?
It seems reasonable to assume that Android TV 12 will start rolling out stable builds around the same time as phones, which is currently scheduled for around August or September. Of course, that doesn’t mean consumer devices like the new Chromecast, TCL TVs and others will get the update anytime soon, but we certainly hope it does.
We will continue to install new preview builds of Android TV and Google TV as they become available, so stay tuned as we report on any major changes we find.
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