Google has started a massive update to its Android TV platform. Last week, Google rolled out the update to users in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France, but it's only now that the update is rolling out in bulk to a large number of users.
The new Android TV interface strongly resembles the Google TV interface with the help of the Chromecast media player, which debuted in October 2020.
At the top of the main screen, we have three tabs on the search sides - Home, Recommendations, and Apps. The Home tab offers the familiar Android TV home screen with quick access to your favorite programs and channels, divided into several sections. Apps provides access to all installed apps, but no app recommendations from the Google Play Store.
The Recommendations tab shows recommendations based on user activity as well as popular Google content.
If you already have an 8K Android TV, you might like this report. Until recently, the peak of streaming on the YouTube app for Android TV was 4K. Even though there are already a couple of 8K TVs, as well as 8K content, users cannot stream to YouTube in 8K.
However, this is all about to change as a new update adds 8K support to Android TV. However, it is important to note that only Android 10 and above users can get this update.
According to AndroidPolice, the changelog does not mention "HDR support in .av1 codec streams". This means that there is no official confirmation of this feature. However, there is support for Cast Connect.
Output changelog:
- Support for 8K video playback
- AV1 HDR playback support
- Improved network performance on some devices
- Fixed font issues on some devices
- Fixed black screen image error on first launch.
- Various other platform improvements
Revised list of changes:
- YouTube Music screensaver image
- Cast Connect support
- Limited 8K support for Android 10 and above
- Improved resolution selection
- Fixed issues with incorrect date and time
- Various other platform improvements
Google recently updated the YouTube app with many new features.
Last month, an update to the YouTube app for Android was released, which was a surprise for many users with a changed rewind gesture. Now the deployment of the new version has begun, which has made even more useful changes to the interface and behavior of the service. One of them is the "head" function, which has moved from the web version to the application, which allows you to quickly find the desired section of the video.
The watch timer (on the right side of the screen) can now be switched to countdown mode to see how much time is left until the end of the video. There are also a couple of handy gestures to enter and exit full-screen mode: just swipe up or down, respectively.
The subtitle switch has been moved to the player area, which will simplify the process of converting on and off as needed, and with it, the autoplay button has also moved - a very controversial decision, considering that, as a rule, the user only needs to decide once whether he wants to automatically play the subtitles linked videos at the end of the previous one.
Also added hints for VR game modes, which will be expanded in the near future; along with the option of evening reminders to notify the user that they should stop browsing and go to bed. An update will be available soon.
