I’ve had an entry-level Smart TV with Android TV since 2020 and a Chromecast with Google TV for about a year and I’m happy with the change: Android TV was my favorite operating system, but Google TV is even better. Google TV offers a more intuitive and convenient experience, Google Assistant takes it to the next level and the Google TV app is the icing on the cake. But after using both, I am clear that Google TV can still improve.
Because even if Google TV has improved things on Android TV, others remain pending. must and there are problems that continue to appear daily with use: These are the four things about Google TV I would improve.
Close apps easier and faster
On Android TV and Google TV, there is only one way to close an app: force arrest
In this direction I’m missing a button with this built-in function or the classic ‘X’ to close it without having to follow this route, which would allow for a more agile and simpler process.
A variation for switching between background apps
I put you in the following situation: you are watching something, you have the remote control within reach and you accidentally touch something by mistake and as a result, the Smart TV stops playing. Or do it deliberately: watch something on one streaming platform and open other content on another platform. If you change your mind and want to return to the first reading, you must start again from the end, that is to say return to the main screen, open the first service and locate the series or film that been left halfway.
On my Smart TV remote there is a button to switch sources (the one used to switch between HDMI) which sometimes provides shortcuts to various apps that allow you to open them as you left them, but this doesn’t always work and no way. them. So something that would be a luxury is to have a direct button to switch between open apps in the background
Fewer recommendations please
When I scroll down, the recommended list goes on and on.
If there were ads on Android TV, on Google TV things got worse with recommendations and advertisements plaguing the main screen. Yes, there is a handy “Apps only” mode that we can apply to significantly reduce them, but if Google made a more intuitive interface with Google TV, it could also leave this setting at default.
I know it’s somewhat unlikely, because the more recommendations there are, the more TV we’ll consume and therefore, the longer we’ll stay on the platform and the more likely we’ll be to check out, but it would be nice reduce the number or place them less invasively
Google TV Lite for entry-level Smart TVs
A few months ago, I told you that I had an entry-level Smart TV whose user experience was very poor due to the poor performance of its components: this was not surprising, since Its hardware was worse than a cheap and functional Chromecast. Here you can’t ask for pears from the elm: being Smart is an additional feature of the TV, but not its main function, so the manufacturers have reduced this point.
However, Google TV and Android TV are built into TVs of different brands and very different budgets and while the experience is wonderful if you’re watching a high-end model, it wouldn’t hurt if Google developed a Google TV Lite for an optimized Android Go-style experiencereducing, for example, recommendations that wreak havoc when moving everything, as well as other reductions in settings and functions.
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