By surprise Google has released an update of the Android TV environment, a design update that closely resembles the Google TV environment that we have in the latest Chromecast.
This new environment offers a more dynamic design and background images of the content we have in our favorite streaming apps. Three sections have been added in the upper area with the name of Home, Discover and Apps that give us direct access to these functions as we find in Google TV.
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As we can see, the circles on the left side of the channel rows have been removed and only the channel title is added above the row, a much more attractive point to the design. All application and content tabs have also been rounded, giving them a less aggressive look. On the other hand in the Discovery function we have recommended content that Google selects among the different apps and services that we have active.
It remains to be seen what level of customization this new Android TV environment allows us, if it forces us to have active rows of recommended content or if new Google TV settings have been integrated as the “Apps only” mode that allows us to remove all rows of streaming content.
This Android TV environment update for now is only arriving to USA, Australia, Canada, Germany and France, in the coming weeks it will reach other countries. We will see if it is implemented on all devices or only those updated with Android TV 9, presumably Smart TVs from 2020 will be updated with this new environment.
