Android TVs in India Getting the ‘Discover’ Home Screen Akin to Google TV

Last Updated on December 4, 2021 by Anu Joy

Google is now rolling out the ‘Discover’ home screen layout, first seen in the Google TV interface, to its older Android TVs for users in India and a few other regions.

Users of Google Chromecast and select smart televisions must be familiar with the new Google TV interface and its ‘Discover’ home screen design that incorporates all the apps, favourite content, YouTube TV, sponsored content, and more. Now, Android TV users will get to experience the updated feature, which can be accessed via the ‘Discover’ tab to display the recommended content. It will also be available on the Mi Box Android streaming device. Google is yet to provide a roadmap specifying which Android TVs and streaming devices would be getting the update though.

Going forward in 2022, we may see most set-top boxes, smart televisions, and Android streaming devices running on the new Google TV interface. But that doesn’t imply that the older Android TVs would be getting step-motherly treatment from Google. Bringing the ‘Discover’ feature to older Android TVs shows Google’s commitment towards making it more intuitive for millions of Android TV users worldwide. It is attempting to bridge the gap between the interfaces and you could see many more Google TV features slowly trickling down to Android TVs in the future.

That’s not all, Android TVs and Google TVs will be getting the latest Android 12 update that brings some incremental updates over the Android 10, which it is currently running on. The Google TV Android 12 will get a new framework for screen refresh rate switching, which automatically sets the video playback at 24fps, 25fps, 50fps, or 60fps, depending on the content.

Big screen users will appreciate the new 4K user interface as opposed to the older FullHD 1080p resolution UI. Other noteworthy features include RenderEffect (for in-app blurs), WindowManager (for cross-window blurs), microphone and camera toggles, mic and camera indicators to notify when in use, support for HDMI CEC 2.0, and Tuner HAL 1.1 with DTMB support.