[RockerC]

one frontend to rule them all.. isnt that what this chromecast with google tv does? (without apple tv but who needs it :p)

I would not be entirely surprised if the Apple TV app for the Apple TV+ service gets released soon or later on this "Google Chromecast with Google TV" dongle as well.

Apple has already ported the Apple TV app to Android TV as it is available on a few Android TV smart tvs from Sony and Vizio as well as some Amazon Fire TV devices (which runs latest Amazon Fire OS that is still a fork of Android TV OS).

https://support.apple.com/guide/tvplus/welcome/web

As far as I know, however, no one has yet hacked the Apple TV app to Android TV to make it run and work on other Android TV hardware that is not officially supported by Apple.

Doesnt shield do that too?

Nvidia Shield TV just has the standard Android TV Launcher (same as all Android TV so not unique to Nvidia Shield TV) and yes its frontend does to some extent present a few recommendations for each app, but it has one row for each app and not videos aggregated from different content providers mixes together.

This new "Google TV" UI takes that to a whole new level, very much similar to the concept UI in the latest tvOS (Apple TV OS) and the Apple TV app.

It seems Google or Apple no longer want you to think about content coming from different apps, instead, they want to directly present all content themselves from all streaming services that you subscribe from, apps will take a backseat as media providers.

I didnt know about this https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=224794&page=58
Any idea how far away that development is?

You better post in that official discussion thread to ask @Montellese  (WIP and I see that testers are wanted):

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=224794

It works with example local storage and local network sources, PVR clients, third-party like UPnP, Emby, and Plex, as well as some add-ons for streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.