2020-10-02, 16:00
(2020-10-02, 15:12)hdmkv Wrote: Surprised to see the new UI/launcher is downloadable on Google Play. Wonder if it would work on other boxes.hmm, so that is the new Android TV LauncherX app and not just the "Google Play Movies & TV" mobile companion app for smartphones and tablets which has been revamped and rebranded with the new "Google TV" brand?
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc...-download/
"Google TV Home" app name with "com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx" apk name and that description does indeed make it sound like it might be the actual "Google TV" launcher app for Android TV meant for the "Google Chromecast with Google TV" dongle.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai....launcherx
"Google TV Home is the basis for all activities on your Google TV entertainment device. Browse thousands of movies, shows, and live TV channels from your subscriptions without having to jump between apps. Discover new things to watch with recommendations based on what you watch and what interests you."
The 'old' Android TV launcher has a similar app name of "Android TV Home" with "com.google.android.tvlauncher" as its apk nam.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...tvlauncher
"Android TV Home is the jumping-off point for starting all activities on your Android TV entertainment device. The channels within the Home screen put your favorite content front and center. So whether you're looking for a new show to binge watch or just want to pick up where you left off, you get what you want, when you want it."
If that is really the new "Google TV" LauncherX app for Android TV then perhaps Google have indeed released it for third-parties to use(?), or it is just to make updates of the app easier on the official "Google Chromecast with Google TV" dongle via Google Play Store?
Really confusing for sure!
To confuse thing a bit more, along with the launch of the new Chromecast with Google TV, Google is also changing the name of the Google Play Movies & TV app to "Google TV", but that will act more as a companion app for smartphones and tablets, so it is not the same Google TV Launcher that runs on the Android TV based operating system that runs on this new "Google Chromecast with Google TV" dongle. The rename of the Google Play Movies & TV app will happening on Android phones to start, though you can expect it to change on other mobile platforms like iOS eventually as well.
https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/09/30...movies-tv/
As part of the Google TV hullaballoo, Google is releasing a Google TV app later today, replacing the old Google Play Movies & TV app that some of our readers probably forgot existed. Based on leaks, this change in branding is universal, and Play Movies & TV is being replaced by Google TV everywhere. As before, the new app lets you manage your watchlist, view recommendations, and even watch content, though it also sports a fresh coat of paint to go with the branding change.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/30/21492...chromecast
Some time ago, Google tried to create a whole ecosystem of content around the “Play” brand. It’s still there: the Google Play Store is Google’s app store, Google Play Books will let you buy books and comics, and despite several years of starvation and neglect Google Play Music still has yet to completely shut down and be replaced by YouTube Music.
What’s clear, though, is that the “Play” branding no longer plays, so Google is simplifying it to just Google TV.
Let’s run down a few of the different TV products Google offers now, as a kind of glossary:
- Google TV (the mobile app for smartphones and tablets). Formerly known as Google Play Movies & TV (and still known as that on phones that don’t run Android). We’ve covered this above, but the key thing to know is that it’s an app for phones. You can use it to rent movies or watch stuff you’ve purchased elsewhere if you’re signed up for Movies Anywhere. I suppose you could also use this app to cast video to...
- Chromecast with Google TV. This is a new dongle you can use to stream video either directly or via cast. It’s $49.99 and seems quite capable. It runs...
- Google TV. In the context of running on the Chromecast, Google TV is the interface you left/right/up/down your way through to find something you want to watch. It is, as you might expect, heavily focused on search and the Google Assistant. It’s also going to be offered to other TV makers who’d like to use it. The companies most likely to do so are probably already using...
- Android TV. Android TV is Google’s main television operating system, a version of Android that’s fully optimized for the TV layout. Google TV runs on top of Android TV, but is distinct from it. Think of it as a formal Google layer on top of the open source Android platform — because that’s what it is. And you know, one of the apps you can run on it is...
- YouTube TV. YouTube TV is Google’s live television streaming offering. It costs $64.99 per month, which is almost surely as or more expensive than what your local cable TV provider might offer you. Oh, speaking of, Google is also a cable TV provider via...
- Google Fiber TV. Google once had ambitions to provide gigabit internet to cities around the US, but it’s really dialed those back. When Fiber launched, it often offered a bundled TV package. Google has stopped offering this traditional TV service to new customers, but it still provides it to existing users. It’s one of several ex-products that lie in the Google Graveyard. And there’s another product in that graveyard worth talking about ...
- Google TV (RIP, 2010-2014). The original Google TV was an ambitious product that had two completely impossible tasks: take on big cable and make web TV a thing. Oops, neither of those things happened, although the interface ideas championed in that first iteration of Google TV were quite good.
It’s been about five years since Google put the final nail in the original Google TV’s coffin (via Google+, but that’s another story). That is probably enough time for most people to have forgotten both Google TV and its very IR-Blaster-centric scheme to take over the living room. But we have not forgotten. How could we, when it gave us a remote control like this?
