You might think that Google has given up the “fight” for being in your living rooms but they seem to have gotten a new lease on life with its Android TV platform. They commissioned a survey with YouGov to find out how people are watching TV in their homes and now they’re trying to highlight features and bring future updates that would make Android TV more relevant and useful for those who choose to watch shows and movies from the comfort of their couch.
Google shared five things that households can do with Android TV to make their viewing time more convenient and more enjoyable. They also cited some learnings from the studies that will also guide them in creating features for the platform moving forward. Of course one of the advantages of Android TV is that it has most of the popular video streaming apps like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, etc. Plus, you also have Google Assistant and Google Play Store so you’ll have access to more than 5,000 apps and games on your big screen.
One of the findings in the study says that people spend an average of 11 minutes or longer trying to decide what to watch. Because you have Google Assistant built into the Android TV devices, you can search for specific shows or random ones in case you don’t know yet what to watch. For example, say “Find scary movies” or “Show me romantic TV shows” so it can narrow down your choices without you lifting a finger.
Android TV also lets you organize all the streaming apps and music apps that you may have so you can have quick access to the ones you really use. You can customize your home screen to display not just apps but also shows and movies that you want to have quick access to. Apparently, people have an average of two streaming apps they’re subscribed to so it would be helpful to find a place to organize everything.
Finally, people use smart TVs more than just to watch shows and movies. They also want to connect their smart devices and be able to control it from there. So one of the upcoming features is that you’ll be able to set up routines on your Android TV. For example, if you say “Showtime”, the lights will dim and the TV will open to Hulu or something. This will make your Android TV device also a smart home hub. No news yet as to when this will arrive on the platform but Google says it is “coming soon”.
