For a while rumors have been swarming that YouTube executives were making deals with networks for a sort of over-the-top cable service called Unplugged. This service, which would be $35, would blend together traditional media with original YouTube videos (and YouTube Red content) for a novel experience. Today, YouTube unveiled YouTube TV at an event […]
Category: Live Channels
USB tuners on Android TV allow users to watch over-the-air channels and even record them locally to watch them later. The feature should be included in the firmware for Android TVs running version 7.0 and up, but when the NVIDIA Shield TV received the update last month USB tuner support was notably not available yet. […]
With the release of the TIF companion library, developers interesting in building TV channels can use a base to make development much simpler. In building it, I spent some time thinking of good examples and uses for this technology. I have been working on a new demo. There is a lot of content that can […]
Google’s Live Channels app has allowed users to stream from a variety of networked sources, although users are probably more excited about the DVR feature. As the name implies, third-party channel apps can respond to user requests for recording and playing back of media. At this moment, the app needs to support it, limiting the […]
TvHeadend, “a TV streaming server and recorder for Linux, FreeBSD and Android”, is a way for you to stream various video sources to this software and then to your other devices. It is similar to the HDHomeRun in some ways, giving you access to various types of media tuners. With a recently published app on […]
Android TV is all about media, and there are several ways to mix browsing and watching to optimize your viewing experience as much as possible. Picture-in-picture puts a video in a corner of the screen and lets another activity run behind it, a sort of multiwindow for TVs. Some video apps will continue to play […]
Pluto TV Adds New Channels
Pluto TV, an app that shows hundreds of channels based on careful curation from a variety of sources, has recently received a big update. One of the hallmark features is the inclusion of new channels, and we’ll be taking a look at all of them in this article. One of Pluto TV’s big features is […]
Hands-On with USB Tuners in Live Channels
If you have a Nexus Player, then you can hook up a USB tuner and antenna. This will turn your device into a cordcutting box, able to stream over-the-air signals as well as record this media using the DVR functionality. How does it work? We take a look in this hands-on article. Since the Nexus […]
Today, on the Android Developers blog there’s the new TIF Companion Library which makes it a lot easier for app developers to build apps for Live Channels and monetize their content through linear video ads. You can take a look at the library on GitHub and check out the sample app to see an implementation. […]
First Look at the DVR in Live Channels
The Live Channels app has been updated yesterday to include a DVR activity and a user interface for recording. How do these things work? We take a deep dive into this new API and user experience using a hastily thrown together app. The app integrates YouTube videos into Live Channels to play them as you’d […]
Live Channels Updated, Supports USB Tuners and Adds DVR Capabilities
It’s finally here! After big announcements were made earlier in the year related to Live Channels, version 1.11 has finally been released in the Google Play Store (as well as on APK Mirror). DVR support now works on devices with Nougat and above, and you can now plug in a USB tuner to get channels […]
Live Channels is Android TV’s “killer app”, seamlessly blending live TV with app-based channels in a singular UI with DVR capabilities coming soon. It represents the new age of media where anyone can become a media mogul just by creating content. The barrier to entry is lower than ever before. If you have just started […]
Pluto TV Raises $30m to Continue Blending Internet and Live TV
Pluto TV is a startup which has found success in the cordcutting market by offering users a remix of the traditional cable format. They have made content deals with over 75 different organizations to stream their videos in a linear fashion. It works really well with Live Channels, providing users with over a hundred channels […]
HDHomeRun Gains Playback Controls in App, “Not Yet” in Live Channels
The HDHomeRun app has been a great way for users to use these network tuners to stream live TV to their Android TV. It also supports Live Channels, merging TV networks and Internet channels into a single interface. SiliconDust, the company behind the product, has just released a new update to give users playback controls. […]
Cumulus TV Gets Quick Settings, New UI in v1.6
My Live Channels app, Cumulus TV, has been slowly accruing a number of feature requests on its issue tracker. Many people have been asking for EPG (electronic program guide) support as well as more customization. Personally I have desired to reduce the number of crashes that exist in the app as well as make the […]
TVHeadend Gets Live Channels Addon
TVHeadend is a server that a user can set up in their home to stream and recording TV channels. Basically, it’s the perfect type of device to integrate with Android TV’s Live Channels app. It’s something that many users have been wanting to see for a while, and a public beta is now available for […]
PuppetMaster.TV Adds Live Channels Support
PuppetMaster.TV, the app trying to take on Kodi, has just received a recent update that further separates it and takes more advantage of Android TV’s unique feature set. Now, live streams from puppets (this app’s name for plugins) will show up in the Live Channels app as a source, allowing users to add them and […]
Live Channels is a way users can triage live channels over-the-air or from a cable box with any third-party app. You can watch Fox right next to Haystack TV, or watch your local public broadcasting in a PiP while you play a game. It’s a beautiful app and a great set of APIs for media […]
HDHomeRun Integrates DVR into TV App
HDHomeRun has become a great way to watch cable channels through Android TV’s Live Channels app, and they’ve received good reviews by us in the past. Yet it’s only supported streaming and not full recording. The ability to have a DVR in Android TV would greatly add value to the platform, and it’s something that […]
Live Channels Update Adds More App Branding (APK Download)
It’s early May, the sun is shining, finals are finishing up (phew!), and Google I/O is coming up quickly. Along with this list of new things is an update for the Live Channels app. It’s a minor version increase from 1.09 to 1.10 that seems to be mostly focused around bug fixes, but there is […]
Haystack TV Adds Live Channels
Haystack TV is an “award-winning app” that fuses headline news based on user-specified interests for free. With some quick setup, users can watch political news, sports news, entertainment news, technology news, and more from a number of sources. It’s a smarter type of cable news, where it will show news you care about instead of […]
Bloomberg Adds Live Channel for News 24/7
Bloomberg L.P. is a company founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981. In addition to providing software services like analytics to finance firms, it has also become a major media outlet for reporting and discussion current events in the global financial market (and things in general). This includes online news, radio, and TV. Having this multimedia […]
Live Channels Adds Shortcut to Play Store
Some users last night started to report an apparent server-side change to the Live Channels app that now adds an icon to the Google Play Store. There hasn’t been an update to the app and this icon now shows up for some users. Google+ user Ed R posted these photos which show this new option […]
Google Play Movies and TV Gets Live Channel for Trailers
Google has a lot of media content, although it may be hard to know exactly what to watch. This is something that has been a focus on Android TV at its core. The recommendtions row allows any app to add specific pieces of content for the viewer. However, what if you could take that a […]
Over the weekend Android TV’s Live Channels app received an update. In addition to likely bug fixes, there are a few changes to the interface to make it simpler and explain more about what Live Channels can do. New Channels Previously, when new channels were available, there would be a small card that would appear […]
Live Channels is an app made by Google which allows third-party developers to create their own input services. This can be done using Google’s TvInputFramework, and simplified further with my open source ChannelSurfer library. This triage of channels works fairly well at providing users an ample amount of high-quality content. However, users have continued to […]
Developers: Add Live Channels to Your App with ChannelSurfer
One of Android TV’s killer features is Live Channels. As I’ve written before, channel surfing is a very enticing opportunity for content creators to show what they’ve made, but it’s something that has always been just for cable companies and TV networks. The Live Channels app gives developers the opportunity to build their own streams […]
Introduction Voice Commands have been evolving into an exciting part of the “smart” feature set and this includes smart TV devices. It is no secret that Google’s ultimate goal is to create a Star Trek “Computer” like experience. Although we are not quite there yet, the Voice Commands on Android TV can actually be surprisingly […]
ToonAft Comes To Android TV With Live Channel Support
An update has been pushed out for the ToonAft app adding Android TV and Live Channels Support. This is an app that is essentially pure Toonami content, based on the website Toonami Aftermath, which streams cartoons continually. The small but straight to the point changelog is seen below. ChangeLog TA Fans can now enjoy it […]