There’s one more app that we’re launching for Android TV, one that fits pretty well into the overall brand. That is “News About Android TV”, an app which curates all of the site’s content from various sources and makes it available for our users in a simple TV app. It pulls data from content feeds, […]
Category: Utility
NeoDash Combines Muzei and DashClock into a Neat Display
Android TV allows third-party apps to target the largest screens in your house. TVs are huge displays that are shared by the whole family, making them great for not just media consumption (watching videos) but also displaying any passive information you want. Passive displays have fascinated me for a while, since the rise of smart […]
Launch on Boot or Wake Up – New Feature Added to App
Since Launch on Boot was first published, a number of people have wanted a feature where an app launches on waking up. I have previously looked into the issue and believed it was not feasible. After Android Central’s post on the app, I was encouraged again to work on the feature. However, after a little […]
There’s a lot of really cool websites out there, but the web has not been too compatible with Android TV. One could sideload Chrome, or a browser like Puffin TV, but the web has been treated like a second class citizen. For one, you can’t add web apps to your TV’s launcher like you can […]
This is an interesting time of the school year, as the semester dies down but finals haven’t started yet. It’s a point in time where students have a pocket of free time, and over the weekend I spent some time making adjustments to some apps to make them look nicer or work better. Launch on […]
[Review] HueVueTV – Because Why Not
It was many moons ago we had to get up from watching TV and walk over to the switch to turn off the light. Someone didn’t like this so that’s how we got Hue bulbs and someone else didn’t like getting up so they extended it to TV because reaching for your phone would be […]
Where Does Google Play Game Services Go From Here?
So if you haven’t heard by now the Android Developers blog let everyone know after some feedback and low usage numbers on the iOS side that they’ll be dropping iOS support and some features existing in Play Games today. They found that there is lower usage for Gifts, Requests, and Quests. So now the next 12 […]
Headlines – TV RSS Reader – Gains More Features in Redesign
Headlines is an RSS and news reader that is designed for TVs. It may sound unusual, but with a large screen the app is able to take full advantage of the space and provide scrolling tickers of information and long lists of information. The app last month received a large redesign that added more features […]
Tv App Repo Adds “Advanced” Options for Shortcuts
The TV App Repo was published on Google Play not too long ago as a utility for people to generate Leanback Launcher shortcuts from their non-Leanback apps. It has quickly become popular, accumulating over 2000 total installs since being listed. I’m happy to see so many people seeing benefit from this tool. However, since it […]
Since its inception in 2014, users have been able to control their Android TV from their phone using an app. However, over the past week users have been reporting a new app has been updated on their TVs. This app, called the “Android TV Remote Service”, “is the service that allows use of your Android […]
Originally started as an app long ago back in 2013 Sony’s TV SideView was a very interesting application. Sadly come May 24th it’s going to be departing. The following statement is from Sony’s product site. Thank you very much for your loyal support in using Video & TV SideView. TV Programs and Video on Demand […]
THIS IS A SIGN is a new app from the developer of PuppetMaster.TV and #SIDELOADTAG. As the name implies, it turns your TV into a digital sign, making it easy to do digital signage for free with a simple interface. There is a small in-app purchase to make it more suitable for permanent installations. We […]
Tv App Repo Now Generates Leanback Shortcuts
Back in November I published the Tv App Repo, a project that would make it easy to sideload new apps by building the sideloading experience as a native app using the Leanback interface. The idea was to slowly build a collection of apps with included Leanback shortcut apps. At the time I had to generate […]
[Bug Alert] Looking for Action Games in Play Store Causes Crash
If you want to find certain types of TV-compatible games on the Google Play Store, you can scroll to the bottom of the “Games” category and select a genre. While most correctly send you to a grid of games, selection “Action” causes the Play Store to crash, as shown in this video below. The problem […]
Search for Your New Home with Apartment Guide
Are you looking for a new apartment? This can be an arduous process with numerous choices, even within the same city. If you’re moving with others, then everyone will want a say in the matter. This makes Apartment Guide for Android TV an interesting choice that, while not the most efficient, makes it easy to […]
The weather app YoWindow is a very visual weather app, making it work very well on Android TV. It is “a living landscape that reflects your actual weather. For instance, if it’s raining – it rains in YoWindow.” The app requests your location and then uses that to present a nice visual window that is […]
Google Home was first announced at Google I/O back in May as an example of Google’s Assistant. Instead of just searching the web, the idea was using Google’s search engine to surface answers. This is part of an evolution of the search engine where certain queries rendered cards with answers. With Google Home, users could […]
Family Calendar from ITV Lab Showcases Your Schedule on TV
Personally, my family is pretty busy. Each of us has our own things to do each day and when we don’t know each other’s schedule, there can be conflicts and frustration. Five or so years ago I started using Google Calendar to organize our family’s events. Now any of us could add or read the […]
Google Play Store Gets New Banner, Squarer Icons
Google has been updating a handful of TV apps with new banners that use the new triangular icons on a white banner. The new banner came to Google Play Movies & TV a while ago, and then very recently to Google Play Games. New Banner Now the banner for the Google Play Store has been […]
Nest Puts Camera Streams on TV
Back in July, Brian requested Android TV support for Nest’s app in an open letter. It made sense. Nest, a Google company, would add integration with another Google product. Plus, since the Nest Cam is a video product, it fits perfectly with a streaming device like Android TV. Nest just updated the app with Android […]
Google Home Commands Cheatsheet
Looking for a list of commands the your Google Home will understand? Since the Google Home only came out a short while ago I’ve decided it’s a good idea to have an easy to access resource to remind the community what’s achievable with this size of salsa digital assistant we call Google Home. This list […]
Announcing Two New TV Utilities: Launch on Boot and Enterprise Wi-Fi
Over the past month the Interactive Tv Lab has been iterating on several experimental TV apps, some of which are now live on the Google Play Store for download. These two apps, small utilities, should provide small improvements to your TV experience and fill in gaps in the actual platform. Launch on Boot On Google […]
[Update: App Fixed] First Look at the TV App Repo
One of the first apps published by the Interactive Television Lab is the TV App Repo. It is designed to be the ultimate resource for sideloading apps, with a number of features that really allow it to stand out above any other option. After developing the software for the past two months, it is finally […]
Stream your PC Games to your TV with Remotr
NVIDIA’s GeForce now is a great service for people who don’t own a lot of games. It lets users stream games from a server with surprisingly low latency. However, for those of you who’ve already paid for a game, you may feel out of luck as your games are stuck on your laptop or gaming […]
Hands-On with Third-Party TV Launchers
When you first boot your Android TV, you’ll see the homescreen known as the Leanback Launcher. This launcher, made by Google, provides you with the ability to quickly open TV apps, games, and view your recommendations. For OEMs, they can add another row to place their own custom apps or recommended apps. The homescreen is […]
Google Cast App Becomes the Google Home App
Google is now making a big effort toward Google Home, a device that can help connect all of the devices in your home: your phone, TV, and speakers. This is something that was mentioned earlier in October, and now the update is rolling out on the Play Store. Right now the app has had a […]
Dolphin Emulator Gets Vulkan Support And All Gamecube Games Boot
At the end of each month the Dolphin team does a report for that month in about a week to 2’s time we’ll see October’s but right now we’re focusing on their support for September of 2016. To start off on a positive note they’ve finally got every Gamecube came to boot which is huge […]
Running List of #SIDELOADTAG Tags
#SIDELOADTAG is an app from the developers of PuppetMaster.TV which uses TinyUrl shortlinks to quickly install apps on your phone or on your Android TV. Instead of dealing with copying a file onto a USB drive or using Google Drive, you just type in a short, 6-character tag in a dialog box to download and […]
Tellybean Expands to India and Mobile
Sony is now featuring Tellybean on the app home screen of Android TVs in India. This, combined with the recent release of Tellybean Video Calling app for Android phones, is a huge milestone for Tellybean. According to Tellybean India is their biggest market thus far. With achievements such as the ones listed below I think it’s the start […]
Ultimate Guitar Tabs & Chords Teaches Guitar on your TV
I have a guitar and sometimes I’ll take it out and start learning how to play. After about a week I end up playing a few simple chords and then give up. If I did want to keep going, I could download the app Ultimate Guitar Tabs & Chords for my Android TV so that […]