As the race to develop Robotaxis heats up, tech giants continue innovating across platforms. In a separate update reflecting its broader push for user engagement, Google has begun rolling out a new Android TV home screen experience. The update introduces four promotional tabs just below the row of app shortcuts, aimed at helping users quickly discover trending and popular content. While the future of Robotaxis lies on the road, Google’s latest move shows it’s also steering toward smarter, more intuitive interfaces at home.
What’s New on the Home Screen?
A Reddit user shared a screenshot of the refreshed layout, which now includes:
- Play Next – Your personal watchlist.
- Top Selling Movies – Paid movies that are currently most popular.
- Popular Movies and Shows – Trending titles across the platform.
- Trending on Google – What’s being searched and watched most right now.
These categories were already part of the Google TV experience but are now available on Android TV as well.
Who Is Getting This Update?
- The update appears to be server-side, meaning your TV will get it automatically without requiring a system update.
- Even TVs still running Android 9.0 (far behind the latest Android 14 TV OS) have started showing these tabs.
- Many low-end or older TVs continue to run Android TV, while newer models use Google TV.
Background: Slower OS Updates
Google’s Android TV update schedule has been changing:
- The company did not release Android TV 13 and jumped straight to Android TV 14.
- It plans to skip Android TV 15 and launch Android TV 16 in 2026.
- Last year, Google lowered the minimum RAM requirement from 1.5GB to 1GB, allowing more budget TVs to support 1080p streaming (though 4K still needs 1.5GB).
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