What Changes For Android TV And Google TV

Android TV And Google TV : Josh Wentz of the Google TV Product Management team revealed that starting next spring, Google TV and Android TV will also require App Bundles.

Android TV and Google TV will soon say goodbye to APKs (Android Package Kits). From May 2023, the space will be reserved for Android App Bundles (acronym AAB). A small revolution, the one communicated by Google to developers and announced as early as 2018, to optimize the resources available to televisions, which are on average lower than those of smartphones, tablets, and others.

In 2022 smartphones have an average minimum capacity of 64 GB, smart TVs of just 8 GB: an abysmal difference that has pushed the company towards unique apps to make up for some shortcomings of APK packages. Less storage means users have to uninstall apps, hampering their overall TV experience.

Android TV And Google TV Say Goodbye To APKs: App Bundles Are Coming Soon

The new AAB format, used on smartphones as the new standard since August 2021 instead of the classic APK, is set to become the standard on Android TV and Google TV from next spring. Instead of using APKs that contain resources that are more useful for smartphones and derivatives than for televisions, as is the case now, even on large screens, there will be App Bundles.

The six-month notice will help developers repackage their applications to reduce their storage footprint by approximately 20%. According to Josh Wentz of the Google TV Product Management team, it could take about 3 days to complete this process. 

Apps that won’t be converted in time may become invisible to smart TVs

In recent decades, TV has transformed: from linear channel browsing to on-demand content with multi-app experiences. Today, there are over 10,000 apps available on the Android TV operating system. While the software has grown exponentially, TV hardware has remained of limited capability compared to its telephone counterparts. For this reason, Big G is pushing to transition to this standard.

Smart Apps Are Made Lighter With APP Bundles

According to what was declared, the TV apps will therefore have an archive and unarchive button to recover memory in smart TVs. By doing so, the more than 10,000 apps now available for the Android TV operating system will be able to be used more efficiently and numerous on the green robot’s televisions. 

Google promises that the App Bundles version of an Android Package Kit is ” smaller, faster, more up-to-date and better ” for smart TVs. 

The main advantages include the following:

• smaller size – an estimated 20% size saving on average compared to the APK counterpart
• Fewer chances of apps being uninstalled due to smaller size and storage option (which reclaims around 60% of app storage)
• Usable on all Android devices which use the Google Play Store, not just intelligent TVs

Apps that will not be converted by May 2023 from APK to AAB may be invisible to smart TVs.

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