WELCOME
Welcome to the r/androidtv subreddit where we discuss all things Android TV .
If you're thinking, "this is great, I just bought a cheap generic android box off ebay (or aliexpress) to watch all my torrents" well then I'm sorry, but that's exactly what this subreddit ISN'T about.
What exactly is Android TV?
[And here's where we discuss the importance of clear branding...]
While there are many companies which will sell you a cheap hunk of plastic with an HDMI port running "android" it's important to remember that Android was originally designed for touchscreen devices like phones and tablets. You can't just swap the launcher to something with larger icons and expect Android to work properly on a TV -- and yet that's exactly what these cheap boxes do, the problems become quickly apparent with the touchscreen buttons for home and end drawn at the bottom of the tv screen. These cheap devices are not Android TV.
Android TV (previously GoogleTV) is Google's attempt to create a TV interface based on Android.
Official links:
Previous discussions:
[Let's try to keep this simple...]
Posts which misrepresent the Android/AndroidTV distinction will be removed.
I have a Nexus Player, so my device is already on the sidebar, but why aren't the TVs that have Android TV built in listed in some way?
Sony's Android TVs don't seem to have consistent model numbering (some start with X, some with W, non-Android TVs also start with these) so it's not as easy as "Sony X Series TVs", but maybe "Sony TVs with Android TV" or something in the sidebar? How many OEMs are doing real Android TVs now? There's a couple right?