Purchased Sony Android TV, lots of questions

by Huuuze

I purchased a Roku TV about a month ago and the quality of the TV (not surprisingly) wasn't the best. Despite the quality issues, I really enjoyed the easy integration of the cord-cutter-focused features -- Netflix, HBO Go, Sling TV, etc. all just a couple clicks away.

With that being said, I decided to return the Sharp Roku TV and purchased a Sony Bravia Android TV. Thus far, I've had mixed emotions about the Android TV integration and I'm hoping the community can help me sort through some of the head scratchers:

  1. No integrated channel guide? I don't have a cable box and I figured with Google's backing, Android TV would have a fantastic channel guide. No such luck as far as I can tell. I configured my channel listing via the QAM tuner. UPDATE: Thanks everyone for point me to the Live Channels app.

  2. The "Featured Apps" section needs to be pared down or removed. I'm going to investigate the HALauncher, but it appears to be a mixed bag based upon the warning on their Google Play page . UPDATE: Disabling Sony Shelf and Sony Select did the trick, but removed access to some of the native apps on the TV. The only option is to sideload them.

  3. The search feature is decent, but frustrating at times. I'll ask, "What time does The Walking Dead come on tonight?", and it shows me YouTube results for The Walking Dead.

All in all, it feels like it's on the cusp of being great, but it's lacking elements that a consumer would expect from an Android-branded television. My concern is that this is typical Google -- it teases something great and then fails to put their weight behind the product.

I'm hoping someone can put my mind at ease, but I'm starting to question the premium I paid for this television when compared to the Roku TV.

UPDATE: Added note about updating my channel listing via the QAM tuner

FoferJ

How to Remove Featured Apps Section

  • Open Settings > Apps
  • Find Sony Shelf and click on it
  • Force Close it
  • Set Notifications to off

How to Remove Everything Related To Sony Select

  • Open Settings > Apps
  • Find Sony Select and click on it
  • Force Close it
  • Set Notifications to off
saarkazm

Not sure I understand your first question. There is a working channel guide. I am a cord cutter and I use it frequently. It might be a different story if you want to use it for the HDMI inputs.

JimboLodisC

Always buy a TV based on picture quality.

Never buy it for smart features. Just attach a streaming box that you can upgrade easily.

EDIT: Who is dumb enough to downvote this and why are there more than one of you idiots?

NoRocketScientist
  1. There's totally a channel guide, all you have to do is hit the button on the remote labeled "channel guide". On the circular buttons it'll be on the top right.

  2. That "Featured Apps" section is the customary "Bloat-ware" that's just a price of doing business sort of like with most cellphones. I'd suggest you just check some of those apps out & then ignore them forever.

  3. The voice search isn't all that intuitive in comparison to on computers & cell phones because everything about AndroidTV has been intentionally made to be as simple as possible 🙆 so don't go asking it rocket science.

True its just about amazing & there are things coming down the pipeline that just might take it over the top namely "Google Assistant" integration. Once that's released, yeah I think we'll be cooking with nuclear power then, so just hold on & install Kodi in the mean time.

Andrroid

No integrated channel guide? I don't have a cable box and I figured with Google's backing, Android TV would have a fantastic channel guide. No such luck as far as I can tell.

What exactly are you looking for? I had one of these tvs for a week and I remember there being a "Channels" app that was exactly this.

Anyway, I would take a bravia over a sharp roku tv any day. At the end of the day, picture quality is whats important and the bravia blows the sharp out of the water.

fleker2
  1. There is a live TV app which supports all of the same features of Google's own "Live Channels" app, although it is built by Sony instead.

  2. The "Featured Apps" section is inconvenient. If you use ADB you can hide the stock launcher and use a third-party one. I wrote an article looking at two popular launchers for TV: http://androidtv.news/2016/10/hands-third-party-tv-launchers/

  3. I'm not sure how well Sony integrates with your cable guide to pull data into search. I'm not sure if search shows data on when things are playing, although searching for "The Walking Dead" may show items in your TV guide.

A notable difference is Sony's personal customizations on top of Google's platform.

FoferJ

Which Sony did you get? Is your set running Android TV 5.x (Lollipop) or is it running 6.0.1 (Marshmallow?) The answers to your questions will vary based on that.