Anyone else think the Google PlayStore is a mess?

by osiris355

Android TV has built up a pretty good base of apps but finding them by categories is impossible.

Why is there only 4 categories? Media, Music, News and Utilities are not enough.

Even the few categories available are missing tons of proper apps or have apps that don't belong.

The app discovery is painfully bad. These companies work hard to release these apps and Google doesn't even display them.

Some examples:

  • Where do I find all live TV services like PlayStation Vue or cable network apps?
  • Where do I find all finance apps?
  • Where do I find all education apps?
  • Where do I find all health&fitness apps?
  • Where do I find all sports apps?
  • Why does news only have about 20 apps when Android TV has dozens of them?
  • Why are there odd random apps in said categories that don't belong? Usually Google's own.
  • Where are the reviews?

Google, if you create places for apps to reside people will bring them. As of now you are saying nothing belongs on Android TV but music, news and games. This is not a roku. These are real apps on the TV. Amazon nailed this just like you did on mobile. There are TONS of proper categories on the Fire TV app store.

NedSc

It's crazy how many basic things that Google misses.

oroboros74

I found apps that are for Android TV that aren't shown on my ATV Google PLay, but on the web version. Yeah, the ATV version sucks badly.

hoboutno

And on web, AFAIK there is no way to filter apps that are compatible with my Android TV. It shows all apps that is available for all my devices, after clicking install I can understand whether it possible to install to Android TV.

513

You should see it outside of US... Also why isn't Vimeo, a great app, nowhere in the categories? It's only when you search that you can find it.

velkro16

You'd think Google would excel at organizing information.

poyoma

And it's also just gross to look at. So many drop shadows under puke green.

zulmirao

It's awful. Just shockingly bad.

A question: if there are Android TV apps in the Google Play web store that are Android Tv compatible, how would I get them onto my Android TV?

I am admittedly ignorant about all things android so apologies if that is a dumb question.

molins1

I usually install apps by using the browser of the PC (Google Play). Way easier to navigate.

fleker2

Yes I agree that the store could be greatly improved.

Ausernameneeded

It appears Google forgot to finish it....

feclar

It is horrible

There are soooo many apps that work on TV that are not listed

The categories could also be better

I find it better to just use my PC and browser for play store to install stuff on my shield.

Murdy_Plops

The google playstore on Android TV has been pretty much unchanged since its release. It's pretty dire and undeveloped.

ludist210

I think a more appropriate title would be "Anyone think the Google Play Store is not a mess?"

As much as I love Android TV, the Play Store interface needs work. Badly. It doesn't update for weeks at a time, the categories are misleading or just inaccurate (see the searches at the bottom of the apps page), and we still don't have the ability to rate an app on the TV (something that was promised at the last i/o if I recall).

Maybe this is something they're fixing for another update...I hope so.

OrionGrant

It's not a mess, it's completely fucking shit. I wonder if you can sideload normal google play.

Lincolns_Revenge

Google abandons a good chunk of projects and initiatives they start if they don't become wildly popular. In my mind it's very much up in the air whether or not they'll still be supporting Android TV say, two years from now. They certainly don't seem to be very interested in it at the moment.

danielcar

How would you design it?

marketcast

My app seems to come and go from news monthly. So odd.

I think Google has some issues with their algorithms on the TV store.

Sounds like they are finally fixing the screenshot issue at least.

fleker2

Yes I agree there are lots of TV apps and they need to be better highlighted.

wizardgand

You can side load the amazon fire tv apps