I'm currently using sideload Google Chrome app to streaming Ororo.tv since it's not available on KODI and it working fine. But the Google Chrome (mobile app version) seems not 100% fit to the Android TV, given it's a bit laggy and need mouse/keyboard to control.
Just want to have some idea why the native Google Chrome or any other browsers don't have its native Android TV app?
Probably some lessons learned from Google TV, all the websites just blocked the browser/devices so couldn't stream anything anyway. This was 9 years ago though when none of the networks had apps and would put free episodes online. Hulu still had everything on the browser for free vs Hulu Plus apps with a subscription, so Hulu and the networks ended up blocking Google TV which I think resulted in some bad feelings towards each other for awhile. Google TV never did get a Hulu app...
Boxee is why. I don't know how many people remember Boxee and the original Boxee Box (not to be confused with their stripped down "Boxee TV" released later on), but Boxee was a heavily modified fork of Kodi (XBMC at the time) that went commercial. They had a lot of really good ideas, and their big selling point was consolidating all of your media in one spot. You would have a local file library of ripped DVDs or whatever, just like in Kodi, but then you could have your Netflix and Hulu and other subscriptions scanned in, and when you selected a TV show or movie, it would either ask you to choose which version to watch (if you had more than one) or just play the best copy available.
They did this before individual streaming apps were the norm on TVs, by using a web browser and various scripts to translate controls and resizing and everything else. It wasn't perfect, but it was honestly not bad. It's something that could even have a chance in today's market if it wasn't for the fact that everyone has an app now.
Then Hulu raised a big stink about it and claimed Boxee was stealing content. Boxee didn't even strip commercials out, it was just queuing up a web browser and playing back everything as-is. It was like having a butler control your device.
I forget if there was ever an actual lawsuit, but it went so far that Boxee ended up testifying in front of the United States congress about it. They tried to explain that their software and physical box product were basically just computers connected to TVs, and they didn't even make a copy of the video, thus no copyright violation. At best, it was a ToS violation, which was (and still is, to a lesser extent) a gray area as far as enforceability.
Boxee was no fool, and they knew they couldn't piss off the streaming services that they needed for their Boxee Box to be successful. They eventually relented and worked out some kind of deal, though I don't think an official Hulu client ever manifested.
Eventually they abandoned their original concepts and all the software work they did. No more unified library concept. They really burned bridges with their original user base, rewrote all their software from the ground up as closed-source, and tried to reinvent themselves as a more basic streaming box (the Boxee TV). Soon after that, Samsung bought them to acquire their developers, and Boxee was no more.
Even without Boxee's business failings, using a browser to stream things on a TV was seen as a big no-no. Even if that site/service didn't have a TV app. Mainly because streaming rights are crazy and are broken down into "PC streaming rights", "tablet/phone streaming rights", and "set top box/TV streaming rights". When Hulu finally had TV apps, they had two different offerings (with some overlap) of what you could watch on a TV vs a PC. It was crazy.
Every service also wanted to control their UI. Even if there was no licensing issue, they worried about people not using the right UI for the right device. I think Netflix was actually being vocal about this, worried that frustrated users would blame Netflix for a device's shortcomings.
More than that, streaming services make deals with each app/smart TV platform. Netflix on Apple TV and Android TV are specific deals between Netflix and Apple, and Netflix and Google. It's not just Netflix submitting their app, because both companies want to swing their dicks around and know they need each other, so they make specific deals. This is why Amazon's Fire TV has more streaming apps than Android TV, because Amazon was super aggressive with making exclusive deals. That's why some things aren't on Android TV, even when the Fire TV apk will run just fine when you sideload it.
Then Amazon tried to do a modern day Boxee trick. Amazon and Google were in a dispute, and Google pulled their apps like YouTube from the Amazon app store for a while (maybe still?). Amazon tried to bypass them by making their own "app" that was a wrapper for the YouTube web interface (which technically is a web site to begin with). Then Google would block Amazon's browser ID, and it went back and forth for a while. (the same blocking of browser IDs/agents also happened back when Boxee tried this. It would work sometimes, and sometimes be very frustrating.)
Aside from the semi-recent Amazon/Google dispute, most of the streaming box platforms try to avoid these kinds of disputes. There's still a fair argument about user experience when trying to browse from the couch, but I think the bigger issue is that most streaming platform companies want to avoid the power struggle with streaming services, and all the related issues.
EDIT: oh, and what /u/cybergrimes said as well about Google TV. Same kind of thing as Boxee. A cat and mouse game of blocking.
Because the majority of users have no need for an internet browser on their TV.
Sideloading Chrome sucks. Android TV has a few better browser options.
The most popular right now is Puffin browser.
I happen to like Firefox (for Android TV) yes it exists and can be downloaded on apk mirror.
If you like Chrome, then get Chromium (Optimized for Android) by searching the web for sources. (Example: https://chromium.woolyss.com ) Note Chromium does not auto-update.
Why not cast the tab from your laptop?
A couple of reasons that may contribute to the lack of Chrome:
AndroidTV is designed around large screen UX, which doesn't really work with text-based web sites.
If your site isn't text-based, Google probably would like you to build an Android TV app. More TV apps means their ecosystem is bigger and more attractive to vendors and consumers.
I agree that it's stupid not to have a native browser for google searches and web content, and no - voice search isn't the same. I use puffin when needed and it suffices. I don't care that normal people don't need a browser, I care that I'm not being forced to live with unnecessary limitations. I use the browser to download stuff such as apks that are missing from the extremely limited app store
Why do you meed a browser in the TV? Bet that's not outweighed by why Google doesn't want to expend resources on what would be simply a novelty used by a few handfuls of users. I'm not a developer but it seems a browser is a non trivial thing to make.
Chrome works fine on my Shield. They even added a tile for it so it can sit on the homescreen. I wouldn't think any touchscreen version of the app would be smart to sideload for a non-touchscreen display like a living room television. That said, I switched to Puffin a few months back and it works a lot better with a d-pad remote.
I have chrome on my shield/mibox3 for the shared history across devices but otherwise I use puffin.
Kodi addon by themselves or buy a chromecast and cast it from your phone..
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Because regular people don't browse the internet on their TVs.