Android TVs have become mainstream in the last five years. While many TV’s still run on Android 9 or 10, Google recently announced the Android TV 13 operating system for developers. Most TVs have an update cycle of one or two OS upgrades at maximum. So, it won’t roll out to slightly older devices as of now.
Android TV 13 brings a bunch of small upgrades to the table, most of which aim to improve the overall viewing experience.
Android TV 13: New Features
As mentioned above, there isn’t anything monumental if you are hoping for a UI redesign. Google seems to be content with the current user interface of Android TVs and streaming devices and focuses more on the usability aspect with this update. One noteworthy upgrade is the ability to change refresh rates for different HDMI devices. But the blog post does mention “supported device sources” could either mean devices that offer the feature or a bunch of devices that Android TV 13 will support.
Another power-saving feature built into Android TV 13 will stop video/audio playback when you switch HDMI sources. Anticipatory audio route lets apps identify the routed device and supported formats before creating an AudioTrack. The update will also bring support for selecting new language layouts for external keyboards. In addition, the Assistant microphone access feature will also reflect some updated controls.
Remember that this new update won’t make it to your TV or streaming device anytime soon. It is only for developers now and if you are one, you will need an ADT-3 dev box or run the new OS in an emulator. For the rest of the users, it is highly unlikely that you will notice anything big when the update is finally pushed to your smart TVs. You can read the complete changelog in the official blog post.
