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YouTube installs on Android TV have doubled in 12 months, hinting at some substantial platform growth
Google is taking over the living room, one TV at a time
Android TV may have started as a small side project for Google, dwarfed in size by its own Chromecast devices, but it's quickly becoming a star in its own right. YouTube — a preinstalled app on every Android TV device — recently hit 100 million installs for its Android TV variant, giving us a good idea of the platform's growth.
The current YouTube app for the big screen — the same one you see on Android TV, Fire TV, other smart TVs, video game consoles, and so on — has a pretty simple interface with just four main menu items (Search, Home, Subscriptions, and Library). A makeover is on the way, however, that will see the interface expanded to include a much longer menu list, which may or may not be an improvement.
Google's quirky side rarely shows up these days, but we're always reminded of the company's more fun and personable nature when we come across an Easter egg in its apps and services. The latest to be pointed out to us is in the YouTube app on Android TV and it's a cute corgi that trots along the seek bar, similar to the one we saw in Hangouts a couple of years ago.
YouTube is one of the most used apps on my Shield TV; it's what my husband and I often go to when we want to catch up on videos from our favorite channels. However, two missing features have always annoyed us about the app on Android TV: one is the lack of playback speed controls, and two is the complete absence of ways to add videos to my Watch Later playlist or other lists. The latter functionality is finally rolling out now.
We live in a perpetual server-side microscopic interface change whirlwind. One day you get used to a new interface, the next another one starts popping up, improving some things, worsening others, and generally making our lives a little miserable in the process. But I can't complain, it's part of the reason I have a job, isn't it? The latest new UI we've spotted affects YouTube on Android TV, and it's not all good news.
YouTube's app for Android TV hasn't seen a lot of updates since it switched over to the web wrapper as an interface. However, each new version usually brings something of some importance. The latest release comes with a couple of notable enhancements, including performance improvements, automatic resume after switching apps, and voice commands via Google Assistant. For some people running Android Oreo, there may also be new "personalized channels" appearing in the homescreen.
Google Classroom first showed up on the Play Store in 2015, as an organization tool for teachers and students. The YouTube for Android TV app is a bit older, as it first showed up in 2014, just one day after the Nexus Player went on sale. Now both apps have passed 10 million installs on the Play Store.
The YouTube for Android TV app was updated to version 2.0 last month, with an all-new interface and changes to the video player. While there are a few great aspects of this update, like the new auto-play screen, many users aren't happy with it.
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- We previously only had the x86 version uploaded on APK Mirror, now we also have the arm version in case that's the one you need.
It looks like Google isn't wasting any time laying down a support infrastructure for its new set-top box push. Just one day after the shiny new Nexus Player officially went on sale, the YouTube app for Android TV has been published in the Play Store to enable easy updates without a firmware upgrade. If you happen to be one of the few people with an ADT-1 developer unit from Google I/O or you got lucky with an early delivery of the Nexus Player, you should see the update automatically.