Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Android 11 update for Android TV focusing on enhancements to privacy and performance. The company said that the Android 11 on Android TV would introduce “new features” that are customized to the large screen. Wolfram Klein, Android TV product manager, said in a blog post that the Android 11 on Android TV would carry over the enhancements found on the mobile-centric Android 11 release. Klein said that the privacy and performance improvements such as enhanced memory management are “introduced to make sure TV devices work quickly and securely.”
Android 11 Update for Android TV Customised for Large Screen
The Android 11 update for the large screen introduces support for auto low latency mode and low latency media decoding intended to aid gamers. The auto low latency mode is said to make gaming on TV “even smoother” with the Android TV disabling post processing to minimise latency whenever a gaming application is shown full screen.
Further, the update also said to introduce new Tuner Framework with updated Media CAS support for delivering audio and video content. Klein also said that the Android 11 update for TVs introduces extensions to the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) implementation of HDMI-CEC.
Crucially, it was also said that the update also delivers extended gamepad support, silent boot mode for system updates, inactivity prompts along with OEM configurable wake keys.
Android 11 on Android TV to Soon Land on User TVs
The Android 11 update also said to introduce instant apps through the Play store that enables users to try apps without installing it. The company also said that the typing on the TV has been “made easier” with the Gboard for TV that packs in “new layouts and features” such as speech-to-text and predictive typing.
“Android TV OEM partners will be launching and upgrading devices to Android 11 over the coming months,” Klein said in the blog post.
In early August, Google highlighted that there are 80% more Android TVs currently active as compared to the previous year. The company also said that Android TV is available on seven of the top 10 Smart TV OEMs. Crucially, the Android TV ecosystem now said to host over 7000 apps.
