Google announced Android TV 11 soon after it released the latest Android 11 for the smartphone division. The new update focuses on narrowing the gap of features between the latest versions of Android TV and Android for mobile. Android TV 11 brings in a lot of improvements in memory management, and a new Auto-Low Latency Mode improving response times. It also has support for extended gamepad. Google has also upgraded its Android TV emulator making the development of applications for Android TV easier.
Google has given prime importance in making the experience of Android similar on both the mobile and TV platforms, by bringing in features from Android mobile in Android TV. One of such key features is One-Time Permissions. This will let 3rd-party applications use the hardware on your TV more efficiently without prompting for the same permissions from the user again and again. The latest update also comes with better memory management for enhancing the user experience.
Android TV 11 introduces a new Auto-Low Latency Mode which will improve the response times in specific tasks like playing games and video conference calls. Google has also added support for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and Steam Controller which will definitely make use of the lower latency mode offered with the update. App developers will be able to use this feature for developing their apps with improved performance.
Android 11 also brings low latency media decoding to Android TV. It also carries a new Tuner Framework with updated Media CAS support and extensions to HAL implementation of HDMI CEC. The new update also brings in support for silent boot system updates. It also has a new Sleep Timeout feature which will cause your Android TV to go in Sleep Mode after a certain period of inactivity detected by the system. It also supports scoped storage that will restrict the usage of applications to external storage by user-defined permissions.
Manufacturers of Android TV will be able to offer configurable wake keys for better control and will also support physical mute buttons for remote devices. It also has a new framework functionality for system LED management. Google has also brought a test harness mode in the Android TV emulator allowing developers to test their applications before releasing them to the public.
As of now, Android 11 has been rolled out only to ADT-3 devices, and Android TV manufactures will be able to provide Android 11 updates to their existing TV’s over upcoming months, as said by Google’s Android TV product manager – Wolfram Klein.
