Google pulled a rather non-characteristic move for them. According to the Android developer documentation, the company will now pre-screen all Android TV apps before they’re approved and available to download via the Google Play Store. This is actually completely normal and understandable, but none the less very surprising, at least for me. “Before distributing apps to the Play Store on Android TV devices, our team reviews apps for usability with a DPAD (apps) and Gamepad (games only) and other quality guidelines.” says the documentation. Keep in mind that this rule applies only for Android TV apps, not the Android or Android Wear applications. I doubt Google will do the same for Android / Android Wear apps, at least not for the time being. Why is this actually normal in case of Android TV apps? Well, if you recall, Google TV actually had tons of awful applications on the store and Google probably wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Of course, this doesn’t have to be the case, but it seems like it to me and makes all the sense in the world.
This, of course, has everything to do with Google’ introduction of the Nexus Player last month, with the help of which Google is looking to revive Google TV in form of Android TV. We’ve already reviewed this piece of technology and if you’re interested, you can get your own via the Google Play Store for $99.99. This is a rather serious gadget though, it’s based around Android 5.0 Lollipop, so it’s basically Android redesigned for your TV. This hockey puck-like device outputs everything to your TV and comes along with a remote with a couple of buttons and a voice control prompt. Wi-Fi is, of course, on board as well as the HDMI output. This thing is powered by Intel’ quad-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and on its own it’s not exactly a hardware beast, but pair it with your device and you have something really commendable on your hands. After Google TV and the failure called Nexus Q, Google is trying to revive the TV experience with this small hockey puck device which is actually a rather appealing product. Anyhow, what do you think about this pre-approving procedure for Android TV apps?