Android TV continues to be a platform which is growing, albeit at a slow rate. Another aspect which seems to be slow in coming with Android TV is useful updates. While updates do come through every so often, they are few and far between. Well, this week an update is rolling out to Android TV devices and is one which brings with it a small but useful feature.
The update rolling out is for the Leanback Launcher. For those unfamiliar with the Leanback Launcher, it is easiest to think of this as your homescreen/menu. The new feature revolves around the way in which apps and games are listed on your main screen. Those already using an Android TV device will know that once you open an app and go back to the main screen, the recently opened app moves to the front of the app list. Sort of like a recents feature. While this does prove handy for those apps you open often, if you are constantly opening apps, then the order becomes quite disorderly with the apps moving in position far too often. Not great when you have a bunch of apps installed and find yourself constantly scanning for a particular app.
This is the exact issue the update looks to address and once updated, it seems the use of apps moving, based on your activity, has been removed and they are now far more static. The good news is that you can now reorder the apps yourself. By simply pressing down on an app, you can move the app to the placement you want. Put apps you use often at the start and ones no so often at the end. The other notable benefit is that you can simply uninstall an app directly from the homescreen now. By again clicking on any of the apps for a prolonged period, instead of moving an app, you can bring it down to the newly added trash can and uninstall it. The feature also seems to work for the games row (which appears about the apps row) too. So you can once again, rearrange your game listings or simply uninstall a game without having to head through to the settings menu. The Leanback Launcher update is in the process of rolling out as we speak and should be available now from the Play Store too. Alternatively, you can download the APK through the link below and sideload to your Android TV device in the normal manner.
Android TV Leanback Launcher APK Download
