Android TV is coming along nicely with a steady stream of new apps now emerging, which is great for the platform. Especially when the new apps are TV-related or video based content as this is one of the primary or core functions of the service. The latest app to now become available for Android TV this week is Crunchyroll. To some, this will already be a very familiar app and service, while to others, this might not be an app they are aware of yet.
To briefly sum up Crunchyroll, this is an app which helps those interested in anime and manga to get access to content far more easily. Crunchyroll contains a seriously nice amount of content and does also offer very new content which is said to be available about an hour after first broadcast. The app has been available for some time on Android, although yesterday the Crunchyroll team confirmed that the app has been updated with support for Android TV. After testing for a short while the app does seem to be a stable offering. There are no major issues with playback or quality and overall the app works quite nicely. As you would expect, controller support is in play and the whole interface is easy enough to use. You can quickly jump to select categories like ‘Anime’ or ‘Drama”and can select by region including Korea, Japan, China and Singapore and also by season – Winter, Summer, Fall and Spring.
The app is free to download, install and use, although, the free aspect is somewhat limited. Certain features or locked out unless you subscribe or set up an account. So while you can choose from a selection of free content by just downloading the app, if you want to enjoy the full access you are looking at a $6.95 per month in-app subscription. Some of the features which are locked out by default until you sign-in are your history and queue selection. So you cannot view recently watched episodes or curate a list of ones you intend to watch, without at the very least signing up to the service.
On the positive side though, the selection of free to watch content is fairly decent. All episodes tell you whether you have to subscribe or not to watch and when tested, the quality and stability of the feeds was good. There are ads throughout the video playback (for the free version) and at the moment the variety of ad companies taking part seems to be extremely limited, so you are going to have to sit through the same ad on repeat a couple of times and throughout different episodes. Otherwise, the service is certainly a nice addition to Android TV and definitely for those who like the content on offer. To download the app, head to the Play Store on your Android TV device or head through the link below from your browser and select your Android TV device from the drop down list of compatible devices.
