Stadia is available on Android TV but not really in an official capacity, which makes the setup a little bit of a cumbersome process when compared to setting it up on phones.
At least it did. But no longer it seems. 9To5Google reports that the setup process for Stadia on Android TV is way more optimized than it used to be. Which should be a big sigh of relief for anyone who has held off going through the setup due to the somewhat inconvenient steps.
This also suggests that Google is probably getting closer to bringing Stadia to Android TV in a proper fashion.
Stadia setup on Android TV can now be done in landscape mode
The big change here, and really one of the only changes, to the Stadia app is the landscape mode capability.
Now when you launch the app on Android TV for the first time, it lets you go through the setup in landscape mode. Prior to this you had to go through the setup in portrait mode. Which on a TV is not exactly an ideal user interface to interact with.
There were reasons for this of course. Stadia is not officially available on Android TV in its version of the Play Store. To get it onto your device you have to sideload it. And since this was technically the phone version of the app, portrait mode was forced because setting up the account had to be done on the phone when the service first launched.
Google has finally gotten around to changing that. Though this more optimized setup process isn’t likely to change much, it’s should be less inconvenient to deal with now.
Landscape mode doesn’t appear for setup on phones
Google added landscape mode to the Stadia app earlier this year. But that’s just for the user interface after your account has already been created.
The report mentions that landscape mode for the setup isn’t available on smartphones. Which means Google intended this solely for use on platforms like Android TV, where landscape mode makes more sense.
As noted above this suggests that Google is close to getting a proper version of Stadia out to Android TV devices. When that happens you’ll no longer have to sideload it.
And should you be one of the Stadia users that has yet to do so, soon enough you might just be able to power the TV on and find the Stadia app in the Play Store. No doubt Google will advertise it too so it’s easier to find.