Google just announced Android 11 for Android TV, and it’ll be rolling out in the coming months. But there are some new features in Android 11 for Android TV. So here’s everything that is new, as of right now.
Spoiler alert: it’s not a long list.
New features for Android 11 on Android TV
With Android 11 for Android TV, there are a few changes to the core Android experience on TV. Android 11 is bringing some performance improvements to the TV. This includes enhanced memory management and privacy features. Including a core feature of Android 11, which is one-time permissions.
Android 11 is bringing Auto Low Latency Mode to the TV, and low latency media decoding. This comes with a new tuner framework and updated Media CAS support. Google is also bringing extensions to the HAL implementation of HDMI CEC.
Google has also extended Gamepad support, silent boot mode for system updates and inactivity prompts. Which gives Android 11 greater control over TV functions. There is also new framework functionality available for managing system LEDs, and physical microphone mute buttons.
Finally, Google made it easier to test on the TV. With the new test harness mode on Android TV and play Store support in the Android TV emulator, developers can now easily test their apps before deploying them.
When will I get Android 11?
According to Google, Android TV OEM partners are going to be launching and upgrading their devices to Android 11 over the coming months.
This means that it is unlikely that your TV will get Android 11 before the end of the year. Typically, Android TV makers have been very slow to update their TVs to the latest version of Android TV. In fact, one of my Hisense TVs just got updated to Android 10 last month. So don’t expect to see it anytime soon. However, if you do have an NVIDIA SHIELD TV, you will likely see the update a lot sooner. NVIDIA is usually somewhat fast with updating its devices. So you might even see it before the end of 2020.
Those developers with the ADT-3 development Android TV device, you will get the update today. Which will allow Developers to start working on Android 11 for Android TV and preparing their apps. Since there was no beta for it. Unfortunately, if you’re not a developer, you can’t buy the ADT-3, so the rest of us are out of luck for now, when it comes to checking out Android 11 for Android TV. Though the majority of the changes are behind the scenes anyways.