Android / Google TV 13, the first Beta arrives

On Friday, Google released the first Beta build of Android TV and Google TV 13: Mishaal Rahman of Esper managed to install it on the official ADT-3 dev kit, which at the moment is the only compatible device on the market (or you have to use, as always, the software emulator integrated in Android Studio).

Unfortunately at the moment there is not a lot to tell: it seems that the news are few, not to mention non-existent, and even as a graphical interface practically nothing has changed. In fact, Rahman observes that three of the most anticipated innovations so far, identified by rummaging through the Beta and Dev Preview code of “regular” Android 13, are not yet supported. To refresh our memory, however, we mention them, because they could come later:

• Expanded PiP. At present the PiP window can have a ratio ranging from 1: 2.39 to 2.39: 1 (which corresponds to 21: 9 cinematic), with this new release the limits can be exceeded.
• Low Power Standby. It imposes even stricter restrictions on apps, disables all network connectivity and prevents wakelocks. There are breaks from these restrictions at regular intervals to allow apps to update.
• Fast Pair. It is the same functionality that we learned about on the Pixel first, then on products of other brands, and which should also land on Google TV, Android TV and even Chromebook.

Google hasn’t said much about the schedule and what to expect for the moment. We don’t even have a detailed timeline of the next steps like we did for regular Android 13. She limited herself to saying that “new changes in Android to improve the TV experience and compatibility will be introduced with subsequent releases”.

It is worth mentioning that, at present, Google TV and Android TV are essentially the same, at least at the foundation level. Google TV was released on the latest generation Chromecast and on a very limited number of televisions from other manufacturers, mainly Sony and TCL, while Android TV is roughly found on all other products in the same segment equipped with the Play Store. We can say that the main difference between one OS and another lies in the launcher and some exclusive software features.