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Google TV is getting a homescreen widget on Android. The latest version of the Google TV Android app supports a widget but it isn’t completely ready yet. The company seems to have prematurely released the feature. A refined final version may arrive soon. Google TV recently picked up Material You redesign.
According to 9to5Google, which first spotted the Google TV homescreen widget, the preview says the widget will default to a 4×5 size. You can’t make it any smaller, though it can be expanded to cover the whole screen. However, the thing itself doesn’t work at the moment. It doesn’t even load on any device except the Pixel 7 Pro running the Android 13 QPR2 Beta.
Even on the Pixel 7 Pro, all you get is a tiny bar with “Google TV” text and search and remote shortcuts. The search button opens the keyboard, while the remote shortcut will probably launch the Google TV remote. Tapping at the center (over the Google TV text) simply takes you to the app’s Home tab. Quite clearly, the widget isn’t ready for prime time and needs refinement.
Once ready, Google TV will likely show content recommendations directly on your Android phone’s homescreen. The widget’s default size of 4×5 certainly hints at that. Many other streaming apps do that, including Netflix and Hulu. It appears Google is finally catching up to those in this regard. In fact, it still needs some more time.
Google readying an Android homescreen widget for Google TV
Google offers more than 30 homescreen widgets across its Android app ecosystem. Calendar, Chrome, Drive, Gmail, Google Translate, Maps, Photos, Search, to-do-list, Weather, and many other Google apps support at least one widget. The company regularly updates the widgets with functional and aesthetic improvements. In recent months, we have seen Google work on new updates for Contacts and the Google app widgets. It is now readying a brand-new widget for Google TV as well.
Widget support on the Google TV Android app was spotted in version 4.38.7.4 of the app, which was released last month. Google will likely roll out an update for the app in the coming weeks with a more stable and functional widget. Perhaps all three widgets may arrive at the same time (Contacts and Google too). If you use Google TV on your Android smartphone, you can click the button below to download the latest update for the app from the Google Play Store. Don’t forget to check for the widget.