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The Google TV setup will show this menu in the future. Here, the Google TV option activates apps, the Google Assistant and recommendations.
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Basic TV mode will turn off everything except the essentials.
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This is the normal appearance of the Google TV interface.
Google
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And here’s the basic mode. In addition to the banner at the bottom, it is much simpler.
The new Google TV is a great interface for smart TV, but when it’s integrated with some TV sets later this year, its best feature may be that you can Turn that off. A 9to5Google report details the next “Basic TV” mode that will be integrated with Google TV, which turns off almost all features of smart TV. Google TV is currently only available on the new Chromecast, but Google TV will be integrated into the next TVs from Sony and TCL. The basic mode means that we will get smart TVs with a “dumb TV” mode.
The emergence of smart TVs has led to the extinction of dumb TVs – today, basically, every TV has some kind of computer and built-in operating system. If you really expect to live with a TV for several years, the problem with smart TVs is that the cheap computers inside those TVs don’t last as long as the screen. When your smart TV is a few years old, you may still have a perfectly good screen panel, but you will be forced to interact with it through a slow, old and possibly abandoned integrated computer. Companies he must selling stupid TVs without any of that crap permanently integrated into them, but if they refuse, letting consumers turn off the software is the next best thing.
When the new feature is released, you will be asked to choose between “Basic TV” or “Google TV” in the configuration. 9to5Google says that with the basic mode, “almost everything is removed, leaving users with only HDMI and live TV inputs if they have an antenna connected directly to the TV. Broadcast support is also discarded.” The UI informs you that you will disable all applications, Google Assistant and personalized recommendations.
9to5 found this feature through the ADT-3 development signal decoder and the Android 12 developer view, so it’s not entirely clear how it will work when running on a real TV. It looks like the basic mode will show only a minimal set of icons for things like changing input and settings. There is also a large banner advertising Google TV mode, which you will probably have to learn to ignore. A Google spokesman told the site that this feature is intended to target TVs sold with Google TV integrated in the future.
If you’re wondering what’s the difference between “Android TV” and “Google TV”, Google TV is like the next version of Android TV. Google TV is just the code base for Android TV with a new interface, which offers things like unified search. The upgrade path for existing Android TV devices is Google TV, assuming the device manufacturer is actually sending updates. In 2022, Google says that TV makers will not be allowed to launch Android TV and will instead send Google TV. There are a few product lines that Google loves to change brands every few years, and Android TV / Google TV is one of them.
Google TV will be on Sony’s entire Bravia XR 2021 line and on selected TCL TVs later this year.