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Google TV Setup will show you this menu in the future. Here enables the Google TV option apps, the Google Assistant and recommendations.
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Basic TV mode will eliminate everything but the most important.
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This is what the Google TV interface normally looks like.
Google
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And here’s the basic mode. Apart from the banner at the bottom, it is much simpler.
The new Google TV is an excellent smart TV interface, but if it is integrated into some TV sets later this year, it may be best that you put it off. A report from 9to5Google details the upcoming ‘Basic TV’ mode that will be built into Google TV, which eliminates just about all smart TV features. At the moment, Google TV is only available in the new Chromecast, but Google TV will be built into upcoming TVs from Sony and TCL. Basic mode means we’ll get smart TVs with a ‘stupid TV’ mode.
The rise of smart TVs has led to the extinction of mute TVs – today basically every TV is a kind of computer and operating system. If you are actually going to live with a TV for years, the problem with smart TVs is that the dirty-cheap computers inside these TVs do not last as long as the screen does. If your smart TV is a few years old, you may still have an excellent screen, but you will be forced to use it via a slow, old, possibly abandoned integrated computer. Companies must sells stupid TVs without any of this shit permanently integrated into it, but if it refuses, it’s next to best to turn off the software to consumers.
When the new feature starts, you will be asked to choose between ‘Basic TV’ or ‘Google TV’ at the setting. 9to5Google says that in basic mode “almost everything is stripped, leaving users only with HDMI inputs and live TV, if they have plugged an antenna directly into the TV. Broadcast support is also dropped.” The UI notes that you will disable all programs, the Google Assistant, and personalized recommendations.
9to5 found this feature via the ADT-3 set-top box and the preview for Android 12 developers, so it’s not entirely clear how it will work if it works on a real TV. It seems like the basic mode will only show a minimal set of icons for things like input switching and settings. There is also a large banner advertising the Google TV mode, which you probably just have to learn to ignore. A Google spokesperson told the website that this feature is intended to hit TVs sold in the future with integrated Google TV.
If you’re wondering what the difference is between ‘Android TV’ and ‘Google TV’, Google TV is similar to the next version of Android TV. Google TV is just the Android TV code base with a new interface that offers things like a uniform search. The upgrade path for existing Android TV devices is Google TV, assuming your device manufacturer actually delivers updates. By 2022, Google says that TV manufacturers will not be able to send Android TV and would rather send Google TV. There are a few product lines that Google likes to rename just every few years, and Android TV / Google TV is one of them.
Google TV will be in Sony’s entire Bravia XR 2021 series later this year, selecting TCL TVs.