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Google TV is a launcher for Android TV, so far as I can tell. Android TV is not being rebranded, as it is the OS - but Google TV is the "Google Experience" on
by Navarr 6y ago
Google TV is a launcher for Android TV, so far as I can tell. Android TV is not being rebranded, as it is the OS - but Google TV is the "Google Experience" on Android TV.
To make this more complicated/interesting - Google renamed the Play Movies and TV app to "Google TV." I'm guessing so you can have Google TV on Google TV?
Will the Play Movies app on my existing Android TV open the Google TV launcher like shown off here, or is it still just a browser for the content I already have?
Is the change to Android TV just that this app becomes the launcher?
- crazygringo 6y agoI swear I've read this comment like five times, because you seem to actually know what's going on... but it's left me only more confused. What is a launcher? If Android TV is an OS, then what is a launcher for an OS? And I guess you're as confused as I am as to also what this has to do with the previous Play Movies and TV app.
- oefnak 6y agoA launcher for Android is somewhat similar to a desktop environment on Linux.
- stonewareslord 6y agoI don’t know if Google TV is just a launcher, but I can answer the question "what is a launcher?" On Android systems, a launcher is the home screen plus a little more. iPhone doesn’t have this concept as there's only one "launcher": the home screen. On android, however, you can install apps to radically change your home screen layout. Some are terminals, some are just A-Z lists of your apps, etc. A launcher on Android TV would be more significant because it would probably include movies, shows, and music instead of just apps.
- ponker 6y agoThanks for the reminder about why I don’t use Android. I definitely don’t want to be screwing with my phone more than I already do.
- allarm 6y agoYou don’t have to, it’s completely optional.
- ponker 6y agoFor my phone I just prefer fewer things to mess with in general, and a smaller API surface, since I don’t want to be tweaking and untweaking shit on a device which is already so unergonomic. On my desktop I prefer Windows and Linux to mess with stuff.
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoI don’t want the ability to modify things and make them better because they already aren’t great...
- throwawayinfo 6y agoThen you don't need to do anything. Just use the default.
- what_ever 6y agoOnce again, you don't have to. The phone out of the box comes with default launcher which is completely functional.
- denkmoon 6y agoThe existing Android TV launcher will show movies, shows and other content. Apps can put recommendations on the home screen for the content they offer. Having been a prolific Android TV user for years, this appears to be just yet another reskin. No new functionality.
- Navarr 6y agoFor Android, a launcher is a special type of application that is in charge of launching other applications. If you search for "popular launchers" you should be able to find some examples
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- mike_d 6y agoTime travel with me back to 1993 for a moment... DOS is your Operating System. You can use Windows 3.11, GeoWorks, or DeskMate as your Application Launcher.
- outworlder 6y agoYou don't even have to travel that far. Even on Windows10 you can install different shells(Cairo, bb4win, classic shell, etc).
- Shared404 6y agoJust so you know, classic shell is deprecated. Open shell [0] is the up to date one. [0] https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/ https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/
- eatingCake 6y agoWhat about Microsoft Bob, can I use that?
- mike_d 6y agoSure, on the way there we can stop in '95 to pick up a copy of Bob... but you are on your own for getting it working.
- gogopuppygogo 6y agoIf you are Bill Gates you find your wife in the process of creating Bob.
- kbenson 6y agoI just looked and I was very disappointed to find Bill doesn't have a son named Robert. :/
- ser0 6y agoThe same could be said about Apple TV (the device, software) and Apple TV+ (the streaming service).
- ethbr0 6y agoApple decided Intel's process naming scheme was a good idea.
- jrockway 6y agoI came here to make some joke about how Intel renaming the 7980XE to the 9980XE would be like re-releasing the iPhone 5 as an iPhone 7... but then I realized they kind of did that. Even tacked on some sort of "Edition" tag at the end.
- solarkraft 6y agoNo wonder you're confused, the website is a bit unclear until the end. It's just like a Chromecast (HDMI dongle), but running Android TV. The closest comparable thing may be Nvidia's Shield.
- bosswipe 6y agoA launcher on Android is an app that starts other apps. The launcher app is displayed when you click on the Home button.
- dragonwriter 6y ago> What is a launcher? “Launcher” is the Android term for a graphical shell, the thing from which you launch apps.
- jdmichal 6y agoThere must be something deeper changing, because at the bottom of the page they say, emphasis mine, "Coming soon to FUTURE smart TVs."
- markstos 6y agoThank you. Can I put on the phone with my parents so you can you explain this to them? Also, make sure to mention "Chromecast" as well.
- tootie 6y agoCan I run Google TV on any capable android device? Like an old phone plugged into a USB dock with an HDMI out?
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Can I run Google TV on any capable android device? The promo talks about Google TV on mobile Android, but I gather that’s a reskin of the Play Movies and TV app, not the Chromecast/SmartTV launcher experience.
- partiallypro 6y agoGoogle is somehow worse than Microsoft at naming
- toyg 6y agoGoogle has become worse than Microsoft. GMail, GMaps, and GDocs, were simple and to the point. Then institutional rot happened.
- baskire 6y agoI’d argue they didn’t face an existential threat. Causing the employees to stop focusing on the business. Same thing that brought down intel. Like intel (of the past). You can coast and the money will keep coming in. Up until it doesn’t.
- fomine3 6y agoAlmost no one remembers and it's safe to forget previous Google TV. Meanwhile Xbox Series X/S is confusing and Xbox / Xbox 360 / Xbox One shouldn't be forgotten. So MS is worse for now.
- ethbr0 6y agoI'm assuming parent was alluding to the "Live!" Windows days, where internet-enabled products suddenly became "{Product} Live!" Eventually, everything of consequence ended up with the suffix, and they finally dropped it. But say what you want about Microsoft. Somewhere out there there's a publicly accessible doc describing the naming. And probably a video too. * * https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/partners/videos/microsoft-365-smb-and-proplus-renaming https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/partners/videos/micr...
- mavhc 6y agoI raise you .net Live! https://github.com/Azure-Samples/media-services-dotnet-live-monitoring-dashboard https://github.com/Azure-Samples/media-services-dotnet-live-...
- AnssiH 6y ago> To make this more complicated/interesting - Google renamed the Play Movies and TV app to "Google TV." I'm guessing so you can have Google TV on Google TV? The e-mail I got from Google specifically mentioned that Google Play Movies and TV on Android mobile devices was being renamed (and in US only), so maybe it is still Google Play Movies on Android TV? It would still be weird, though, so who knows...
- flixic 6y agoNot much better than watching Apple TV+ in Apple TV app on an Apple TV.
- Tijdreiziger 6y agoAh, I see Google is copying the Apple TV naming strategy.
- kiallmacinnes 6y agoBut, is that it actually it? The linked page shows a "Get it now" (for your phone) link which points to the Google Play Movies & TV app for me.. (And, the sites screenshots vs the play store screenshots differ - suggesting it hasn't rolled out to the region I'm in yet...)