Google is preparing to roll out ‘App Hibernation’ and ‘Android App Bubble,’ an update to enhance storage and performance for Google TVs.
It was announced this week for all Google TV devices such as Chromecast, Google TV sticks, and TVs from TCL, Sony, Philips, Hisense and more.
November 2022, Google outlined their transition from APK (Android Application Package) to AAB (Android App Bundle), a way to reduce the install size of the app on any device. The deadline for developers’ was May 2023.
Android app bundles are live on Google Play Store on Google TV. Google says it is “reducing the size of the apps by roughly 25%.”
Google TV had previously gained a ‘Free up storage’ option in Settings.
Google TV is also in talks to receive ‘ App Hibernation,’ a new feature that automatically makes apps inactive from the home screen if they aren’t used in over 30 days. This will free up space, however, requires Android 12 on a Google TV device.
Google advised these new storage features are already applied through a server-side update for eligible Google TV devices.
They are also releasing performance improvements for Google TV devices, as these are known to operate on slow hardware.
“We reduced the time it takes to wake up your Google TV, the response time between your TV and button clicks on your remote, and the amount of time you see the loading animation when rebooting your device. These improvements are already rolling out to your devices and will help you get to your content faster.”
It has not been made clear if these performance improvements will require system updates or if it will be an automatic server-side update for Google apps that run on Google TV.
Google have advised these improvements will be rolling out globally.
They have teased additional updates later in the year, which could include the smart home controls and fitness features that were mentioned in 2022.
Additional manufacturers are starting to transition away from Android TV to Google TV interface for TVs and streaming devices.
