Google admits that its Google TV software is too slow and that low storage is an issue. The company has started rolling out an update across Google TV devices to address the issues.
The update is coming to all Google TV devices. It is rolling out now to certain devices and will come soon to Chromecast with Google TV. Sony, TCL, Hisense and Realme are among the first companies to have launched Google TV devices.
- "We’ve heard your feedback and wanted to share updates on some improvements we’ve made over the last few months, and some that will be coming soon," said Google "Through CPU optimizations and improvements to cache management, we’ve reduced the time it takes for the Google TV home screen to load at startup so you can start browsing shows and movies faster. These improvements have started to roll out and will be available on all devices over time."
Also read: Review: Chromecast with Google TV
Other specific improvements include more responsive scrolling in tabs and faster switching between tabs. The Live tab, Kids profiles, and apps on kids profiles should load quicker, too. Google explained that Google TV now uses less RAM for improved performance in daily use.
The update is coming to Sony Google TVs too. Photo: Sony
The storage issue
Google also admits that Google TV has a storage issue. Earlier this month, it was reported that starting with Android 13 the company wants its partners to ship Android TV and Google TV devices with at least 16GB of storage – up from 8GB in many devices today.
Google is introducing a new option to let users quickly free up storage.
- "A 'Free up storage' menu in the Settings now allows you to easily clear your cache and uninstall apps that you’re not using, maximizing your device’s storage space. This feature has already rolled out to Chromecast with Google TV and is in an upcoming system update for smart TVs with Google TV. Just go to Settings > System > Storage > Free up storage, and you’re there."
This is in addition to a new automated background process that tries to free up space and some under-the-hood improvements to app installations.
It appears that some of the improvement require a system update while others are a server-side change. You should be getting them soon on your Google TV device.
Google TV update – highlighted improvements
| Performance
- Improvements to Google TV UI loading time at startup (rolled out to 3P devices, coming soon to Chromecast with Google TV)
- Improvements to Live tab loading speed
- Memory usage reduction for overall better performance improvements
- Improvements to Google TV UI latency when switching between tabs and scrolling through a tab
- Improvements to kids profile loading speed
Storage
- “Free up space” option in Settings
- App hibernation (devices running S+ only) in-use
- Under-the-hood improvements to how Google TV handles app installations, decreasing storage-related errors when trying to install new apps
- Background process that automatically frees up storage |
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