The Android TV 13 (Beta 2 ) was released on June 6, 2022, with system images for ADT-3 devices. However, what is introducing Android 13 for TV? What improvements can the user expect? Android 13 adds further customizations to improve the user experience and increase compatibility with TV devices. Some of the highlights of this release include performance and quality improvements, and continued advancements to how users interact with Android TV.
Android TV 13 Improvements
In Google I/O 2022 developer sessions, Paul Lammertsma, an Android developer relations engineer at Google, introduced that the launch of Android TV 13 will lead to improvements in performance and quality, accessibility, and multitasking. According to the developer and 9To5Google, Android TV 13 will offer several new APIs including AudioManager API, MediaSession API, Keyboard Layouts API, and AccessibilityManager API, as well as Keep-clear APIs to help apps work better with TV devices and improve the user experience.
The details are as follows:
- AudioManager API allows apps to better anticipate where audio is heading and what playback modes are available.
- MediaSession API saves the device’s power by automatically reacting to HDMI state changes to pause content playback.
- AccessibilityManager API brings a new system-wide selection that enables audio descriptions across all apps.
- Keyboard Layouts API adds support for different keyboard layouts that may significantly enhance the game experience.
- Keep clear APIs to prevent the most important content on the screen from being covered by the PiP window, ensuring a better viewing experience.
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In addition, there is an expanded PiP mode updated in Android 13 to allow users to open multiple applications on the screen while seamlessly changing the size of a PiP window to fit more participants.
At the moment, we are waiting for the introduction of the Android 12 TV, which is to appear soon. In contrast, Android TV 13 has not been launched yet and may be officially released later this year. It is more likely that Android 13 for TV will appear on smart TV devices at least in mid-2023.
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