Google has confirmed it is bringing the latest version of Android to its under-loved and under-serviced television operating system.
In a developer’s blog post on Tuesday, the firm says Android API level 29, which includes the latest performance and security updates made with Android 10 to the Android TV platform.
The company says the Project Treble initiative will make it much easier for TV manufacturers to update their televisions to Android 10.
Users will also benefit from more secure encrypted storage, while TLS 1.3 will be enabled by default. This “brings better performance benefits and is up to date with the TLS standard. In addition, Android 10 includes hardening for several security-critical areas of the platform.”
Related: Can you watch Disney Plus on Android TV
Google says Android TV has gained “tremendous momentum” in recent years in terms of boosting its manufacturing partners, as well as consumer adoption of TVs running Android TV. As with the mobile version of the operating system, Android TV owners shouldn’t expect to see Android 10 just magically appear on their sets in the next few days.
Over the last few weeks we’ve brought word of Sony bringing 2018’s Android Pie to some of its flagship sets, while leaving some 2019 models in the dust because the weaker built-in processor cannot handle it.
Elsewhere, Google has announced it is launching a developer-centric ADT-3 set-top box which will help app makers develop more tools for the Android TV platform.
Google says: “With a quad-core A53, 2GB of DDR3 memory and 4Kp60 HDR HDMI 2.1 output, we’ve designed this pre-certified TV dongle with updates and security patches to help developers design for the next generation of Android TV devices. By providing a way to test on physical and up to date hardware, developers can better validate their Android TV app’s compatibility.”
This sounds pretty sweet and has a minimalist design… so why can’t we buy it?
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.