For me, Google TV is a perfect sensible TV platform as a result of it combines streaming providers, Google Watchlist, and Android app help right into a single interface. However that doesn’t imply it’s good. When you spend sufficient time with it, sure quirks and limitations begin to turn out to be apparent.
Not too long ago, I spent a while customizing and optimizing the Google TV expertise to make it cleaner, quicker, and fewer distracting. It concerned all the pieces from changing the default launcher to eradicating bloatware and tweaking hidden developer settings. Sure, it took a little bit of effort, and it was effectively price it.
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In case your TV has Bluetooth, you want to set up this free app
This app makes the TV expertise a lot smoother
Ditch the default launcher
No person likes seeing advertisements on the house display screen
The house display screen is one thing that you simply see each time you flip in your TV or bounce between apps, and truthfully, Google TV’s default expertise is something however helpful. You see big banners all over the place, rows of sponsored content material, and people annoying trailers that autoplay any time you by accident hover over them. Sure, Google TV does provide an apps-only mode, but it surely’s not with out its downsides.
A significantly better possibility is to easily change the default expertise with Projectivy Launcher. It offers your TV the clear, ad-free residence display screen it ought to’ve had from the beginning. It strips away all of the suggestions and banners, leaving you with vital sections like Inputs, Apps, and Settings. What I like probably the most is how customizable it’s. You’ll be able to transfer sections round, rearrange apps, resize icons, and mainly form the house display screen primarily based on the way you really use your TV.
Moreover customization, Projectivy Launcher helps you to sideload apps instantly. This implies you needn’t obtain APK recordsdata in your cellphone and switch them to your TV. Actually, Projectivy Launcher is likely one of the finest free upgrades your Google TV can have.
OS
Android TV, Google TV
Pricing mannequin
Free, Professional model out there
Do away with bloatware
No level in conserving apps you received’t open
Pankil Shah / MakeUseOfCredit: Pankil Shah / MakeUseOf
Bloatware isn’t simply an Android cellphone drawback – Google TV suffers from it too. To be truthful, it’s not solely Google’s doing. Most TV producers additionally love bundling their very own apps and providers, so by the point you end organising your TV, you have already got apps you’ll in all probability by no means open. That turns into a fair greater problem on sensible TVs, since they’ve little storage to start with.
What I discover annoying is which you can’t take away a few of these pre-installed apps the standard means. Nonetheless, it’s doable to do away with bloatware from Google TV with ADB. For this, you want to unlock the developer choices menu in your Google TV after which use an app like ADB TV. In fact, there’s a little bit of warning concerned right here. Some system apps are literally vital, so you want to steer clear of them.
OS
Android TV OS
Worth mannequin
Free, Professional model out there
Arrange a customized DNS
The very best networking trick everybody ignores
Pankil Shah / MakeUseOfCredit: Pankil Shah / MakeUseOf
By default, most of your gadgets, together with your Google TV, use the DNS servers supplied by your ISP. And whereas they get the job achieved, they’re typically not the quickest, most dependable, or probably the most privacy-friendly possibility. Google already affords a free DNS that’s a lot quicker and dependable. You’ll be able to head to Settings > Community & Web > IP Settings > Static to set it up.
The actual enjoyable, although, begins as soon as you progress past Google DNS. There are a number of different suppliers that may show you how to with different issues moreover velocity. As an example, with AdGuard or NextDNS, you may block advertisements all over the place in your sensible TV. Whereas this doesn’t block advertisements inside streaming apps like YouTube or Netflix, it does clear up advertisements and telemetry requests elsewhere all through the system.
Good DNS is one other good possibility as a result of it helps you to unlock content material that’s not out there in your nation. Setting it up does take barely longer since you want to create an account and pay a subscription charge, but it surely’s nonetheless extremely straightforward and higher than utilizing a VPN.
Flip off animations
Make your TV quicker
Credit score: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf
Google TV loves animations. Each menu slide, app transition, and scrolling impact is designed to make the interface really feel clean and fashionable. The issue is that on many TVs, particularly mid-range or outdated fashions, these animations don’t really feel clean in any respect. They simply make the complete system appear slower than it really is. Fortunately, Google TV does allow you to velocity up or flip off these animations solely.
To get began, you first have to open the Developer Choices menu. Then search for Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Period Scale. Set all of them to 0.5x and the complete interface will really feel twice as quick. You’ll be able to even flip them off for optimum efficiency. It’s a type of small tweaks that makes an enormous distinction in each day use.
Even in case you solely use your Google TV for streaming, it’s nonetheless price making these tweaks. They may take a couple of minutes, however will make your TV really feel lighter, quicker, and much more enjoyable.
