We have seen some of the new features for Android TV announced in the #11WeeksOfAndroid Google hosted earlier this year but now they are available to the public — well those made by manufacturers who continue to update their products to the latest Android TV firmware.
Android 11 for Android TV will of course bring performance improvements such as enhanced memory management, new privacy features and more but it will also bring some cool new functionality to Android TV.
Auto Low Latency Mode is something we saw during the #11WeeksOfAndroid and that arrives too, with the HDMI 2.1 spec. This feature can turn of the graphics processing of your Android TV device thereby reducing the latency of it.
Greater game controller support is here too with added support for the Nintendo Switch Pro controller — over Bluetooth and USB — and support for the Steam Controller over USB. These new additions have already been applied to smartphones but is the first time it has made it to TVs.
Other less cool features include a silent boot mode for system updates, inactivity prompts and OEM configurable wake keys. Integrations for far-field microphone enabled devices is now also improved.
For those who purchased an ADT-3 developers Android TV device earlier this year you will see a roll out of Android 11 from today. Android TV OEMs will apparently be launching and upgrading devices to Android 11 over the coming months.
Personally I wouldn’t be holding your breath for an update any time soon unless your manufacturer is Nvidia, most other manufacturers are years behind with any form of system update or security patch. Of course there is also the rumoured Sabrina Android TV device coming sometime soon that will most likely launch with Android 11. Hopefully it comes here to Australia.
