A new blog post from Google’s Android TV has unveiled a new UI framework called Compose TV for developing apps on Android TV and released new data on the popularity of the operating system.
In the blog post, the company noted that the Android TV OS is now in over 150 million monthly active devices and that the research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the Android TV streaming platform shipped on more devices worldwide than any other streaming TV platform in 2022.
The post also said that the May 10 Alpha release of Compose for TV, the latest UI framework for developing beautiful and functional apps for Android TV, is designed to unlock all the benefits of Jetpack Compose by allowing developers to create apps with less code, spend less time on maintenance and create a modern Material 3 look straight out of the box. Key features include:
- Less code: Compose TV allows users to do more with less code and avoid entire classes of bugs, so code is simple and easy to maintain.
- Intuitive: Describe the UI, and Compose takes care of the rest, the blog post noted. As the app state changes, the UI automatically updates.
- Accelerate development: Compose for TV is compatible with all existing code so you can adopt when and where you want and iterate fast with live previews and full Android Studio support.
- Powerful & flexible: Create beautiful apps with direct access to the Android platform APIs that can be easily reused between other form factors, including your existing mobile, tablet, foldable, wearable and TV interfaces.
In addition, the Android TV blog post announced the launch of our new TV Design Guidelines for Android TV.
This comprehensive guide gives users the tools they need to create TV apps that are visually appealing, intuitive, and immersive. The guidelines cover everything from typography and color to navigation and layout and make it easier to create high-quality, easy to use TV apps.
