Your Google TV’s home screen is getting a nice makeover

Summary

  • Google TV’s latest visual overhaul introduces circular icons, saving space and offering a new look to the home screen.
  • The redesign also adds more apps in the Your apps section, with customization options for reordering and adding apps included as well.
  • Google TV now includes a shortcut to free TV channels in the Your apps section for users to enjoy a variety of TV content at no cost.



We really love the Google TV platform for all that it brings to the table, with the platform receiving a performance upgrade back in December, bringing faster load times and other enhancements. Google is now announcing a visual overhaul for Google TV with a couple of visual changes and minor tweaks to existing functionality.


Related
How to use Google TV

How to use Google’s version of Plex

Google TV has been prepping this redesign of icons in the Your apps section for a while now. Back in November, Google revealed how developers would need to make changes to their icons for Google TV apps. Android expert and AP contributor Mishaal Rahman’s post on X explained this new requirement in great detail back then.

Google TV Redesign 2024 Feb

The circular app icons provide a new look to the Google TV home screen, which currently features chunky rectangular boxes/icons for each app in the Your apps row. This new design also saves plenty of space, with Google saying it has increased the number of apps in the Your apps section, while also adding reorder and add apps buttons for additional customization of the horizontal row. In its current form, scrolling to the end of the Your apps row offers a See all option, which opens a page showing all the apps installed on the Google TV product.


The Top picks for you section of the Google TV homescreen.

Here’s what the Your apps row looks like right now

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This classic Android app is tapping into the ghost of Google Now

Ever have one of those moments where you see some new tech twist — an app, a feature, an idea of some sort — and you just stop in your tracks and think: “Whoa. Now, that’s clever”?

I won’t lie: Those moments come up far less frequently for me than they once did. By and large lately, we just haven’t been seeing the same sort of awe-inspiring advancements in the mobile-tech arena that we did a decade ago. And most companies — Google very much included — are currently obsessed with chasing a very specific flavor of AI that’s overhyped, frequently impractical, and awkwardly out of place in its present implementation.

You know what, though? If anything, that only makes those genuine “whoa” moments even more meaningful, when they do arrive — because they truly are a special surprise.

My friend, I had one of those moments this week. It brought me back to an era of Android when things were moving in an incredible direction and the future felt rich with real-world, life-enhancing technological intelligence.

This time, the moment didn’t come from Google. But it did come from a developer who’s been a part of the broader Android ecosystem for ages now — and it feels like it’s picking up on a brilliant but ultimately abandoned idea Google gave us many moons ago.

[Get fresh Googley goodness with my free Android Intelligence newsletter. Three new things to try in your inbox every Friday!]

Google Now — and then

Before we dig into the present, we need to take a quick trip to the past. (It’ll be fast. I promise!)

If you’ve been loitering around these Android-tinted lands for long, you no doubt remember: Back in 2012, Google gave us something that really felt like the future.

It was

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Every Google app updated for Android tablets, foldables [Gallery]

At I/O 2022, Google announced that it will update over 20 of its first-party apps for large screens in a show of its commitment to the form factor. This will undoubtedly improve the experience for existing owners and is meant to encourage other developers to do the same. Here’s every Google app on Android that has a tablet update and what’s still to come.

—Gboard IV

Update 2/17/24: Gboard is rolling out a toolbar when you connect (wired or wireless) a physical keyboard. This pill appears at the bottom of the screen by default, but can be moved anywhere. It serves as a suggestion strip and is flanked by a button that shrinks the toolbar down to a vertical pill on the left/right edge. An overflow menu provides access to clipboard, translate, and the full keyboard, while providing quick access to supported shortcuts. 

Google, on the Pixel Tablet, is rolling out an Assistant voice typing toolbar so that the full keyboard doesn’t have to remain visible during transcription. The overflow menu is unchanged and you can move it around like the physical keyboard version. 

—Google Docs, Sheets, Slides IV

Google Docs/Sheets/Slides on Android tablets now offer a Format sidebar as an alternative to the toolbar. Tapping the button at the end of the strip opens a panel that appears to the right of the page(s). Besides better spacing, you get access to more controls in this persistent UI. 


~


—Gboard III

Update 12/22/23: Gboard’s new stylus handwriting support lets you “Write in text fields” with a stylus. Gestures let you delete, select, insert, join, and add a new line. As you write, a floating “keyboard toolbar” provides shortcuts, like the ability to launch an Emoji window and quickly switch languages. You can move this pill-shaped floating panel anywhere.

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How to use Samsung Studio on your Galaxy phone

Using the Samsung Studio on your Galaxy phone is a good integrated option to put your memories in one video. You spare yourself having to install yet another app on your phone and take care of that valuable storage space. The good news about this app is if your Galaxy has One UI 6, you have this app in your gallery.

The Galaxy Studio app makes it easy to create videos and add things such as text, stickers, and transitions to your videos. It may not have all the features you would like it to have, but it gets the job done and lets you bundle up your memories.

How to access the Samsung Studio app

To start using the Samsung Studio app:

1. Open the Gallery app.

2. Tap the three-lined menu at the bottom.

3. Select Go to Studio.

(Image credit: Future)

How to use the Samsung Studio app

The app is easy to find once you know where to look. Here is how you can start your first Samsung Studio app project. 

Note: Before you start your project, ensure that the default cropping frame is the one you want. Tap the three buttons at the top right to choose the right one. Go to Settings > Default cropping > Choose Fit to frame or Crop to fill.

1. When opening the app, tap the Start new project button at the bottom. You can use the app in portrait or landscape mode.

2. Choose the files you want to add to your project.

3. Once you add the files, they will appear on the timeline on the next page.

4. Once you have your project loaded, you can change the aspect ration of the video by tapping on the dots at the top right.

5.

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Google promised to fix Gemini, and some improvements are already here

What you need to know

  • Days after Google launched Gemini and new mobile apps, the company’s product lead for Gemini, Jack Krawczyk, promised fixes would come shortly.
  • Less than a week later, Krawczyk followed up with a few Gemini improvements that have already rolled out.
  • The fixes include better voice inputs on Android, reducing sign-in errors, and cutting down on refusals. 

Google recently overhauled its AI efforts, rebranding Bard to Gemini and releasing new features, like support for Gemini on mobile. But it wasn’t perfect, at least not at launch. It was a slow rollout, so not all users were able to access every new Gemini feature. Those who were able to access Gemini’s newest functionality ran into a few issues. 

However, Google was quick to respond to the concerns. Jack Krawczyk, the Gemini product lead at Google, assured users that fixes were on the way. While some issues still persist, Krawczyk took to X (formerly Twitter) with an update Friday. That came a day after Google surprisingly gave its AI models a boost with the release of 1.5 Pro.

When Krawczyk first noted that Google was swiftly working on fixing some of Gemini’s most crucial bugs, refusals were at the top of his list. Now, Krawczyk says that Google has cut down on refusals by roughly half in a little over a week since Gemini launched.

Additionally, Google has updated the Gemini app to automatically enter voice requests after the user has finished speaking. This move is intended to make using Gemini feel similar to using the classic Google Assistant. Previously, users had to manually enter their requests after speaking, which limited Gemini’s usefulness as a hands-free assistant. 

Gemini‘s mobile app was initially limited to the U.S., although it has since launched in more countries. The AI assistant was

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This concept phone ditches all apps and uses AI to read your mind, kind of

What you need to know

  • Deutsche Telekom, the majority shareholder of T-Mobile, is teasing a phone at MWC 2024 that eliminates apps in favor of an all-AI interface.
  • Teaming up with Qualcomm and Brain.ai, Telekom developed the T Phone, featuring an app-free interface powered by cloud-based AI.
  • Telekom also plans to showcase a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phone with built-in AI processing, aiming to boost AI capabilities in mobile devices, particularly for image and video tasks.

T-Mobile’s majority shareholder, Deutsche Telekom, is teasing a phone at MWC 2024 that gets rid of apps in favor of an all-AI interface to get things done.

Teaming up with Qualcomm and Brain.ai, Telekom built a phone with an app-free UI and powered by cloud-based AI. The phone, dubbed T Phone, will be shown off during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 26.

Additionally, Telekom plans to flex a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phone with built-in AI processing. Qualcomm unveiled this beast late last year, and it’s the powerhouse behind many top Android phones today. The goal is to amp up AI skills on mobile devices, especially in the image and video departments.

“Artificial intelligence and Large Language Models (LLM) will soon be an integral part of mobile devices,” said Jon Abrahamson, chief product and digital officer at Deutsche Telekom. “We will use them to improve and simplify the lives of our customers. Our vision is a magenta concierge for an app-free smartphone. A real everyday companion that fulfills needs and simplifies digital life.”

Abrahamson’s got a point—it’s a battle of the best products out there. In 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT stepped up for essay writing and beating writer’s block, even launching a mobile app worldwide. Then in 2023, Google threw Bard (now called Gemini) into the ring, a chatbot hooked up to the

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