How to build for Android TV

Introduction

 

In 2014 Philips was the first  to introduce TVs powered by Android in its high end TV ranges. These TVs are capable to run Android APKs next to HTML5 apps. These APK's can be found in the Google Play Store which is available on the home menu of the TVs powered by Android.

 

There are certain things to take into account when creating an App for a Philips TV powered by Android. For example, a TV is not a mobile device and has no touchscreen. On the other hand a TV has a prominent place in the household. Moreover nowadays TVs have a screen which allows for an increased real estate for your App, which makes them the ultimate content interaction and consumption screen in the house.

Make your Android App available for Philips Smart TVs

 

Many App providers will already have an App available in the Google Play Store. To make your App also available for Philips Smart TVs you need to ensure that:

 

  1. The App or game is compliant with the Google Play Store acceptance criteria available at:

    - http://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement.html
    - https://developers.google.com/tv/android/docs/gtv_android
     
  2. android.hardware.touchscreen is declared with android:required= “false” inside the manifest file.
     
  3. In the Play Developer console include “Philips Android Television”.

               

Develop your Android App for Philips Smart TVs

 

You can also choose to register your application at Philips Smart TV. This can be done by manually applying your Business Development contact within our company. When registering your app you will be able to contact our business support team as well as our development support.  Our Business Development team will provide you with the documents.

 

 1. Design requirements

 

The following design requirements are applicable when creating an Android App suitable for Philips TVs:

               

  • Graphical output of the TV is at 720P for Full HD TVs and at 1080P for Ultra HD TVs.

 

  • The UI of the App should be suited to operate from a "10 feet”  (47inch screen as benchmark)

 

  • Performance:

 

- no regular frame drops under 25 frames
- no obvious  graphical glitches
- no crash of the application

 

  •  Input: as minimum one of the following statements should be true:

 

-  The app is fully controllable by the D-pad and/or OK, Back button

-  The app is fully controllable with a  x/y pointer and mouse click or click&hold. For avoidance of doubt: no multitouch scenario.

-  The app is fully controllable with either a dual shock or X-input based Gamepad controller.

 

Next to above input methods Gamepad mode should be enabled by default, preferably indicating to the user the Game/App can be controlled via Gamepad.

 

  • The total installed file size of the application should not exceed 50MB when the App is offered via the Smart TV portal. Apps delivered via Google Play follow the standard Android rules: APK is maximum 50MB, but can be expanded via use the APK Expansion files (http://developer.android.com/google/play/expansion-files.html)

 

               

2. Technical requirements

 

The Philips TVs powered by Android Philips contain the following capabilities

 

Sofware features:

 

android.software.app_widgets

android.software.input_methods

               

 Hardware features:


android.hardware.audio.low_latency

android.hardware.camera

android.hardware.camera.autofocus

android.hardware.camera.any

android.hardware.location

android.hardware.location.network

android.hardware.microphone

android.hardware.screen.landscape

android.hardware.type.television

android.hardware.faketouch

android.hardware.usb.host

android.hardware.wifi

               

More details on Android App development for TV can be found here:

http://developer.android.com/training/tv/index.html

 

Note that the Philips TV powered by Android does support android.hardware.camera and android.hardware.microphone allthough the Android developers website states otherwise.

 

Test your App

 

Our security policy makes it impossible to install APKs from unknown sources. Hence making it impossible to load an APK from a file browser App.

 

To test your application you can follow these steps.

 

1. Start with Google Play Application overview

 

source: https://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html

 

2. Alpha and Beta Testing

 

Google Play makes it possible to distribute pre-release versions of your app to alpha and beta test groups.

 

source: https://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html 

 

3. Distribution

 

Google Play lets you control distribution according to device features or capabilities that your app depends on. There are several types of dependencies that the app can define in its manifest. Define your Philips Smart TV.

 

source: https://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html

Smart TV Brands: