Important: Some links in this article may not be available on all devices. In this case, please use g.co/tv/consumerinfo.
Learn about Google TV or Android TV tabs- You may see any combination of these tabs, depending on your country and/or selected language:
- Apps: You can open and manage apps on your Google TV device and download apps from Google Play.
- For You: You can find a landing page with content and apps you’re interested in.
- Library: You can find content that you’ve:
- Purchased
- Rented
- Added to your watchlist
- Live: Subject to availability, you can find audiovisual content that Google TV (US only) or Google’s Live tab partners make available live. In some countries, the Live tab displays once Google’s Live tab partners are added in Manage Services (more about the Live tab below). In the US, the Live tab is shown by default.
- Movies: You can find on-demand movies.
- Shows: You can find on-demand TV shows.
- Alternatively, you may see these tabs:
- Apps: On your Google TV device, you can:
- Open apps
- Manage apps
- Download apps from Google Play
- Home: You can find:
- Suggested content
- Apps you’ve downloaded
- Movies and TV shows that you haven’t finished yet
- Library: You can find content that you’ve:
- Purchased
- Rented
- Added to your watchlist
- Apps: On your Google TV device, you can:
- For certain devices in certain regions, you may find the device manufacturer’s tab which presents information, news, support, and other content selected by the device manufacturer.
- If you want to use your Google TV device without a Google Account and/or without an internet connection, you can choose basic TV when you first set up your Google TV device (only available on some devices). In this Basic Mode, some features described on this page are not available. In Basic Mode you can, for example, watch TV through your cable service, satellite, TV tuner, or antenna with the TV app or play media from other inputs plugged into the TV. However, you can't use any services or features that require you to sign in to your Google Account, access your Play Library, search for or install apps, view app genre clusters, or use the Assistant to search for content.
- On Google TV, the kids profile feature (only available on some devices) lets parents set parental controls for their kid users, which may restrict access to apps and recommendations and set bedtime reminders and screen time limits. Kids profiles may not be available in some regions or on some devices. In order to start setting up a kids profile, go to the profile icon and select your profile. Under "Who’s watching," select Add a kid and then Get started and follow the on-screen instructions.
- On your Android TV home screen, you can browse for shows and movies to watch. You’ll find your shows and movies you’ve started, suggested videos, and personalized recommendations.
-
On your Android TV home screen, at the top, you’ll find several tabs you can navigate to:
- Search: Speak or type your search.
- Home: Quickly find suggested content, apps you’ve downloaded, and movies and shows you haven’t finished yet.
- Live: Subject to availability, you can find audiovisual content that Google TV (US only) or Google’s Live tab partners make available live. In some countries, the Live tab displays once Google’s Live tab partners are added in Manage Services (more about the Live tab below).
- Discover: Get personalized recommendations based on watch history, interests, and new trends.
- Shop: Subject to availability, find movies to purchase or rent from Google TV.
- Apps: Find all the apps you’ve downloaded and suggested apps.
- Settings: Change settings for your account or your device.
App developers may integrate their content with Google TV and Android TV, among other Google services, which makes their content available for discovery on Google TV and Android TV. App developers who want to integrate their content with Google TV and Android TV can complete this form to contact Google.
For parties who are interested in selling or providing content through Google where Google acts as an agent for the partner, please see the Help Center for Movies and TV Partners.
App developers may also enable account linking which connects your subscription accounts from third party services with your Google account. Account linking ensures the content from your subscription(s) are accurately represented on Google TV and Android TV. Account linking also enables sharing your data from these third-party services with Google apps and services. You may link or unlink your accounts and optionally create a new account on the third-party platform with Google account linking.
For integrated live content (subject to availability) on Google TV, we've partnered with services that offer a wide range of popular and diverse content through the Live tab of Google TV (more on this below).
App developers can submit apps to the Play Store that you can then download to your Google TV or Android TV. Apps must follow the general Play Store app guidelines and the specific Google TV and Android TV app guidelines.
Partners, including app developers, can generally remove their content from Google TV, Android TV and their apps from the Play Store. Google may remove content from Google TV, Android TV and apps from the Play Store on its own as well, such as if we learn that it violates our content policies or runs afoul of applicable laws.
Our goal on Google TV and Android TV is to present content that we think you'll enjoy and purchase. To make Google TV and Android TV as interesting and useful as possible, our selection and your individual layout, sequence of lists, and recommendations of content and apps on Google TV and Android TV may be influenced by the following criteria (subject to availability):
- Where you live and the language you choose for your device (For example, your device’s approximate location based on the IP address).
- Content popularity (For example, TV shows with a high number of views within a certain time period).
- Content quality (For example, content with title and poster art information available) and relevance (e.g. content that supports the language selected by the user or apps that fall into a certain category of an app genre cluster).
- Streaming services you selected (For example, when setting up your device or added later through Manage Services – more on this below).
- Your prior interactions, such as content on your watchlist, entertainment-related searches on Search and Assistant, and interactions such as purchases and watch activity with and within Google TV, Google Play, and other Google services (this may also depend on your linked accounts, as mentioned above).
- Editorial value of content (For example, topical events like sports championships).
- The economic viability of the platform and contractual obligations to our partners (For example, manufacturer’s tab on some devices or contractual restrictions on where content may be displayed).
- Market specific requirements (For example, in Germany a public value apps cluster is legally required in the apps tab, and in this case, the order of the apps in this cluster follows the regulator's listing).
- Your type of device (For example, manufacturer and TV model).
Tips:
- You can erase your past activity and data to reset your recommendations.
- New activity can give you fresh recommendations.
- To stop personalized recommendations, you can also turn off Web & App Activity at g.co/myactivity.
To help Google TV know your preferences for movies and series, you can:
- Add a title to your Watchlist.
- Choose Like
or Dislike
on the details page of a title.
- Use the content preferences feature: “Tell us what you like to watch.”
From time to time, we may change the categories you find in the tabs to reflect changes in one or more of the mentioned criteria or to reflect specific occasions, such as prominent sports or media events.
Hide personalized recommendations on Google TV
If you want to hide personalized recommendations on Google TV, you can turn on Apps only mode for your profile. For example, when you have guests, you can use Apps only mode to hide your personalized recommendations.
Turn on Apps only mode
- From the Google TV home screen, select Settings
Accounts & Sign In.
- Select your profile
- To browse in "Apps only mode," on your remote, select Home
.
Accounts & Sign In.
.Exit Apps only mode
- From the Google TV home screen, select Settings
- Select your profile.
- Turn off Apps only mode.
What happens when Apps only mode is on
In Apps only mode, you don't get personalized recommendations on your home screen. You’ll find a list of installed apps that you can open to find something to watch. You'll also find sponsored content and teasers for popular movies and shows.
If Web & App Activity is on, Google TV will continue to improve recommendations for you, even while Apps only mode is on. In addition, apps can still show you their personalized recommendations based on your history. This includes YouTube, YouTube TV, and other Google apps.
Some features aren’t available in Apps only mode. For example:
- You can’t use Search or the Google Assistant.
- You can’t “like” or “dislike” content, add videos to your Watchlist, or mark videos as watched.
Live on Google TV
Subject to availability, you can watch live TV provided by Google TV (US only) or Google’s Live tab partners through Google TV’s Live tab or the For You tab. Google's Live tab partners determine the ranking of the channels, or in the US, the Live tab may organize certain channels by category. In certain countries, the Live tab may display once Google’s Live tab partners are added in Manage Services or from account-linking. In the US, the Live tab is shown by default.
Add your streaming services
Important: When you add streaming services, you get more recommendations from those services. We recommend you only select services you subscribe to. If a service offers multiple subscription options, to get accurate recommendations, you need to link that service to your Google Account via the Settings menu.
Profiles on Google TV
When you add more than one user profile on your Google TV and sign in to Google services with multiple accounts, your media and activity syncs across devices that you sign in to.
Advertisements on Google TV
Google TV and Android TV also sometimes serve advertisements, which are labeled as advertisements, for content available on third-party apps, Google TV or Android TV, or Play, for which Google is paid by the advertiser. In some cases, some partners may share advertising revenue with Google, or Google may display advertisements in our third-party partners’ apps.
Using Google Assistant on Google TV
If you activate the Google Assistant on your Google TV or Android TV device, you can search for content and apps. You can learn more about how Google Assistant works by visiting https://developers.google.com/assistant/howassistantworks.
On Google TV
On Google TV, you also have options to:
- Mark Live channels as “Favorite.”
- Manage your watchlist.
- Reorder or remove your apps.
Choose your favorite Live channels
- On Google TV, select Live (subject to availability).
- Under the “All channels” view, find a channel you want to set as one of your favorites.
- Select the channel name you want to mark as a favorite. A star displays to confirm that the channel is now in your favorites.
- To browse content on your favorite channels, switch from the “All channels” view to the “Favorite channels” view.
Tip: To remove a channel from your favorites, select the channel name you want to remove. The star disappears, and the channel is removed from your favorites.
Manage your Watchlist
Add a title to your Watchlist on a Google TV device:
- Search for the title that you want to add to your Watchlist.
- Open the title’s details page.
- Select Watchlist
.
Tip: To remove a title from your Watchlist, select Library. Under ‘Watchlist’, find the title you want to remove from your Watchlist and select Watchlisted. The bookmark disappears, and the title is removed from your Watchlist.
Reorder apps
- From the Google TV home screen, scroll to either the "For you" tab or to the "Apps" tab in the main navigation.
- Scroll to the "Your apps" row.
- Find the app you want to move.
- Hold the Select button on your remote until a menu appears.
- Select Move.
- Use the Left or Right buttons to move the app.
- Press the Select button to confirm the new location.
- To save your new app order, press the Back button on your remote.
Tip: Go to “See all” on the Your apps row to manage which apps will be visible on the Your apps row. Apps above the line will be visible and apps below the line can be accessed in “See all.”
Remove apps
- From the Google TV home screen, scroll to the “Apps” tab.
- Scroll down to the "Your apps" section and find the app that you want to uninstall.
- Hold the Select button on your remote until a menu appears.
- Select View details
On Android TV
On Android TV, you also have options to:
- Manage your Watchlist.
- Add, remove & reorder channel rows.
- Reorder your apps.
Manage your Watchlist
You can add shows or movies you want to watch later to your Watchlist. These titles show up as a row in the Discover tab.
- From the Discover tab, browse for the title you want to add to your Watchlist.
- Open the title’s details page.
- Select Watchlist
Tip: When you add content to your Watchlist, you can find it on any device where you log in.
Add, remove & reorder channel rows
Important: Not all Android TVs have these settings.
Add or remove rows
- On your Android TV, go to the Home screen.
- At the top, select Settings
.
- Select Device preferences
- Choose Customize channels.
- Select a channel to turn on or off.
.Reorder rows
- On the Home tab, scroll down to the row you want to move.
- On your remote, use the D-pad to scroll to the left twice.
- Select Reorder
.
- Move the row where you want it, then press the center D-pad button.
.Choose your favorite apps
- On the Home tab, scroll down to the "Favorite Apps" row.
- In the Favorite apps row, select “Add app to favorites.”
- In the “Select app” menu, select the app you want to mark as a favorite.
Tip: To remove an app from your favorites, select the app you want to remove. Hold Select on your remote and then select “Remove from favorites.” The app is removed from your favorites.
Reorder apps
- On your Android TV home screen, select Apps.
- Under the “Installed apps” section, go to the app you want to move.
- On your remote, touch and hold Select. A menu appears on your screen.
- Select Move.
- On your remote, use the D-pad to move the app you selected.
- To confirm the new location, press the Select button.
Remove apps
- On your Android TV home screen, scroll and select Settings
- Under "Device," select Apps.
- Under "Downloaded," select an app that you want to remove
Google collects a service fee based on sale of apps, movies, shows, and games on Google Play or within apps and games that use Google Play's billing system. You will find the purchase or rental price, as applicable, for an item on that item's details page and in the purchase dialog before you complete the purchase. You will also receive an email receipt after the purchase.
Important: Google does not verify reviews of movies and TV shows.
Google TV and Android TV include one or more of the following reviews of the content available on its platform:
- Rotten Tomatoes scores (reviews)
- Play user reviews
- IMDB reviews
- Metacritic scores (reviews)
- Common Sense Media ratings (reviews)
To learn more about reviews, you can check out: