![]() While the interface is slick and modern, when you’re returning to the home screen from an app or video it can occasionally be a bit slow. But the sound and HDR format you actually get on the movie or TV show is still dependent on the streaming app and content you’re using. The dongle applies the appropriate HDR format for your TV over the whole interface and all content – similar to the Apple TV. Apps launch fairly quickly, movies start streaming in high quality immediately on start and the dongle supports all the latest video and audio formats, including 4K UHD, HDR10 and HDR10+, Dolby Vision and the various Dolby surround sound technologies including the latest Atmos. The Chromecast with Google TV generally performs well when actively streaming content. The streaming stick supports the latest 4K and HDR formats, including Dolby Vision when used with a compatible TV. The remote can also be configured to control your TV or sound system and has its own power, input select and mute buttons plus a small volume rocker on the side, which I found a bit fiddly to use. That includes streaming the feeds from compatible smart cameras, turn lights on and off, look up the weather, showing events from your calendar and other bits. ![]() It can occasionally show you things from the Google Play Store that are available from one of your subscription services too, something logging out and logging back into Netflix and other services appeared to cure.īeyond search, Assistant can control playback such as “skip 15 minutes” and do some of the things the voice assistant is capable of on a smartphone, tablet or smart display. You can even narrow it down by production studio or actor, but ask it for “Steven Spielberg movies with Tom Hanks” and it’ll suggest The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons – proving Google isn’t infallible. Ask for Steven Spielberg movies and it’ll show any from your subscription services, Google Play Movies and also apps such as BBC iPlayer. You can also search via movie element, such as actor or director. ![]() You can ask for an app, movie or TV show, or a combination of terms such as “Timeless on Netflix” to launch straight into it. Press and hold the Google Assistant button while speaking and it will either find what you want or perform the desired action. There’s also a search tab, but the interface is entirely geared up for using voice to search with the remote. The remote has a small microphone which is only active when you’re holding the dedicated Google Assistant button to issue voice commands or searches. Lastly, the Library tab shows you any movies or TV shows you’ve purchased from the Google Play Store. The Apps tab shows you all your apps plus a store front for finding new ones for Android TV. Tabs for Movies and Shows narrow the recommendations down by type. It also pulls in trends from Google such as most-searched movies, topics such as “Tom Hanks” and videos from YouTube. Press and hold select on any movie or show thumbnail and you can see where it is available, watch a trailer, add it to a watchlist, mark it as already seen and like or dislike it. The first “for you” pane has personalised picks, a list of your installed apps, plus popular movies and TV shows across various genres and types curated by algorithm. Google TV also tries to bring content out of the apps and into the main interface, learning what you like as you watch, and suggesting more of what you might want to see. Also strangely not available yet is Google’s Stadia game-streaming service. You can still cast All 4 and BritBox from a phone to the dongle, but those looking to watch Apple TV+ or their iTunes library are out of luck. The big outliers are All 4, BritBox and Apple TV, which are not available. Most of the TV apps you’d expect are available, including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, BT Sport, YouTube and the UK catchup services, such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and My5. ![]() Individual apps for your media services work like they do on most smart TVs, navigated with the remote’s direction pad, select and back buttons. You can also add additional Google accounts for limited multi-user support such as the ability to access more than one account in apps such as YouTube. Scan the QR code on your TV, log in with the required Google account, and choose some apps to install. Once plugged in, the new Chromecast is set up using the Google Home app on an Android, iPhone or iPad in about five minutes. Google TV is the modern and much-improved interface for the Android TV operating system.
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