Google releases Android 13 OS for smart TV with improved performance

Google has released the newest version of Android TV OS, "Android 13" for TV, which brings further improvements in performance and accessibility to help their developers build engaging apps for the next generation of TVs.

The new update comes with new APIs (Application Programming Interface)Afor the big screen that helps developers deliver high-quality experiences to users across different device types, according to the Google Developers blogpost.

With improvements to the AudioManager API, it allows developers to anticipate audio attribute support for the active audio device and select the optimal format without starting playback.

For a more reliable playback experience, users can now change the default resolution and refresh rate on supported HDMI source devices.

Moreover, Android 13 introduces new features that make interacting with TV more adaptable.

The InputDevice API now supports multiple keyboard layouts, said the blogpost.

To support different layouts of physical keyboards, game developers can also reference keys by their physical location.

A newly created audio descriptions API in AccessibilityManager will allow users' apps to query the new system-wide audio description preference setting, allowing developers to automatically provide audio descriptions that correspond to a user's preference.

The new release is available for both the ADT-3 (a developer-focused TV box for Android TV) and Android TV emulators, and developers can choose to test on either the Google TV interface or the standard Android TV interface, the blogpost added.

--IANS

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