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Android TV sucks

I have recently purchased a new TV, it is brand new, with a computer built-in and everything one could wish for… and I am proud to say it : my Android TV sucks!

What is an Android TV?

Basically, it is a TV with Android installed inside of it. This is like having a small computer built inside your TV and running the Android OS. It allows you to run several well known applications directly on your TV thanks to your remote. you have Youtube, Netflix, Playstation Now, and much more at your fingertips.

So, why does Android TV sucks?

Redundancy. Well… First of all, most of us already use a “classic” computer, or a set top box hooked to our computers. It makes the Android TV (or the box you already have) redundant.

Sleep mode. If you are using some kind of software to keep your movies and TV show database up-to-date, it will have to notify your Kodi media center, as soon as a new item is available. However, as long as your TV is not running, it can’t be accessed by any software. Which means, it will not update your libraries automatically. You’ll have to manually update it each and every time you start Kodi.

Stability. It is not stable at all! Let’s say you watch a movies on Kodi every evening, then you’ll probably have to restart the Kodi application every night before using it. I have noticed that every time I let Kodi run “in the background’ for a few hours (because I don’t use my TV, or play console on some other input) and start it again it is unresponsive. Add to this, the fact that sometimes some Android services just crashes during a video, which means you’ll get a notification pop-up in the middle of your movie, and you must close it manually to get rid of it.

For all those reasons, Android TV sucks.

Is this really that bad?

No, of course! It actually works OK and really allows you a lot of functionalities easily : thanks to your TV remote, you can also plug in your PS4 controllers, play some games, etc.

However, if you already have a working computer and/or set-top box, then you definitely don’t need an Android TV, and you will definitely have a better experience with your actual configuration.