Picture-in-picture mode is finally coming to Google TV, but there’s a catch
Google won’t let apps that playback media content to enter picture-in-picture mode.
JoriPress
- Google TV is finally adding support for picture-in-picture mode, which puts app content in a tiny window overlaying the screen, in Android 14 for TV.
- Picture-in-picture mode has been supported on phones since Android 8.0 was released nearly seven years ago.
- However, picture-in-picture on Google TV won’t be enabled for media content.
Most smartphone screens aren’t big enough to comfortably show two full apps side-by-side simultaneously, which can be a problem when you’re trying to do some work while watching an educational video or livestream. That’s where picture-in-picture (PiP) mode comes in. PiP was introduced in Android 8.0 and lets you watch a video in a tiny window overlaid on top of other apps. Though PiP has been part of the Android platform for nearly seven years now, it hasn’t been supported on some flavors of Android, particularly Google TV. That’s set to change with the upcoming Android 14 for TV update, though.
Google TV, if you aren’t aware, is based on Android TV OS, a version of AOSP designed for televisions. Since Android TV OS is based on AOSP, it has many of the same features. However, some base Android features are removed from Android TV or rather aren’t required to be included. Picture-in-picture is one example of an Android feature that isn’t required to be enabled on Android TV OS devices. Although a few Android TV devices, like the 2019 NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and the 2020 Sony X900H, support PiP, many of the best Android TV boxes don’t.
