A lot. The Android client is mostly Read Only in terms of DVR. It has Up Next and lists your shows. But there’s no way to manage the DVR.
Bah, who am I kidding…of course I’m going to get the 4K Apple TV to go with the new TV. Amazon is coming to tvOS and there are rumours the main UK catch-up apps are finally coming too.
I’ll still keep an eye on how the Channels Android client develops though. It would be nice one day to be completely box-less like the old days, haha.
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I wouldn’t buy a TV running the Android TV OS, instead get something a little cheaper and buy a Shield TV. That way you’ll get quicker updates and can just run the DVR engine on the box itself.
Definitely not buying it for the Android OS. I’m interested in the Sony XE93 (X930E in the US) because it’s (arguably) the best value for money in non-OLED 4K TVs at the moment.
I’ve never put too much faith in the ‘smart’ bit of TVs because they become obsolete quite quickly. But it would be nice to have a ‘no-box’ solution for a year or two. 
I’ve got a 43XBR800e in my office. I got it for 4k and to have an android target to test with.
The display is amazing for this size (no one makes great small tvs anymore 
). But the cpu is slowww. Its so slow that the UI it shows when changing the volume will sometimes cause Channels to drop frames lol. And it takes about 2 seconds to even show. A fresh reboot can speed it up.
I’m not sure how much faster the 900 series is, but from what I can tell, it’s not fun using what’s baked in. A Shield torches it.
I picked up the XE93 yesterday and have been testing it quite a bit. I agree that the Android TV interface is rather sluggish. It can’t compare with the Apple TV, so I’m going to pick up the new 4K model tomorrow. I hope more UK channels will step up and finally support tvOS!
And I hope Apple have the sense to fix the SDR/HDR switching issue you mentioned in another thread, rather than give their standard ‘it’s a feature, not a bug’ response. It’s ridiculous how resistant they’ve always been to automatic resolution/frame rate switching, and 4K HDR will make it even more painful.
Ok, now that iOS is looking great and remote streaming are working well, Android Tv is ready to be exploited! Other solutions out there just don’t cut it.
I’m ready to help test this one as soon as you guys will focus on it again.
Hi, will you be resuming development on Android TV?
Would also love to see some development.
Currently have it on a shieldTV. Love it better than other solutions for the shieldTV and I really hope it and maybe even Android Apps will come. As far as DVR goes, this is a lot better, even Android fans right now suggest buying an Apple TV just for this app. Sadly though, having to switch devices just for an App is even kludgier than than the current state of the app.
The Channels android app, for live and recorded tv playback, is currently not in the same ballpark as google’s live channels app. The google app is much more smooth - any jittery scrolls or clunkiness i see in the Channels andoid app is completely eliminated in the Google app.
As a DVR service though, Channels is light years ahead.
@tmm1 Any word or insight on getting the Android TV App up to apple tv standards? Thanks! at least a rough ETA on when development will continue.
Probably next year
I don’t use the Android app much myself, so one thing that would be helpful to hear is the top 3-4 missing features you would like to see added.
It took years to develop Channels for tvOS, so bringing all those same features to a new platform/language will take a lot of time and effort. The goal of the first beta was to add playback support so you could use a secondary tv with your DVR without having to buy another expensive Apple TV.
Thanks for the update… maybe the community can help with this. I am building a new home, and at the moment don’t use Channels.I will resubscribe in January and keep you posted. I know the key feature I’d like to see is being able to manage the DVR (set/cancel recordings) (manage series passes).
My preference for new Android features is totally geared to playback.
I’d much rather see the ability to sorting the recordings by name. Currently, I can add/change recording passes via the web interface, however I’m unable to utilize the playback capabilities on some very capable Android devices due to only having all listings by recording date.
An alpha sort/listing is sorely needed (IMO) to be able to see all the recordings to be viewed. The current recordings by date sort only, is tremendously onerous and renders the current Android UI totally useless (especially, if using with a large database of recordings). There is no other workaround available for this omission …using web ui for setup/changes is a totally acceptable compromise, at least for me, until time permits for these enhancements.
I would also love to see some improvements to playback. I’m perfectly happy searching for shows, setting up favorites etc. from the web ui. I like having the grid ui to browse what’s on now and what’s coming up next but don’t use it for scheduling recordings. I was a SageTV user for probably 10 years and did almost all scheduling from the web ui there too.
I am currently using a shield TV with a harmony remote. My personal preference would be to make the right arrow be a 30 second skip forward, the left arrow a 10 second skip back. I would also suggest that the up arrow be the same as a double tap on the fast forward ie skip to the end of the current commercial break. The down arrow could similarly skip back to the last comskip marker. Currently all 4 arrow buttons just bring up the on screen display. The harmony remote works OK but this would make the shield remote far more usable.
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exactly what @dgeezer said. i’m quite content to use my shield for recording and playback only. the recording size has actually been working quite well for me on the shield but the playback is quite buggy. For such a powerful device i still get a lot of jitter and stuttering - moreso on certain channels - NBC on both the prime and connect being the worst offenders (both are rock solid on the ATV and i devices)
admittedly i did buy the shield for it to be a two-in-one device to save a few bucks. i do question now whether i should have gone with another ATV and a NAS.
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That’s strange because for me the playback using Channels on the Shield is excellent. Playback is as good as using Kodi or maybe better. Skipping forward and back works very well even while a show is still recording.
I am running the dvr as a docker on my unraid box. It’s a 4 or 5 year old core I3. I think it originally shipped with windows 8. My system is all hardwired with cat5.
Quick question - I’m using Channels on Android TV (Nvidia Shield 2017) - I am wondering if there is similar functionality for seeking within live tv buffer and recordings and the ability to map buttons discretely to a Harmony 650 (IR) remote on Android. Obviously the shield remote is preprogrammed to do the default 30 second skip etc. But I’m looking to map buttons on my universal remote to give true RW/FF seeking inside of a show. Don’t know if you guys have hit this part of your development curve on Android yet, but I figured I’d ask.
EDIT: Yes, I have a FLIRC for the Shield
What happens currently when you hit the rewind or fast-fw button on the remote?