Android TV & Google TV
Android TV vs Google TV: what changes for a remote
Nefarius Apps5 min read
Updated : Tivi now controls Android TV and Google TV, so the closing section was rewritten and a Chromecast with Google TV question added.
Google TV is not a different operating system from Android TV — it's the interface layer Google puts on top of it. A device running Google TV is still running Android TV OS underneath, with the same platform, the same app store and the same remote protocol; Google TV changes the home screen and the recommendations, not the foundation.
Is Google TV a different operating system?
No. Android TV is the operating system — the platform Google licenses to TV and box makers, the platform app developers build against, and the software actually running the hardware. Google TV is the name Google gives to a particular home screen built on top of that OS: a content-forward launcher that leads with recommendations and a universal search across apps, rather than the older grid-of-apps layout.
Every device showing the Google TV interface is an Android TV device. The reverse isn't true — plenty of Android TV boxes and smart TVs still ship the older, plainer interface and are never called Google TV at all, even though they're running the same underlying platform.
Android TV: the platform name, then and now
Google launched Android TV in 2014 as its smart TV platform, replacing an earlier and less successful product also called Google TV. "Android TV" is still the name used for certification, for the Play Store on television, and for the platform developers target — and it stays that way even on hardware whose home screen carries the newer Google TV branding.
Google TV: the interface Google put back on top, in 2020
Google TV as most people encounter it today dates from 2020, when Google reused the old brand name for a new interface layered on Android TV OS, launched first on the Chromecast with Google TV. It's a redesigned home screen and recommendation engine, not a new platform — underneath it is the same Android TV OS every other certified device runs.
What actually changes for a remote app
Nothing, at the protocol level. Whether a box shows the classic Android TV launcher or the newer Google TV interface, it advertises itself on the network the same way — over Bonjour, as _androidtvremote2._tcp. — and speaks the same remote protocol, the Android TV Remote protocol, version 2. A remote app built against that protocol doesn't need a separate integration for Google TV; the interface skin sitting on top doesn't touch the layer a remote actually talks to.
That's also why "Android TV" and "Google TV" both remain accurate ways to describe the same box, and why product listings often use both terms for one device without contradicting themselves.
How to tell which one you have
| Android TV (as a term) | Google TV (as a term) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it refers to | The underlying platform and OS | A particular home screen built on that platform |
| Introduced | 2014 | 2020, reusing a 2010 product name |
| Home screen | A grid of app icons, brand-dependent layout | Content-forward, recommendation-led |
| Where you'll see it | Certification, developer docs, older hardware | Newer TVs and streaming boxes, most current Google marketing |
| Remote protocol | Android TV Remote protocol v2 | Android TV Remote protocol v2 — identical |
In practice, the simplest test is what the home screen looks like when you press home: a grid of app icons is the older Android TV layout, a row of personalised recommendations across the top is Google TV. Either way, it's the same platform underneath.
Common questions
Is Google TV the same as Android TV?
Functionally, yes, at the level that matters for compatibility — Google TV is an interface running on Android TV OS, not a separate platform. They differ in home screen and branding, not in what's underneath.
Do I need a different remote app for Google TV than for Android TV?
No. Both advertise the same service on the network and speak the same remote protocol, so an app built to talk to one talks to the other without any separate support.
Which TVs and boxes run Google TV instead of the older Android TV interface?
Newer hardware, generally — the Chromecast with Google TV started the naming in 2020, and several TV makers have shipped sets with the Google TV interface since. Older Android TV boxes and TVs, and some current budget models, still ship the plainer Android TV launcher.
Did upgrading software ever turn an Android TV box into a Google TV one?
In some cases, yes — because Google TV is a software layer rather than different hardware, a device can in principle be updated from the older interface to Google TV without any hardware change. Whether a specific model has received that update depends on the manufacturer.
Does a Chromecast with Google TV work with a remote app?
Yes, if the app speaks the Android TV Remote protocol. A Chromecast with Google TV runs Google TV on Android TV OS and exposes the same remote service as any other Google TV device. Tivi, a universal TV remote app for iPhone from Nefarius Apps, pairs with it that way: the TV shows a six-character code, you type it into the app on the first connection, and later connections skip it. Older Chromecast dongles without Google TV are a different product — they only receive casts, and Tivi lists them but can't control them.
The short version
Android TV is the platform; Google TV is the interface Google built on top of it in 2020, reusing the name of an unrelated product from a decade earlier. Nothing about that distinction changes what a device is or how it's controlled — both names describe the same operating system, the same app store, and the same remote protocol underneath.
Tivi, a universal TV remote app for iPhone from Nefarius Apps, controls Android TV and Google TV devices through that shared protocol — one integration covers both names, which is the practical upshot of everything above. The first connection shows a six-character code on the TV screen to type into the app; after that, navigation, volume, channels, playback, home, back and power work the same whichever interface the device shows — how to control an Android TV or Google TV from an iPhone walks through it step by step. How to use your iPhone as a TV remote covers the groundwork that applies to every brand, and the rest of the Android TV and Google TV guides are here.