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androidandroid-tv

Control and view of core TV functions


I am interested in Android TV.

I need to control core TV functions from an App:

  1. Live TV in the background of my App
  2. List the channels the TV knows of
  3. Selecting a channel on the TV

Is that possible with an Android TV through the SDK?


Solution

  • I think it is not possible, if you are building third-party app.

    > 1. Live TV in the background of my App

    It is not recommended by TV App Quality, it says

    TV-TR: App does not partially obscure other apps. App fills the entire screen and has a non-transparent background.

    > 2. List the channels the TV knows of
    > 3. Selecting a channel on the TV

    Android TV provides a TV Provider platform which stores the channels and programs from TV inputs. However you need ACCESS_ALL_EPG_DATA permission to access other app's TV Provider database which is only available with signatureOrSystem app.
    There is another related post here, Android Tv: get list of channels.