Android 13 adds further customizations to improve the user experience and increase compatibility with TV devices. Some of the highlights for this release include performance and quality improvements, and continued advancements to how users interact with Android TV.
Refer to the Android 13 documentation for a full list of all of the changes included in Android 13. Note that not all those features apply to TV.
Here are some of the highlights of what's new in Android 13 for TV:
Media & Power
- Anticipatory audio route lets apps identify the routed device and supported formats before creating an AudioTrack
- User controls for preferred resolution and refresh rate on supported HDMI source devices
- Power management improvements for low powered standby
Input Control & Accessibility
- Hardware mute switch states are reflected in the system privacy controls
- Updated user controls for Assistant microphone access on the remote
- Global preferences for enabling audio descriptions across apps
- New Keyboard Layouts API allows selection of different language layouts for external keyboards
HDMI & Tuner
- Better handling of HDMI state changes on HDMI source devices
- Improved language selection for HDMI source devices
- Tuner HAL 2.0 with performance optimizations, twin tuner and ISDB-T Multi-Layer support
- Framework for interactive TV use cases as an extension to TIF
How to get started
If you have the ADT-3 Developer Kit, install a system image by following the instructions in this section. Alternatively, you can use the Android Emulator for TV, which lets you try out some new user interface capabilities like audio routing, keyboard layouts and HDMI state changes.
Install system images manually
To install Android 13, follow these steps:
- Use the ADT-3 Developer Kit for Google TV. The provided system image is for ADT-3 developer devices only.
Download the system image listed on this page.
If needed, back up your device data.
Flash the image onto your ADT-3 device. Manually flashing a device gives you precise control over the test environment and can be performed with command line tools.
ADT-3 factory images
| Device | Download Link | SHA-256 Checksum |
|---|---|---|
| ADT-3 (Android TV) | 769c2069e58776ef9463e2af7849790ab36f5d7f9b511451a2b4e507ce29fabe |
|
| ADT-3 (Google TV) | c65fd22cbca40b5af3558df233a8ef5a8837ebfff5e93dda9a070a38e4ac9244 |
Download ADT-3 factory system image
Before downloading, you must agree to the following terms and conditions.
Terms and Conditions
By clicking to accept, you hereby agree to the following:All use of this development version SDK will be governed by the Android Software Development Kit License Agreement (available at https://developer.android.com/studio/terms and such URL may be updated or changed by Google from time to time), which will terminate when Google issues a final release version.
Your testing and feedback are important part of the development process and by using the SDK, you acknowledge that (i) implementation of some features are still under development, (ii) you should not rely on the SDK having the full functionality of a stable release; (iii) you agree not to publicly distribute or ship any application using this SDK as this SDK will no longer be supported after the official Android SDK is released; and (iv) you agree that Google may deliver elements of the SDK to your devices via auto-update (OTA or otherwise, in each case as determined by Google).
WITHOUT LIMITING SECTION 10 OF THE ANDROID SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT LICENSE AGREEMENT, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT A DEVELOPMENT VERSION OF A SDK IS NOT A STABLE RELEASE AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS, DEFECTS AND SECURITY VULNERABILITIES THAT CAN RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE, INCLUDING THE COMPLETE, IRRECOVERABLE LOSS OF USE OF YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR OTHER DEVICE.
Download ADT-3 factory system image
Before downloading, you must agree to the following terms and conditions.
Terms and Conditions
By clicking to accept, you hereby agree to the following:All use of this development version SDK will be governed by the Android Software Development Kit License Agreement (available at https://developer.android.com/studio/terms and such URL may be updated or changed by Google from time to time), which will terminate when Google issues a final release version.
Your testing and feedback are important part of the development process and by using the SDK, you acknowledge that (i) implementation of some features are still under development, (ii) you should not rely on the SDK having the full functionality of a stable release; (iii) you agree not to publicly distribute or ship any application using this SDK as this SDK will no longer be supported after the official Android SDK is released; and (iv) you agree that Google may deliver elements of the SDK to your devices via auto-update (OTA or otherwise, in each case as determined by Google).
WITHOUT LIMITING SECTION 10 OF THE ANDROID SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT LICENSE AGREEMENT, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT A DEVELOPMENT VERSION OF A SDK IS NOT A STABLE RELEASE AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS, DEFECTS AND SECURITY VULNERABILITIES THAT CAN RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE, INCLUDING THE COMPLETE, IRRECOVERABLE LOSS OF USE OF YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR OTHER DEVICE.