Google might skip Android TV 15 and go straight to Android 16 for TVs

The version of Android that you’ll find on TVs is very different from the one you’ll find on phones and tablets, which makes sense as they’re vastly different form factors that serve different purposes. However, Android TV is still based on the same underlying codebase as Android for handheld devices, which is updated at a pace that’s far too frequent for TV makers to keep up with. Because of this, Google is apparently moving Android TV to a biyearly release schedule, which means the next major release might be based on Android 16.

Unlike smartphones, most people upgrade their TVs every 5 to 10 years, primarily based on factors like price, screen size, and hardware specifications, rather than software features. As single-purpose media consumption devices, TVs don’t rely as heavily on software updates as general-purpose smartphones. This means there’s less pressure on TV makers to release major Android version upgrades or equip their devices with the latest Android TV platform. Nonetheless, Google still needs to update the Android TV platform so that it can introduce new features and meet regulatory requirements, which often leads to significant delays in adoption by TV makers.

That’s why it came as no surprise to me when I learned that Google is moving Android TV to a biyearly, i.e. once every two years, release schedule. A source tells me that Google privately announced this decision at its annual Android TV partner conference, but when I asked Google for comment earlier this year, a spokesperson informed me the company had nothing to share about Android TV’s future release cadence.

Still, it wouldn’t be the first time that Google skipped a version for Android TV. Google scrapped Android TV 13 prior to release and instead opted to deploy Android TV 14 earlier this year. Android TV 14 is based on Android 14, which was released in October 2023. In other words, the current version of Android TV is based on the last major version of Android, so the Android TV release schedule is already behind the regular Android schedule.

If Android TV is indeed on a biyearly timetable from now on, then the next version of Android TV should arrive in 2026. It would be strange if the next major release in two years is based on this year’s Android 15 instead of next year’s Android 16, but I can’t discount the possibility. Google is currently testing some new system APIs for Android TV 16, though, which is why I think Android 16 for TVs in 2026 is more likely. Google could surprise us by releasing Android TV 17 in 2026, but I doubt that’ll happen.

We don’t know what, if any, new features will make their way into the next major version of Android TV. None of the Android 16 features we’ve spotted so far are relevant to Android TV. Most Android TV system apps aren’t part of AOSP, so we can’t even check the source code to find hints about what Google is working on. We’ll just have to wait for Google to make an announcement or release a developer preview to find out what’s coming.