Google’s Android TV platform has started rolling out the previously announced data-saving feature to help users who use their smartphone’s hotspots to stream content on Smart TVs reduce data consumption.
The new data-friendly feature enables Android TV to save mobile data by adjusting the video quality when streaming. This feature is targeted at those who don’t have fixed internet at home.
In return for turning on the new Data Saver mode, Google says users will be able to watch three times as much content with the same amount of data. Theoretically, buffering should not be an issue anymore when using data saver mode since you’re sacrificing the streaming quality.
Google has not specified what quality will Android TV default to when data saving is enabled.
The new feature is buried under Network & Internet as shown below.
Data saving feature on Android TV
Android TV has also added a new way to alert users on data usage when tethering. When enabled, the TV will send alerts for every 100MB, 500MB or 1GB of data used depending on your preference.
Another addition to the latest version is a Hotspot guide which provides step by step instructions on how to connect your Android TV with your phone’s mobile hotspot.
And finally, Google is bringing the previously announced casting feature with Files app that allows one to view downloaded files on their phones from the TV without using data.
Google previously announced all of these features in 2019. The rollout is set to start in India in the next few weeks with TVs from Xiaomi, TCL, and MarQ first in line.
In line with the news, Google recently released the Android TV Data saver app in the Play Store. Although I was able to download the app, there’s no way of accessing it.
The app could be region-locked, as recently noted by XDA, and could only be used by the company to deliver separate updates from the OS.
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