Google TV isn't getting better, it's getting worse

After using the platform since the early days of Android TV and the Nexus Player, I no longer see my future with Google TV.

I used to be a big fan of Google TV. Well, Android TV. But it feels like the interface and user experience is just getting worse. What started out as a useful and clean interface has slowly evolved into a busy mess that's increasingly harder to navigate.

I've been using Android TV literally since launch. Back then, in 2014, the Nexus Player had a very simple and straightforward interface. A few recommendations and the apps you had installed on the device.

Fast forward to 2025 and Google TV is now all about recommendations. While recommendations can be a good thing, Google's recommendations system seems to continually get worse, all while pushing elements the user wants to the background.

Take categories, for example. Not too long ago Google TV made it nice and easy to filter by movies or series. If you are like me, then this is normally the first decision I make when trying to find something to watch.

Am in in the mood for a movie or a series?

Now, however, the movies and series categories are buried on the Home screen. They are no longer considered important to the question Google wants you to answer.

What genre do you want to watch?

While not a massive issue, it is still an issue. More to the point, it is an example of Google leading the search and navigation, and not the user. A much better user experience is to filter by type (movie/series) and then filter by genre. However, Google is not interested in what’s best for the user and more interested in ensuring the user is reliant on the recommendations engine.

Making matters worse, the over-reliance on recommendations and filling the Home screen with as many cards as possible makes it harder to navigate to and filter by movies or series - the very first thing I want to do. So, even when you want to take control of the search, Google TV makes it as hard as possible.

Watchlists are another prime example. Again, if you are like me, then the watchlist is a super important part of the user experience. The watchlist is basically the home of what I want to watch and plan to watch. In spite of this importance, Google seems to be constantly pushing the watchlist further out of reach of the user.

Again, this seems to be an intentional decision by Google. Instead of focusing on trying to suggest as much content to me as possible, why not focus on just suggesting the movies and shows that I want to watch? The ones that I’ve already signaled to you that I’m willing to watch.

Google's overuse of recommendations wouldn't be so bad if Google was actually half capable of recommending content. It's not. More often than not, the recommendations system recommends the same content over and over again on the Home screen.

As a result, navigating down the Home screen just results in the user seeing the same titles over and over again. Titles I've already indicated I'm not interested in watching by navigating past them.

What’s all the more disappointing is that it doesn’t look like Google will ever understand that its recommendation system doesn’t work. If anything, Google is going to keep doubling down on the system.

This week Google kicked off this year’s Google I/O season with its The Android Show: I/O Edition. During the show, Google reconfirmed plans to replace the Google Assistant on Google TV players and smart TVs with Gemini.

According to Google, the big selling point with this swapping of assistants is the improved recommendations system. Recommendations that are apparently more accurate and relevant.

As Google has focused on improving the accuracy of searches, the introduction of Gemini won’t make any meaningful difference to the quality of the recommendations shown on the Home screen.

If anything, with Google wanting us all to use Gemini more often, the quality of the Home screen is only likely to degrade further. Degrade until the point where we have no choice but to use Gemini to actually get a recommendation.

Now that I actually think about it, maybe that’s why Google has ruined the Home screen experience.