US owners of Sony Android TVs from 2016 and 2017 will be happy to learn that a new update has been released and it brings the long awaited Oreo features to the devices.
The update has been released gradually in last two weeks and it will become available for more devices in the following days. Sadly EU customers may not receive the update in the foreseeable future as the company has remained silent when it comes to EU TVs.
The main feature of the update is a revised home screen that streamlines the user interface while also improving the overall user experience. New customizations options are also available and select content is now highlighted when the home screen is accessed. In order to benefit from these improvements users will also have to updates their apps.
It is expected that updates for the Android TVs sold earlier in 2018 will also become available.
Are the updates safe for my device?
The answer is mostly yes. Some owners of late 2016 models have complained on the official forums that they have encountered a few problems. Among them users mentioned issues with audio after awakening the device form deep sleep mode, incorrect playback of locally saved 4K content and visible frame drops when HD content is streamed. Fixes should arrive soon but owners that enjoy the previously mentioned functions should wait a little more before installing the device.
Data mining has revealed that the Oreo version offered to the A2TV hardware devices (encountered in the models that received the updates first) employs a dated Linux kernel that can be traced to Android KitKat. The update also lacks support for the Project Treble, an API that aims to make updates easier to develop and deliver.
The update also adds improved support for select Netflix content and fixes a variety of issues. It seems that Sony won’t offer an update for models that were released prior to 2016, but the situation may change in the future.
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.
