Android TV Apps to Be Approved by Google Before Listing on Play Store

Google has started asking developers to submit their Android TV apps for a stringent review process before the company finally makes them available on Google Play.

With the new guidelines for Android developers making Android TV apps, they also need to upload a TV banner image and screenshots to the app's Google Play store listing page.

"Before distributing apps to the Play Store on Android TV devices, our team reviews apps for usability with a DPAD (apps) and Gamepad (games only) and other quality guidelines," notes Google's support page for Android developers.

As Android Police notes, Google doesn't normally pre-screen and approve apps for Android smartphones and tablets, neither for Android Wear. The rolling out of the new more stringent guidelines however are in-line with the company's second push to the TV platform, after the failure of Google TV. The company quite obviously wants to ensure Android TV apps are well-optimised for the larger screen and novel control system based on voice, remote control and gamepad so that customers aren't scared away from the platform right from the get go.

For those unaware, Google at its I/O 2014 keynote address had announced the refreshed Android TV operating system, which has been optimised for TV-watching. Notably, Google's first Google TV that was announced back in 2010 did not take off because of its complex user interface and limited devices.

Last month, the company alongside the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 also unveiled its first Android TV device, the Nexus Player, a set-top streaming box. Built by Asus in partnership with Google, the Nexus Player is also accompanied by a gamepad controller that will be sold separately and has been engineered for fine-tuned control of Android games. Nexus Player comes with a voice-activated remote.

The Nexus Player is powered by a 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom 'Silvermont' processor alongside the Imagination PowerVR Series 6 Graphics (2D/3D) Engine and 1GB of RAM. Intel says the chipset is capable of console-like graphics, and 1080p video streaming.

The Google Nexus Player includes 8GB of inbuilt storage and comes with HDMI and Micro-USB connectivity options. The device also supports Wi-Fi 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO) and Bluetooth 4.1. It weighs 235 grams and comes with dimensions 120x120x20mm.