Google TV is getting a very phone-like upgrade, and not everyone’s going to love it.
The platform is adding a new “Short videos for you” row to the home screen, bringing a personalised feed of YouTube Shorts directly to your TV.
The feature is set to roll out across Google TV devices in the US this summer, and will place bite-sized vertical videos right alongside your usual recommendations. In practice, it means you’ll be able to dip in and out of Shorts without ever opening the YouTube app. This is a clear push to bring more casual, scrollable content into the living room.
It’s easily the most noticeable part of a broader Google TV update, and arguably the most divisive. While short-form video dominates on phones, its arrival on TVs feels like a shift in how Google expects people to use the big screen. That means less lean-back viewing and more quick-hit browsing.
Alongside Shorts, Google is also rolling out a wave of Gemini-powered features to select devices. For starters, Nano Banana and Veo are landing on Gemini-enabled TCL Google TVs in the US. These allow users to generate images and videos directly from their TV, assuming that’s something you actually want to do from the sofa.
Moreover, Google Photos is getting a boost too. New AI tools will let you search your photo library with voice commands, apply artistic remix styles, and turn albums into dynamic slideshows that double as screensavers. These slideshow features will roll out more broadly to eligible Google TV devices globally; however, they are only available on devices with at least 2GB of RAM.
Taken together, the update shows Google doubling down on AI and short-form content as key parts of the TV experience. Whether that’s a natural evolution or an unnecessary distraction probably depends on how much you want your TV to behave like your phone.
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