Google TV
Shares rank 2 of 6 smart TV OSes by recommenders
People like its fast, familiar Android experience and trust Google's handling of data, and a custom launcher or app-only mode hides most of its recommendations. Critics say ads have crept into the home screen.
People like its fast, familiar Android experience and trust Google's handling of data, and a custom launcher or app-only mode hides most of its recommendations. Critics say ads have crept into the home screen.
36 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 23
- approval share
- 36%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Custom launcher removes recommendation clutter
“The custom launcher gets rid of those shitty recommend videos on YouTube / Prime / Netflix...”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Read This Before You Buy That TV Streaming Stick” “My Google TV with Projectivity Launcher shows zero launcher ads unlike my Apple TV.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft Copilot AI Comes to LG TVs, and Can't Be Deleted” Ad-free with app-only mode
“What made me switch to App-only mode was that ads started appearing for general consumer products.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “An ad-free Android TV” “At least that way I don't see any ads.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft Copilot AI Comes to LG TVs, and Can't Be Deleted” “My Google TV with Projectivity Launcher shows zero launcher ads unlike my Apple TV.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft Copilot AI Comes to LG TVs, and Can't Be Deleted” Fast, good Android experience
“The Google TV Android based experience is very good”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook” “Its quite fast and remembers my history better.”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal” Trusted Google on privacy
“I already trust them on my phones anyway.”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal” “Google doesn't do scummy screen spying”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Home screen filled with ads
“Google TV that just shoves full-screen crap of "YOU WANNA SEE THIS MARVEL MOVIE?!" at you”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft Copilot AI Comes to LG TVs, and Can't Be Deleted” “Google TV's homescreen is giant ads for content on services I don't subscribe to”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]” “Google TV showing ads on the home screen convinced me to buy an Apple TV.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Schizophrenia sufferer mistakes smart fridge ad for psychotic episode” - Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Schizophrenia sufferer mistakes smart fridge ad for psychotic episode”
- Comment from 31 May 2026 in “Microsoft degrades functionality of perpetually-licensed offline products”
Ads added to more of the UI
“What made me switch to App-only mode was that ads started appearing for general consumer products.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “An ad-free Android TV” “seemed like ads got added to another part of the UI every month so I got sick of it”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Jellyfin 12.0” “There's another thread on HN today about ads in google TV.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Facebook Pages require paid subscription to post more than two links per month” Telemetry and data collection concerns
“Google TV may be one of my least favorite and most insidious Google products”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “Apple announces significant price increases for MacBooks, iPads, more” “I think it's silently turning on to send some kind of telemetry.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]” “Doesn't inspire trust as far as spying and data collection goes.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “LG says we're fake news [video]” Slow since Gemini update
“navigate the molasses-slow interface chock-full of ads”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “Philips to drop Google TV for European-based Titan OS” “My Google TV has become slow since the Gemini update”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Fixing a Bricked Framework Laptop”
Other smart TV OSes people recommend
The four most recommended other smart TV OSes, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projectivy Launcher | 29 | 2 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Google TVThis page | 13 | 23 | 36% | 7 | — | — |
| LibreELEC | 13 | 2 | 87% | 6 | — | Approved |
| LG webOS | 8 | 15 | 35% | 5 | 10 yrs5 owners | — |
| FLauncher | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
32 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“replacing Google with Apple is progress”
“It seems like LG, Google TV OS (Sony) and Fire TV OS (Amazon) and VidaaOS at least do that.”
“There's another thread on HN today about ads in google TV.”
“What made me switch to App-only mode was that ads started appearing for general consumer products.”
“Google TV's ads were too much”
“how bad the current Google devices for the TV”
“Doesn't inspire trust as far as spying and data collection goes.”
“seemed like ads got added to another part of the UI every month so I got sick of it”
“Google TV's homescreen is giant ads for content on services I don't subscribe to”
“I think it's silently turning on to send some kind of telemetry.”
“My Google TV has become slow since the Gemini update”
“The custom launcher gets rid of those shitty recommend videos on YouTube / Prime / Netflix...”
“since it uses that Google TV crap”
“Google TV may be one of my least favorite and most insidious Google products”
“We've bought every iteration of these and had no issues whatsoever with them.”
“Its quite fast and remembers my history better.”
“Google doesn't do scummy screen spying”
“I already trust them on my phones anyway.”
“gross, is there any TV is that isn't Google or Roku”
“Google TV generally gets outpaced by onn (Walmart's brand) on cost and value proposition.”
“adding ads to the Android TV home screens after purchase”
“The Google TV Android based experience is very good”
“navigate the molasses-slow interface chock-full of ads”
“Google TV enforces certain "standards", one of them is this bullcrap.”
“When the kids use this garbage it's all”
“not all apps notify Google TV so its own attempt at letting you resume is incomplete”
“My Google TV with Projectivity Launcher shows zero launcher ads unlike my Apple TV.”
“At least that way I don't see any ads.”
“Google TV that just shoves full-screen crap of "YOU WANNA SEE THIS MARVEL MOVIE?!" at you”
“Google TV showing ads on the home screen convinced me to buy an Apple TV.”
“Google TV takes over my wall with moderately graphic horror movie ads.”
“a major leg up over the junky Tizen/WebOS offerings”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.