When it comes to browsing entertainment, is there really a big difference between organizing content in different tabs or splitting it into totally separate pages? Google seems to think so. Today, the company is announcing some tweaks to the Google TV interface. “Movies” and “Shows” are being dropped from the main navigation bar at the top and will now be found beneath the row of your favorite streaming apps in the “For You” tab.
In that spot, they’ll be joined by two new sections: Family and Español. Both are pretty self-explanatory. “With content ratings of PG or lower, it’s easy to find something the whole family can watch together,” Google says of the family page. (Kids will still be able to have their own profiles that are limited to age-appropriate programming.)
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Meanwhile, the Español page “is the new home for the best Spanish-language entertainment, including movies and shows, telenovelas, and live TV. You can also access popular Spanish-language apps like Pantaya and FlixLatino, plus a library of dubbed and subbed movies and shows.”
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As always, Google fills these pages with recommendations that span across many different streaming services. I’m not sure what was wrong with having movies and shows at the top — I think I preferred that layout, honestly — but I guess trying to cram the family and Spanish-language hubs up there would’ve made things too crowded, so they all move down together. Now, the main navigation bar will be For You, Live, Apps, and Library.
The company is also making other minor navigation changes for improved ease of use: the profile switcher will now be at the top-left corner, for example. “Search will also move to the far right, along with the introduction of a new quick settings button,” product manager Kathy Liu wrote in Google’s blog post.
The revamped Google TV homescreen navigation will gradually roll out globally beginning today to the Chromecast with Google TV (4K and HD) and TVs that run the Google TV software, like those from Sony, Hisense, and TCL.
