Newsletter
Android TV’s version of the Google Play Music app has received an update recently, one which greatly changes the general presentation of the app on Android TV. The update brings the version of the Play Music app up to v8.1 and already seems to be largely on its way out to most, if not all, Android TV devices. So there is a good chance that it has already arrived for most device owners.
As for the changes, the most obvious one is the color change that is now in effect. Gone is the iconic Play Music orange color which has been replaced by a much more contrasting black and white color scheme. For the most part, the new color scheme adopts black as its primary color (compared to the lighter gray tone that was in effect before) while most of the previous orange aspects have now been replaced with the new white color. In fact, it seems Google has literally swapped out the colors as previously the orange was overlaid with white text, while now the white background is overlaid with black text and orange is used as the highlighted tab color.
Adding to the user appearance end, the player itself has also undergone a makeover as aspects are far less congested following the update. For example, track information has now been further separated from the controls – which now appear all in one detached row. Likewise, the actual track information has been reduced down in terms of its importance on the screen. Compared to before when track information was front and center (with album art occupying much of the space behind) the new layout sees the track information re-positioned to the top left corner while the album art has been greatly reduced in status and is now resigned to a top right positioned album cover window. Besides the cosmetic changes, it does not seem as though much has changed in terms of the functionality of the app which largely remains the same. Although skipping through tracks in the now playing list is far more easier as the full list of now playing shows up beneath the current playing view. In either case, with how contrasting this look is compared to the other platform versions of the app it could be the case they will in time also be updated with a very similar look and feel.
