Google TV finally getting an upgrade that Apple TV got 6 years ago

It has been a long time coming, but Google TV is finally making a change that will bring their streaming devices closer to the speed and performance of Apple TV. In a message to app developers on Google’s official blog, Fahad Durrani, who is part of the Product Management team at Google TV, confirmed that Google TV and Android TV will soon require 64-bit app compatibility, saying that this change “will offer improved performance, shorter start times, and new viewing experiences on upcoming 64-bit Google TV and Android TV devices.”

This development should help put Google TV devices on more of an equal footing with Apple TV, which has used 64-bit apps since 2019 in an effort to increase performance and reduce lag on their devices.

Though this is an exciting development, the change won’t happen overnight as Google has given developers a year to prepare, with the new standard officially becoming a requirement in August 2026.

Will older Google TV devices stop working?

Don’t worry, 32-bit apps will still work

In the same message announcing the upgrade, Durrani was quick to quell fears about older device compatibility, saying “We’re not making any changes to 32-bit support, and Google Play will continue to deliver apps to 32-bit devices.” This marks a big change in the way Google is handling this shift when compared with Apple, which straight up removed 32-bit support in tvOS 13 back in 2019.

Though this development opens the door for new hardware (including a heavily rumored update to the Google TV Streamer) all of users’ apps on various Google TV (and Android TV) devices should continue to function for the foreseeable future, with developers just now needing to add 64-bit versions for maximum compatibility with the next generation of Google TV devices.