Direct answer
Android TV app development is building applications for televisions and set-top boxes running Android TV or Google TV. It differs from phone development in its input model and viewing distance: everything is driven by a remote control D-pad and read from across a room, which changes navigation, focus and layout.
Android TV
Google's television platform, used on smart TVs, streaming devices and operator set-top boxes. Applications are built with the Android toolchain but follow leanback interface conventions, where a directional pad moves a focus state rather than a pointer selecting a target.
What connected TV changes
A phone application ported to a television does not work, and the reasons are specific.
D-pad navigation
Focus moves up, down, left and right. Traversal order has to be deliberate, and focus has to be restored correctly when data reloads underneath it.
Ten-foot interface
Type sizes, contrast and hit areas are set for a viewer several metres away rather than at arm's length.
Jetpack Compose for TV
Focus handling, television component libraries, and the interface state that comes with them.
Playback
ExoPlayer, adaptive streaming, and DRM on devices with far tighter memory and processing limits than a phone.
Store compliance
The Play Store applies separate requirements to television applications, including banner assets and leanback launcher behaviour.
Device variation
Operator boxes and OEM televisions differ in performance, remote layout and firmware more than phones do.
Frequently asked
This is the practice the AI work is built on
We still take this work on. If the system you are describing should also be making decisions on its own, start with the AI side.