Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Strings within Google Meet indicate that the app will soon be deprecated on Android TV.
- There’s no date mentioned for deprecation, but the strings suggest the app will implore you to consider alternatives.
TVs are mainly used for streaming movies and shows, but they are also good devices for video calls. Some TVs come with a camera and microphone, but in most cases, you have to attach a USB camera and microphone to the TV or the Android TV box. Once you do that, you can use apps like Google Meet to video call other people. If you rely on this, we have some bad news for you: Google Meet could soon be deprecated on the Android TV platform.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Google Meet’s latest update includes some strings that indicate that it’s the end of the road for the app on the Android TV platform.
Code
<string name="atv_deprecation_body">Soon you won't be able to use Google Meet on your Android TV to make calls. Click below for alternatives and to learn more.</string>
<string name="atv_deprecation_title">Meet on Android TV is going away</string>As you can see, the strings are quite straightforward. You will soon be unable to use Google Meet on your Android TV to make calls. The app isn’t sticking around for other needs either and will go away entirely. The word “deprecation” is quite clearly mentioned, leaving no room for any doubt.
Google’s documentation on setting up Google Meet Calling (or erstwhile Google Duo Calling) has not yet been updated to reflect this upcoming change. We don’t know when Google plans to announce this or if this is a decision that is still being weighed. Google Meet was removed from Samsung TVs sometime in 2023, so its impending deprecation from Android TV doesn’t come as a complete surprise either.
We’ve reached out to Google for a comment. We’ll report back when we learn more.
