After the connectivity failure suffered by the Chromecasts a few weeks ago, today we bring you much more encouraging news for those who use Google TV. As the media Android Authority discovered when analyzing the code of the latest version of the Google TV app (4.39.4903.975565386.7-release), the company would be testing a function to use the phone as gamepad and play directly on TV.
The finding is based on a couple of new text strings within the APK: “gamepad” and “joystick”, as well as a parameter called GamingRemoteFeature__enable_gamepad. There are no screenshots or a visible feature yet, so this is a hint of what could be coming, not an official announcement.
A logical solution, but one that arrives late
Google TV has never had a serious proposal for the gaming in the living room. The hardware of most of their devices is quite limited to play demanding games, and this is compounded by a more basic problem: there is no official controller. After the crash of Stadiait is understandable that Google prefers not to launch its own physical controller, so turning the phone into a controller seems the most reasonable option, especially considering that the company has already introduced a mode of touch gamepad for foldables on Android 17.
Of course, it is advisable not to get too excited. Touch controls have never been the most comfortable to play, and on top of that here you would have to look at the TV screen while pressing invisible buttons on your phone. It's not an original idea either: There are several third-party apps on Google Play They already offer this type of remote control to play on large screens.
Even with these limitations, adding this function natively would be a step forward for a platform that has been lagging behind in this area for years compared to rivals such as fire tv or the consoles themselves. If it finally arrives, it won't change Google TV's gaming reputation overnight, but at least it shows that the idea is still on the table.
Would you use your phone as a controller to play on the TV, or do you prefer a physical controller?
