Shield TV is getting Google’s ‘Discover’ Android TV homescreen starting today

Ben Schoon | Jun 17 2021 - 12:00 pm PT

A few months after it was released by Google, the Nvidia Shield TV is officially adopting the latest Android TV homescreen. Starting today, the “Discover” UI is rolling out to users, complete with “content recommendations.”

We first spotted this UI in progress for the Shield earlier this year when a screenshot popped up on the Google Play Store. As of today, though, that UI is actually on its way to users.

As mentioned at that point, this new UI for the Shield TV homescreen is known as the “Discover” homescreen for Android TV. It retains a similar navigation scheme and the same basic features as well, but adds a couple of key points. There’s a new “Discover” tab at the top of the screen that can be used to highlight shows and movies you may want to see based on your subscriptions, library, and what’s compatible with Android TV in general.

There’s also a new “Apps” tab that simply catalogs all of your installed apps on one screen, an expanded view from what’s on the “Home” tab.

The bit that’ll be viewed as unfortunate for many is that this new homescreen brings with it the “content recommendations” that Google released last February and appear at the top of the screen.

These are basically ads by another name, but are exclusive for TV shows and movies that can be viewed on Android TV, not for products and services as you’ll often find on Roku and Fire TV. Still, it may be a sore point for many users, especially as Shield was exempt to this for quite some time.

Nvidia says this revamped homescreen will be rolling out to Shield owners in the United States, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and Australia. The updated style will also be available to users in Italy and Spain, but without the “Discover” tab. The rollout starts today and should be complete by June 24th.