Sources: Google preparing ‘ADT-4’ developer box for Android TV with upgraded specs

Ben Schoon | Dec 6 2022 - 11:00 am PT

After its two-year-old streaming dongle for Android TV developers goes by the wayside, we’ve confirmed that Google is preparing an ADT-4 streaming box for Android TV development which brings a number of upgrades.

Google has designated three devices so far as Android TV’s developer device, eligible for new builds of the platform and designed with app testing in mind. We confirmed earlier this week that ADT-3, the latest of this line of devices, had been discontinued as it has been out of stock for months. ADT-3 was first launched in 2019 and is still the only physical hardware that can run the latest Android TV updates, including Android TV 13 which launched just last week.

We now have evidence that Google is preparing an ADT-4 device for Android TV development which has upgraded specs and a box form factor rather than another dongle.

9to5Google has viewed documentation that explicitly refers to a new streaming box as “ADT-4” and a “Hybrid Google Developer Kit” with TV tuner hardware with support for standards including ATSC 3.0 and DVB-S2. The streaming box is powered by an Amlogic S905X4 processor, considerably newer than the S905Y2 in ADT-3.

This device appears to be based on a developer box currently sold by DroidLogic.tv. There are currently no references to ADT-4 on the listing, but the hardware appears the same as the documentation we’ve viewed. If so, that would point to ADT-4 including 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and more input/output than any other Android TV developer device. This includes TV tuner hardware, HDMI out, multiple USB ports including USB-C, 3.5mm audio and optical audio out, as well as a microSD card slot and built-in microphones and a speaker for Google Assistant.

*DroidLogic’s Android TV developer box that ADT-4 is believed to be based on*

These ports make the device far better suited to Android TV’s current state. TV tuner hardware better allows for developers to test their apps for TVs with Android TV OS built-in, while more and more Android TV devices have been integrating native support for far-field microphones and an always-listening Google Assistant. Having multiple USB ports also improves the process of connecting external hardware such as a PC, which has been a bit difficult on the dongle form factor of ADT-3.

Further, we’ve uncovered references to “ADT4” in Android code changes created by Amlogic, the maker of the S905X4 chip the device uses. We found a direct connection between “ADT4” and the Amlogic model number AH212, which is a device that has been worked on in Android code since early 2021 and is also being used as a developer device for YouTube. Notably, one of these code changes was found with Android TV 14, which appears to be in development for ADT-4.

Everything we’ve seen points at a Q4 2022 release for ADT-4, but with just three weeks left in 2022, we’d assume this timeline may have shifted to sometime in 2023. ADT-3 was released for purchase by developers in January 2020. DroidLogic sells its developer box for $199, which is considerably more expensive than the $79 that ADT-3 was sold for.

When reached for comment, Google said it had “no plans” to share at this time.

Kyle Bradshaw contributed to this story.