TNT and TBS recently upgraded their Android apps with a new interface, but lost Android TV compatibility in the process. Now, Turner has quickly responded with updated apps. TNT and TVS are once again available for Android TV, including the NVIDIA Shield TV.
Watch TNT and Watch TBS first arrived on Android TV back in August of 2017. The apps let users watch shows and movies from the networks on their Android TV devices. It also offered the live stream of the East Coast and West Coast feeds of the channels.
Turner Entertainment updated the TNT and TBS apps to version 5 just three weeks ago. When they released the new update, the app was no longer compatible with Android TV devices. If you already had these apps installed on an NVIDIA Shield TV, they continued to work. However, the apps disappeared from the TV Google Play Store, and no longer showed up in search results. The loss of these apps was mentioned in a recent interview Android TV senior director Shalini Govil-Pai had with Jared Newman of Techhive.
Now version 5.1.2 is available, and it returns TNT and TBS apps to Android TV. Previously installed apps will update automatically to the latest version. The apps are back in the TV Play Store as well as search results. The new version has a fresh look, with new minimalist menus and all the same features as before. As an added bonus, once I signed in to the TNT app with my live streaming login, the TBS app was auto logged in when I opened it.
It may be a coincidence that these updated apps appeared just as Google I/O is about to begin. However, there has been real movement in Android TV apps recently, with apps like NCAA March Madness and NBC Sports arriving in the last few months. Also, Google has promised a renewed focus on Android TV, and new hardware announcements soon. While I wish for a Made By Google device to combine the simplicity and size of Chromecast with the power of Android TV, most current Android TV users are happy to just get more and better apps. Fingers crossed that Hulu and DirecTV Now are paying attention.
Check out Watch TNT on Google Play Store
Check out Watch TBS on Google Play Store
