5 features streaming boxes should copy from Google’s TV Streamer

Google’s streaming devices have played a key role in shaping the streaming industry into what it is today. While they are not perfect, the platform has come up with several innovative new features with its latest streaming device, the Google TV Streamer, that are useful in daily life. There are features I would love to see Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV copy from Google TV Streamer. This article explores some of them.

5

Useful Home panel

Handy smart home integration

Although Fire TV, Roku, and Apple TV devices have home control features, Google TV Streamer’s approach is more engaging. The intuitive Home panel allows you to manage and control home devices from the smart TV. The panel appears in the upper-right corner of your screen, giving you access to all the connected devices. From here, you can control your smart devices or make individual changes. It provides a similar experience to what you get with the Google Pixel tablet’s lock screen.

For example, if you set the star button to bring up the Home panel and press it when watching a TV show, the show pauses, and the panel pulls up. Then, after you are done checking the doorbell feed, adjusting the thermostat temperature, or doing something else, your show resumes. Unlike Roku, which takes a modest approach via Alexa and Google Assistant, Google TV Streamer acts as your smart home’s hub, taking an active and direct role in helping you manage and control your smart home.

4

Personalized recommendations and content summaries

Find what to watch seamlessly

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to find a tech gadget without AI funsies, and the Streamer uses them to help you find what you want to watch. It generates accurate content summaries, review aggregations, and movie and TV show synopses, making it easy to find what to watch. Sometimes, you will find season-by-season breakdowns of top movies and TV shows. So, no more guesswork.

The Streamer uses AI and your watching habits to integrate and curate content from various platforms in the For You tab. It is the most unbiased device when it comes to content suggestions versus Roku, Amazon, or Apple, all of which tend to favor their own movies and TV shows. For example, it knew I watched 24 Live Another Day and suggested 24 Legacy on Netflix for me to stream.

3

Custom AI screensavers

Fun to have AI smarts

Another area where AI funsies manifest on the Streamer is with the screensaver. You can have it show specific photos from Google Photos, aerial earth shots, photography, classic paintings, or AI-generated photos from any description you make. For example, you can instruct it to create a screensaver that matches your living room’s décor, art, or photography. This feature gives it an advantage over other devices like the Apple 4K TV, which has similar features.

2

Simplified UI with only For You, Live, Library, and Apps tabs

Organize your content seamlessly

Source: Google

Another great feature that other streaming devices should copy from Google TV Streamer is the simplified user interface. It has four tabs: Library, Apps, (Live) TV, and For You. The Live TV tab has a customizable grid with Hit TV shows, Local News, Crime, Movies, and more. You will also find 159 Google TV Freeplay channels, plus other free channels from Haystack, Pluto TV, PLEX, and Tubi.

If that does not work for you, the Apps tab has all your applications and makes it seamless to find new apps via the Google Play Store. It also shows the applications you installed on other devices and might want to install on Google TV. The For You tab keeps tabs on what you watch across applications, so you can continue from where you left off. It also recommends new TV shows and movies depending on your viewing history.

Movies you buy from Google Play, redeem from Blue Ray digital codes, or those in the Movies Anywhere library appear in the Library tab. You will also find the movies and TV shows you added to your watchlist in this tab. Unlike other devices where everything is cluttered on the home screen, these four tabs make it easy to find what you are looking for in a jiffy.

1

Remote with a customizable button

Access the home control panel with a single-touch

The remote control has two outstanding features: a programmable button and a find-it feature. You can program the star button to pull up the home control panel, launch your favorite app, or perform another function.

The remote-finding feature allows you to find the remote easily.

When you press the find-it button on the Google TV Streamer, it initiates a loud beeping sound on the remote to help you locate it. You can also use the feature through the Google Home app on your Android tablet or phone by navigating to the Streamer tile and tapping the settings icon.

These Google TV Streamer features should benefit other streaming devices

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For several years, there was no doubt about who made the best streaming device. Roku launched the product in 2008 and did not face serious competition for a while. However, it is 2025, and the streaming landscape has changed. Other streaming device makers like Google have caught up to Roku and surpassed the American tech giant in some aspects.

From a well-designed remote with an intuitive mapping button to better Gemni AI recommendations, fun-to-have AI smarts, and a useful smart home panel, these Google TV Streamer features are highly practical. By adopting some of these features, the competition could improve user experience across their devices. Even though it’s a great streaming device, a few added features would make it even better.

Google TV Streamer

Dimensions

6.4 x 3 x 1 inches

Brand

Google