ANDROID TV — GOOGLE PLAY
Publish an Android TV app: what Google Play requires, and how to ship yours from a web app
Updated July 23, 2026
What Google Play requires for an Android TV app
These come from Google's Android TV quality guidelines (the IDs in brackets) and its publishing steps for TV. An app that misses one is not listed for TV: Google tells you what to fix, and you submit a new version.
| Requirement | What the build does | What is left to you |
|---|---|---|
| Launcher entry on the TV home screen (TV-ML) | Adds the leanback launcher category, so the app appears on the home row. | Nothing. |
| Touchscreen not required (TV-MT) | Declares the touchscreen optional, so TVs can install the app. | Do not depend on hardware a TV lacks, such as a camera or GPS. |
| Every function works with the D-pad (TV-DP) | Injects spatial navigation: the arrows move focus to the nearest element, OK clicks it, with a visible focus outline. | Make actions real buttons and links. Hover menus, swipe-only gestures and tiny targets do not work with a remote. |
| Back returns to the home screen (TV-DB) | The Back key goes back through your pages, then leaves the app. | Do not trap Back inside a modal or an endless redirect. |
| Landscape, nothing cut off by the screen edges (TV-LO, TV-OV) | Runs full screen, in landscape. | Keep a margin around your layout and text large enough to read from the couch. |
| Launcher banner, 320 × 180, with the app name (TV-LB, TV-BN) | Adds a TV banner with your icon on a dark background. | The banner does not show your app name yet: if the review flags TV-BN, that is the reason. |
| App bundle, policies, works as described (TV-G1 to G3) | Signed AAB targeting Android 16 (API level 36). One universal app: the same bundle installs on phones and TVs. | An app that does what its listing says. |
| TV listing: at least one TV screenshot and a TV banner graphic, “Android TV” in the description | Generates a 1280 × 720 TV banner for the listing, and a 1920 × 1080 TV screenshot when the capture of your site succeeds. | Mention Android TV in your description, and add your own TV screenshot if the generated one is missing. |
| Test credentials (TV-G5) | — | If the app needs an account, give Google a test login with the submission. |
| Android TV release and TV review | — | When you publish, add the Android TV form factor and accept the TV review. Google reviews TV separately from the phone app and emails the result. |
How to publish your web app on Android TV, step by step
1. Build with the Android TV option
Paste your HTTPS URL — the same web app your phone users get — and turn on Android TV. The build adds the launcher entry, the banner and remote navigation, and signs the bundle with your project's key.
2. Test it with a real remote
Install it on a TV or a Google TV box, ideally through an internal testing track. Go through every screen with the arrows, OK and Back only: anything you cannot reach that way, a reviewer cannot reach either.
3. Prepare the TV listing
Add the TV banner and at least one TV screenshot, and mention Android TV in the description. Give a test login if the app needs one.
4. Opt in to Android TV and publish
Add the Android TV form factor to your release and accept the TV review. The phone app and the TV app share one listing and one package name.
5. Read the TV review result
Approved: the app becomes visible to Android TV users. Not approved: Google lists the criteria to fix — the table above tells you which ones are in the build and which are in your site.
Will a web app pass Google's TV review? The honest answer
The build covers the technical part. What decides the rest is whether your web app is usable from a couch with five buttons. Apps with clear, button-driven layouts — a menu, cards, a detail page — pass most easily. What gets apps refused is the web habits a remote cannot do: menus that open on hover, carousels that only swipe, forms that start with a text field, and content that hugs the edge of the screen. Test with a real remote on an internal track before going public; fixing a layout on your site takes effect in the app straight away, without a new build.
Which web apps work well on Android TV
- Live dashboards and analytics read from across the room
- Kiosk and digital-signage screens in shops, offices and waiting rooms
- Media, catalog and course browsing
- Menus, schedules and boards that update from your back office
Where your Android TV app reaches
- Google Play on Android TV and Google TV: Sony, TCL, Hisense, Philips, Xiaomi, Nvidia Shield, Chromecast with Google TV
- The same app on phones and tablets, from the same listing
- Amazon Fire TV runs Android apps from the Amazon Appstore — we have not verified our TV build there yet
- Not Android, so outside this build: Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS), Apple TV, Roku
Price
Android TV is included in SHIP, €39 once, which covers one app on every platform — Android, Android TV, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux — with the first build plus three updates per platform, for 12 months. The free test build is a phone APK with our logo; it does not include the TV version.
Android TV publishing — frequently asked questions
Can I publish a web app to Android TV?+
Yes. SaasToStore wraps your web app in a native Android shell with the leanback launcher entry and remote-control navigation, and produces a signed app bundle that Google Play can list for Android TV. Approval depends on your app being usable with a remote.
What does Google Play require for an Android TV app?+
A launcher entry for the TV home screen, a 320 × 180 banner with the app name, full D-pad navigation, no touchscreen requirement, landscape with nothing cut off, an app bundle, at least one TV screenshot and a TV banner in the listing, test credentials if the app needs a login, and opting in to Android TV when you publish. The table on this page shows which of these the build handles.
Do I need a Google Play developer account?+
Yes, to publish: it costs 25 USD once, on Google's side. Personal developer accounts created after November 2023 must also run a closed test with 12 testers for 14 days before their first production release; organization accounts are exempt.
Is there a free Android TV build?+
No. The free test build is an Android phone APK with the SaasToStore logo, to see the result on your own phone. Android TV is included in SHIP, €39 once, with every other platform of the same app.
Does the same app also work on phones?+
Yes. The build is universal: the touchscreen and the leanback launcher are both declared optional, so one bundle installs on phones, tablets and TVs, under one listing and one package name.
How is D-pad navigation handled?+
We inject a spatial-navigation layer into the app: the arrow keys move focus to the nearest element in that direction and OK clicks it, with a visible focus outline. Apps whose actions are real buttons and links work best.
Why was my app refused for Android TV?+
Google's email names the criteria. The usual ones for web apps are TV-DP (something cannot be reached with the remote), TV-OV (content cut off at the screen edges) and TV-BN (the banner lacks the app name — our banner shows your icon only for now). Fix your site, or the listing, and submit a new version.
Does it work on Amazon Fire TV?+
Fire TV runs Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, but we have not verified our TV build on a Fire TV device yet, so we do not promise it.
Related pages
Put your web app on Android TV
Paste your URL, turn on Android TV, and we build the signed bundle.
Build my Android TV app