The Google TV platform is getting a bunch of new features via a software update. The biggest news here is likely a novel integration of YouTube Shorts. The platform will soon display a row of personalized Shorts directly on the home page.
In other words, the short-form vertical video format continues to move off of phones and onto bigger screens. Disney+ recently got in on this trend with the introduction of an in-house vertical video platform. Google has even seemingly left the door open to integrate other platforms, as the announcement says this feature is “starting with YouTube Shorts.” Time will tell if TikTok and Instagram Reels end up on Google TV-enabled devices.
The platform is also adding some generative AI features because, well, it’s 2026 and no device is safe. The AI image generator Nano Banana is now available on the Google TV platform, allowing users to “make the room laugh” by adding “twists to any photo.”
The company is bringing the video-generation tool Veo to the platform. This lets people make videos via prompts. You know the drill. Google gives an example of a user asking for a video of their grandfather performing a dance in space.
This update also brings some smaller features. Google Gemini has been integrated into the Photos app, allowing for prompt-based queries. That app has also received the AI editing suite Google Photos Remix.
YouTube Shorts integration doesn’t come until this summer, but everything else is already available. Most of these tools only work with Gemini-enabled devices.
