Google TV now requires 2GB of RAM, higher than Chromecast with Google TV (HD)

2 weeks ago 3

Google is setting new requirements for Google TV devices to have at least 2GB of RAM, a move that might prevent some of the lackluster experiences we’ve seen in the past.

Google TV, based on Android TV OS, has never had particularly high system requirements. Devices could ship with not-very-powerful chips and minimal amounts of storage, for better or for worse. But When devices would go for the bare minimum, it wasn’t always a good experience.

Now, Google is upping the requirements.

A new change submitted to AOSP as spotted by Android Authority raises the minimum required RAM to 2GB for all Google TV devices. That’s a notable change, as Google’s own Chromecast with Google TV (HD) shipped with a mere 1.5GB of RAM. Other devices, such as Chromecast (4K) and mid-range TV sets from Hisense and others already have 2GB of RAM, while the new Google TV Streamer has 4GB.

This change is clearly looking at the quality of the experience on Google TV devices, as performance issues have been commonly associated with the platform due to hiccups with Chromecast with Google TV (4K).

Notably, this RAM allotment likely won’t have a direct impact on performance as much as it will set a baseline. While Google’s 4K-capable Chromecast was faster on the whole compared to the HD version, it wasn’t to a large degree.

This change also speaks to Google’s requirements for devices on its latest living room experience. Android TV is actually having its RAM requirement lowered to 1GB, but Google has always had stricter requirements for Google TV. For instance, the company has only recently started approving more types of projectors for the new experience, where brands were previously stuck using Android TV instead.

It’s unclear when this new memory requirement will go into effect for new Google TV devices, but we’d imagine it will be sooner rather than later if it’s not already in effect behind the scenes.