How can I check if an app is running on an Android TV

Question

Is there a way to check if an app is running on an Android TV or Android Mobile?

I know how to check the running build. I want to start a specific service if the app is running on an Android TV vs Mobile. Was hoping to house the two under the same library.

score 46 · Answer 1 · edited May 15 '19 at 17:00

46

From Handling TV Hardware in Android Docs:

public static final String TAG = "DeviceTypeRuntimeCheck";

    UiModeManager uiModeManager = (UiModeManager) getSystemService(UI_MODE_SERVICE);
    if (uiModeManager.getCurrentModeType() == Configuration.UI_MODE_TYPE_TELEVISION) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Running on a TV Device");
    } else {
        Log.d(TAG, "Running on a non-TV Device");
}

edited May 15 '19 at 17:00

David Passmore

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answered May 05 '15 at 17:27

ms_b

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3

This is exactly what Google mentions. – Roc Boronat Jun 27 '15 at 15:40
Cannot resolve symbol getCurrentModeType. I got this error. thanks – MindRoasterMir Apr 10 '19 at 22:12
There are missing semicolon at the end of both statements. thanks – MindRoasterMir Apr 10 '19 at 22:26
This is the recommended way to do it from the Android training docs and should be the accepted answer. – ninjachippie Sep 17 '19 at 14:34

score 23 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 25 '14 at 23:52

23

private boolean isDirectToTV() {
  return(getPackageManager().hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_TELEVISION)
      || getPackageManager().hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_LEANBACK));
}

This will return true if the device is advertising itself as having either the android.hardware.type.television or android.software.leanback system features. Android TV and Fire TV handle this correctly; I have not tried it on other environment as yet.

answered Nov 25 '14 at 23:52

CommonsWare

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+1 this approach lets you easily plug in features on the corresponding platform, I just used it for the Now Playing Card on AndroidTV. – sschrass Mar 31 '15 at 09:49
FEATURE_TELEVISION is deprecated in API 21 and beyon. thanks – MindRoasterMir Apr 10 '19 at 22:16
1

@MindRoasterMir: If your `minSdkVersion` is 21 or higher, you could skip the `FEATURE_TELEVISION`/`android.hardware.type.television` parts and just use `FEATURE_LEANBACK`/`android.software.leanback`. – CommonsWare Apr 10 '19 at 22:59

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

6

Some options are:

1) Query the system for a large screen

2) Use reflection to detect TV specific classes

3) Use hasSystemFeature to detect the lack of touchscreen

More info

https://developer.android.com/training/tv/start/hardware.html

And a similar answer for Google TV

Identify GoogleTv from Android app

edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

Community

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answered Nov 25 '14 at 23:52

Robert Estivill

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The Android Team recommended check for androidTV this way https://developer.android.com/training/tv/start/hardware.html – leafartist Nov 26 '14 at 00:41
For whatever reason, the recommendations by the Android Team did not work for me. Testing for the lack of a touchscreen, as suggested by Robert, was successful. – Casey Perkins Apr 30 '19 at 17:17

Beloo · Answer 4 · 2021-04-06T09:10:23.560

Summarizing previous answers:

If uiModeManager.currentModeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_TELEVISION that's definitely a TV
We can't rely on currentModeType to say that it is a TV, because some TV devices are actually return UI_MODE_TYPE_NORMAL
So we should check FEATURE_TELEVISION for pre-lollipop and FEATURE_LEANBACK for lollipop devices.
if you want to support not only tv's, but stationary devices with screen, you may add additional checks to predict it
you should be careful with that to not show tv ui on the phone

This is a kotlin code we actually use:

enum class UiModeType {
    NORMAL,
    DESK,
    CAR,
    TV,
    APPLIANCE,
    WATCH,
    VR
}

private val modeType: Int
    get() = uiModeManager.currentModeType

fun getUiModeType(): UiModeType = when {
    modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_APPLIANCE -> UiModeType.APPLIANCE
    modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_CAR -> UiModeType.CAR
    modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_DESK -> UiModeType.DESK
    modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_TELEVISION -> UiModeType.TV

    sdkInt >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT_WATCH &&
        modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_WATCH -> UiModeType.WATCH

    sdkInt >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O &&
        modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_VR_HEADSET -> UiModeType.VR

    isLikelyTelevision() -> UiModeType.TV

    modeType == UI_MODE_TYPE_NORMAL -> UiModeType.NORMAL
    else -> UiModeType.NORMAL
}

private fun isLikelyTelevision(): Boolean = with(packageManager) {
    return@with when {
        sdkInt >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP &&
            hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_LEANBACK) -> true
        sdkInt < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP &&
            @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
            hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_TELEVISION) -> true
        isBatteryAbsent() &&
            hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_USB_HOST) &&
            hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_ETHERNET) &&
            !hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_TOUCHSCREEN)
}

@SuppressLint("NewApi")
private fun isBatteryAbsent(): Boolean {
    return if (sdkInt >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
        batteryManager?.getIntProperty(BatteryManager.BATTERY_PROPERTY_CAPACITY) == 0
    } else {
        false
    }
}

How can I check if an app is running on an Android TV

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