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Google TV Pushes Pause on New Freeplay App for Most Devices

The app caused the Google TV interface to crash on a number of devices upon initial rollout, and Google’s engineers are going back under the hood.

David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
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David Satin

It’s not often that companies have to disable new streaming apps when they launch, even temporarily. Such apps are usually months or even years in the making and go through thousands of cumulative hours of testing to ensure they are ready for the public. Despite those rigors, a new report from 9 to 5 Google indicates that the “Google TV Freeplay” app is being pulled from many Google TV devices so the company can fix some major bugs that are plaguing it.

Key Details

  • The Freeplay app is being temporarily shut down to fix a bug that causes it to crash on many devices.
  • The app will return sometime in the coming months.
  • Users of the new Google TV Streamer can still use the Freeplay app.

The Google TV Freeplay app first launched in August, and houses hundreds of free streaming channels offered by Google. It featured an electronic programming guide and other easy-to-use features, making accessing and viewing these channels a sinch.

The issue, as 9 to 5 Google reports, is that after launching, many users found the Freeplay app would crash immediately after being started. Now, Google is pulling the app to try to fix the issue once and for all, though it may take a little time to get it back up and running.

“While rolling out the new Google TV Freeplay guide, we discovered an issue that can increase crashes for some users,” Google told 9 to 5 Google. “We have disabled access to the new guide on affected devices until the fix is in place. The fix will begin rolling out soon, and the updated guide will be available for all Google TV devices in the coming months.”

One device that has not been affected is the new Google TV Streamer, a streaming player first rolled out by Google in early August. The Freeplay app is staying available on the Google TV Streamer, and the free channels found within can still be watched on other devices while the overhaul of the Freeplay app goes forward.

So, no need to fret, owners of Google TV-powered streaming devices. The Freeplay app is going away for now, but it will be back, and you can still access the free streaming channels you were getting. If you feel it might be time to upgrade your hardware a bit, you can shop for the new Google TV Streamer here.

David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Read full bio ›
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