Google is rolling out an Android 5.1 software update for the Nexus Player TV box. If you have a Nexus Player and haven’t received the update automatically, it should roll out to your device soon. Or you can check out the latest factory images which Google has posted online.

So what’s new in Android 5.1 for Google’s TV box?

android 5.1 nexus player

Not much really. There aren’t any really big changes to the user interface — Android 5.1 looks a lot like Android 5.0 on the Nexus Player. That shouldn’t be a big surprise since the same could be said about Android 5.1 for smartphones and tablets.

But folks who have already received the update are reporting there are a few new features:

  • You can reboot without unplugging the box by choosing “restart” in the Settings -> about section.
  • There’s an option to clear the cache
  • There are reportedly other tweaks to the settings menus and updates to some Google apps

The update is specifically available for the Google Nexus Player and won’t work with Google’s other Android TV box: the ADT-1 developer kit.

via /r/Android, xda-developers, +Tony Tuttle, and +Chris Hollis

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5 replies on “Google Nexus Player gets an Android 5.1 update”

  1. They need to hurry up and add in native mapping of storage to Android. If I have to root to get my media programs to read external or network storage it is a useless operating system, especial for a media center.

  2. Maybe Intel will be the saviour of android fragmantation??? 🙂

  3. Anybody I heard the player was buggy and a hunk of junk basically. Does the update squash any bugs or help improve experience? I have my chrome cast so I have no real need except for games.

    1. Chromecast works fairly well, fairly consistently. My worst problem w/ Chromecast, is an app no longer being connected to my running Chromecast session (say, when screen is turned off for extended period), but that may be a memory management issue in Lollipop.

      Most things I can send to Chromecast, tend to not function properly if using in same manner for Nexus Player. Nexus Player needs a lot of fine tuning to interface, and I’ve seen a number of bugs in apps, likely due to it being a newer platform. There are a ton of missing apps too, items that ideally should be compatible, but are not yet available to install on Nexus Player yet.

      I much prefer my FireTV over Nexus Player currently.

    2. It was a little buggy at first, but there was some update optimizations that since stabilized a lot of the original bugs. We use it almost daily but not much further than the originally installed apps so I can attest to its general performance for “normal” use. I’m coming from the original Logitech revue, so I definitely have a point of reference there. Much much improved over that thing but miss the HDMI pass through. I also own a Chromecast but prefer the player as the daily driver. One last note, if you’re on the fence, consider waiting for the nvidia shield android TV. That seems like the best upcoming offering for the $$ based on the increased features. Otherwise, you can’t beat Chromecast for the cost and stability or the free play gift cash Google keeps tossing at you.

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