Insuring Cross-Platform Compatibility for Connected TVs based on Android TV

Project in Nutshell: Our client detached their software from a vendor-specific SDK to attract up to 30% of new audience and reduce maintenance costs by 20%. To make it possible, we designed and developed a cross-platform abstraction layer and optimised system services for Android TV.

Client & Challenge

Our client, a leading provider of TV solutions, was challenged to redesign architecture and develop a platform abstraction layer. All the client's system applications were tightly integrated with the SDK provided by MediaTek, which limited cross-compatibility and prevented deployment on third-party systems.

Solution

1. Concept Development

Our solution aimed to improve Android system services. We developed a platform abstraction layer that encapsulated all platform-dependent functionality.

To implement the required functionality, we needed to address the following tasks:

Design a cross-platform interface between applications and the HW platform to increase the number of supported platforms.
Develop middleware API and migrate all applications on the designed interface.
Provide software engineers with a sample implementation of the system functionality to develop and debug applications without an actual device.

2. Software Development

Through careful planning and development, we successfully achieved all project goals and completed the platform abstraction layer implementation. It was designed to include dependencies required for each platform during firmware build selectively.

In addition, we solved additional tasks to improve overall system performance and user experience:

Refactored existing applications to remove platform-specific dependencies and optimised some applications to reduce the size of artefacts.
Developed a user-friendly application for system customisation based on the Jetpack Preference library.
Adapted user interfaces for Google TV compatibility, which enabled smooth operation on both Android TV and Google TV platforms.

Business Value

With our comprehensive approach, we addressed not only the initial challenges and additionally improved performance, scalability, and compatibility of the software, resulting in a reliable TV platform.

The system upgrade and API implementation in Android TV devices will help our client achieve the following results:

Increased market reach due to implementing a new cross-platform API. The client will be able to attract new customers from various markets by developing devices on different chips, with a projected increase in customer base of 30%.
Reduced maintenance costs, as middleware reduces the need to make significant code changes with each SDK update, which will reduce ongoing maintenance costs by approximately 20%.

More of What We Do for TV Solutions
Smart TV Apps: learn more about our smart TV application development services on various platforms: Tizen, webOS, Android TV and others.
A Cross-Platform Mobile TV App: а case study on mobile TV app development for Heaven TV7 with an audience in 90 countries.
TV App for Android Automotive: a case study of how we developed a News Broadcasting TV app based on Android Automotive for IVI systems.

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