After a recent phone upgrade, I had my old Moto G 2025 just lying around, waiting for a fun experiment or project to give its newly disconnected life purpose. Smart TVs and devices like the Nvidia Shield have their issues, but I thought, “Why not mess with Android TV a bit and set up an ATV experience on my phone?”
Android TV is a functional operating system, already loaded on plenty of TVs and different streaming boxes.
I wanted to find a way to breathe new life into an old device and tap into the potential of the Android TV OS. Plus, I've been meaning to set up an Android TV project for a while, so I conscripted the old Moto G for the task.
Making sure the phone will work
Along with a brief primer on Android TV
Android TV has been around since 2014 and is built into a lot of smart TVs, but you can use your old phone to create a better experience. It's also worth noting that Google TV and Android TV are not the same, as Google TV focuses more on content recommendations and a minimal UI.
Android TV is centered around the apps. That's why we're doing this experiment. I was concerned the low-powered Motorola might not be up to the task. But after checking the specs, I knew it would work just fine:
- 4GB + 2GB RAM (the extra 2 is from RAM Boost)
- 128 GB storage
- It runs Android 16, codenamed Baklava, which is from 2025.
- It's unlocked/unattached to a carrier.
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