Google TVs are finally getting a “Find My Remote” feature as part of the wider upgrade to the Android TV platform, which was unveiled at the Google I/O event recently.

The update comes alongside additional new features, including improved performance, AI recommendations, smart home hubs and energy modes. 

According to Android Authority, references to the Find My Remote feature were discovered within an emulator build of Android 14 for TV, which was released to developers after the Google I/O event. 

Find My Remote is a useful capability that already exists on some TV devices, including the latest Roku streaming sticks and TVs, and others like Walmart’s Onn 4K TV Pro. It allows users to press a button on the device that will activate a beeping sound and flashing LED light on the remote, making it much easier to locate. It works so long as the remote is within 30 feet of the device. 

Android Authority’s report suggests Find My Remote will ship natively with Android 14 TV devices, but it’s not clear if it will come to older devices. Of course, the feature will only work for remotes that have a speaker built-in and the requisite LED light to emit the necessary assistance. 

Households with young children and unusually hungry sofas know all too well the frustration that being unable to find the remote leads too, and so this feature promises to be a very welcome addition. 

As for the other features coming to Android TV 14, these include what Google says will be a “snappier, more responsive TV experience”, but these are just words, so we’ll have to wait and see what, if anything, is different in that respect. 

A more promising update is the new Energy Mode, as seen here:

Android 14 TVs will also get smart home capabilities that enable them to act as smart home hubs, and if a Google TV is fitted with a Thread chip, it will also be able to act as a Thread border router, similar to Google Nest Hub and Apple TV 4K. 

There’s also a new picture-in-picture feature that will come to “qualified” Android 14 TV models, Google said, without really explaining those qualifications. For now though, the PiP feature appears to be somewhat limited, as it only works with non-media sources, such as showing a video camera feed. So you won’t be able to keep an eye on the football game while simultaneously watching Coronation Street, or at least, not for a while. But it’s more than possible that the PiP feature will be expanded in future to support these kinds of use cases. 

Finally, Google also talked about the coming arrival of generative AI content recommendations and descriptions of that content, which may or may not be a meaningful update. 

The Android 14 for TV platform is said to be available now, and it may well show up on new devices later this year. That said, it is not clear which TVs will get the new platform, as many new Google TV models for 2024, including those made by Sony, TCL and Philips, will run the Google TV platform that’s based on Android 12 for TV, rather than Android 14. 

Google’s existing Chromecast with Google TV runs Android 12, but it’s rumored that the company has an updated device in the works that could launch later this year. If it does, it could well be one of the first TV devices to ship with Android 14.