Google Play: Declaring an App is Only for TVs

Question

I'm trying to publish an Android TV app, but the developer console is saying: "You need to add at least 2 non-Android TV screenshots." But this apk is only for Android TV, since there's another apk specific for tablets and phones. How can I target only Android TV?

Also, I would like to submit this particular APK only for NexusPlayer, and then add other Android TVs as the app is tested on them and the compatibility confirmed. The problem is that the developer console starts with almos 3000 devices (including tablets and phones) set as compatible by default, and I can only see a manual disable function.

EDIT

A temporary solution was to target only large and xlarge screens, reducing the number of auto-supported devices to 800. Still had to manually disable the unwanted ones, but with less overkill.

 <supports-screens android:smallScreens="false"
        android:normalScreens="false"
        android:largeScreens="true"
        android:xlargeScreens="true"
        android:requiresSmallestWidthDp="720" />

Philbin

Answer 1

Yes, you have to upload screenshots for Android TV and one other device, even if it's only for Android TV.

To limit device compatibility, make sure you have the following in your manifest:

<uses-feature android:name="android.software.leanback" android:required="true" />

This will limit it to Android TV devices, and then you can manually limit from there as needed.

Inherent

Worked like a charm! This drastically reduced the number of devices to TVs only. Thanks a lot. – Philbin

O.M.G. It was there. And I never figure it out. developer.android.com/training/tv/start/start#leanback-req – Commentary

Answer 2

For the first part, it sounds like a limitation on the Play Console. Just upload two of the same TV screenshots that you already have uploaded and you're going to be just fine.

For the second part, I guess you need to need to go through all the 3000 devices manually. You could also restrict the range by specifying that your APK is x86-only.

Devonadevondra