Finding out which Android version your TV runs
· 2 min read
Your television's Android version decides which commands work, which packages exist and even which apps you can install. Worth knowing before anything else.
From the menu
Settings → Device preferences → About → Android version.
You will see something like "Android 9" or "Android TV 11". Enough to start.
Over ADB, in more detail
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release
And the API level, which sometimes matters more than the marketing number:
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.sdk
Quick equivalences:
| Android | API | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| 7.0 / 7.1 | 24 / 25 | 2016–2017 |
| 8.0 / 8.1 | 26 / 27 | 2017–2018 |
| 9 | 28 | 2018–2019 |
| 10 | 29 | 2019–2020 |
| 11 | 30 | 2020–2021 |
| 12 | 31 | 2021–2022 |
If your television runs Android 7 or 8, you are squarely in the profile this site exists for: hardware that works perfectly and software abandoned years ago.
The rest of the spec sheet
All at once:
adb shell getprop ro.product.model
adb shell getprop ro.product.manufacturer
adb shell getprop ro.board.platform
adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint
The fingerprint is the most informative: manufacturer, model, version and build number in a single line.
For memory:
adb shell cat /proc/meminfo | head -3
A television with 1 GB of RAM and Android 9 is going to feel tight whatever you do. Removing telemetry and advertising genuinely helps there; on a 3 GB set you will barely notice.
Why we ask for it
When you send us your model for the directory, the Android version is the second thing we need after the model code. Two televisions from the same manufacturer on different Android versions can carry completely different packages, and an entry that does not distinguish them is worth nothing.