Android TV image for commercial sale purpose?

#1

Dear guys,

I have a question that if we can use the Android TV image downloaded here to implement commercial set-top TV boxes directly for public sale?

Or we need to require any lincense from Google for our ATV products??

Thanks

#2

Most tv box manufacturers use either Amlogic or Rockchip chipsets in their devices.
Radxa uses Rockchip chipsets and Rockchip has their own Google GMS license which Radxa falls under.But Rockchip has no license for AndroidTV for RK3399.

But I think if you resell devices with AndroidTV, you aren’t allowed to use AndroidTV branding on packaging for instance like official AndroidTV or Google Certified or Google Play Store according to
https://source.android.com/setup/start/brands


You must request permission from Google.

But if you just use pictures of the device and screenshots of the software it should be fine I think.
In forum posts you can elaborate more on a device.
You then have to resell devices with custom AndroidTV firmware with no Android branding and also mention to users it is AOSP AndroidTV and not official AndroidTV certified by Google.

If you look at Radxa RockPi 4, the packaging is blank, lots of other tv boxes, they just use a picture of the device on the packaging and nothing else. Some mention different Android terms but they are not actually allowed too unless they have their own Google GMS license.

But if you want full ATV Certifications like devices like Xiaomi Mi, then Google won’t give you certification unless the bootloader is locked, meaning no booting from micro-sd or USB drives and no rooting. Device software has to be completely locked and only Google can approve software updates for you which takes weeks sometimes. You will also need to hire software engineers or a company to help pass Google’s GMS tests and Google can take up to six months to approve your device.
So it’s a very long process.

I’m no legal expert but maybe it helps a little.
Radxa or someone with more knowledge might help better.

#3

Some clarification on some of those terms;

Google does NOT require that the device be “completely locked”. Yes, devices are expected to SHIP in a locked state, but it is not considered appropriate for the device to be so locked up that the user doesn’t have control of their own hardware. That is an unfortunate choice made by a lot of hardware vendors that is not enforced by Google.

However, they do require some security features to be enabled in the device that are not implemented in this particular firmware. Selinux comes to mind…

In fact, the hardware sold directly by Google (I.e., “Pixel”, formerly called “Nexus”) is shipped locked, but in a state where it is trivial to unlock it.

From Google’s point of view, the purpose of these locks is to protect the user from malicious software, NOT to prevent the user from owning their hardware.

Here is some material to read about this;
https://source.android.com/security/verifiedboot/device-state