AI Search
Some Google TV owners say the platform’s search has gone sideways after the arrival of Gemini, with a glitch forcing an endless setup loop that blocks even basic queries for apps and shows.
Google began bringing Gemini to Google TV in September 2025, debuting on models like the TCL QM9K before expanding more broadly. The pitch was simple: faster, smarter voice help on the biggest screen in the house. In practice, a subset of users now report that trying to search kicks off Gemini’s onboarding every single time, derailing the experience.
The scope is unclear, but posts on community forums and Reddit show the same pattern across multiple devices and brands. That matters because Android TV OS is no niche platform; Google reported more than 150 million monthly active devices in the ecosystem, and major OEMs such as TCL and Hisense ship many models with Google TV preinstalled.
Affected users describe a loop with three familiar screens: a short explainer about Gemini, a consent prompt for “personal results” (access to items like Google Photos and Calendar), and a voice selection step. Tap “Got it,” choose allow or decline, pick a voice, and… you’re back where you started the next time you hit the mic or search key.
In one widely shared example, a user attempting to find an app is bounced to Gemini’s setup each time, regardless of pressing “No, thanks” or enabling personal results. The search never completes, and the setup wizard never “sticks,” suggesting the system isn’t saving the onboarding state.
There’s no official fix yet, but several workarounds are circulating:
These steps won’t help everyone, and they may revert after an automatic update. Still, they indicate the problem is software state rather than hardware.
Onboarding flows typically depend on a few flags: account-level consent, device-level capability checks, and a token that confirms completion. If any of those fails to persist—say, a permission toggle doesn’t write correctly, or a background service crashes before saving—the app assumes setup never happened and restarts the flow.
TVs add complexity. Many households run multiple profiles, child accounts, or guest modes, and they rely heavily on remote keys that call specific intents for search and voice. If that intent now points to Gemini’s setup instead of the standard search provider, and the completion flag never flips, you get an infinite loop. A server-side configuration flag or a buggy app update could trigger the behavior widely without a full OS update.
Search is the spine of the TV experience. When it fails, streaming feels broken—even if apps still work individually. The episode also underscores a broader risk as AI features land on TVs: assistant upgrades are promising, but they stitch together consent, identity, and system services in ways that magnify small bugs into big usability failures.
For Google, quick remediation is crucial. A server-side rollback of the offending Gemini flow, a patched Google TV or Google app update, and a clear support note would stem frustration. For users, the best near-term move is to try the workarounds above and pause automatic updates if rolling back resolves the issue.
We’ll be watching for an acknowledgment and fix from the company. Given the visibility of the problem and the core function it disrupts, expect a resolution sooner rather than later.
