Guides/Appearance

Change the player controls on Android TV

On Android TV, the controls that appear when you press OK have seven designs. They differ in shape and typography only — every control does the same job in each.

Where to find it

Settings ›Appearance ›Player ›Player Controls

Look forA Player section at the very bottom, after Screen layouts and Display

Android TV onlyApple TV runs a different player with one look, so the section is absent there

DefaultMarquee

Per profileEvery profile keeps its own

Steps

Open Settings › Appearance.
Scroll to the bottom. Past Screen layouts and Display there is a Player section.
Select Player Controls. The row names the design you are on.
Move through the list — each entry describes itself underneath.
Press OK to choose. Start any video and press OK to see it.

The seven designs

Every dock holds the same controls in the same order: playback on the left, then the audio, subtitle and playlist buttons pushed to the right.

Season 2 · Episode 4

The Long Afternoon

18:24-42:11

Marquee — editorial serif, glyphs on no buttons, a hairline progress rule and an underline for focus. The default.

The Long Afternoon

S2 E4 · 1080p · 5.1

18:24-42:11

Play

OTT — the Apple TV transport dock, with skip buttons either side of play and a caption underneath naming whatever has focus.

Now playing

The Long Afternoon

18:24-42:11

Frost — a translucent panel floating inset from the screen edges, so the picture still shows around it.

S2 E4The Long Afternoon

Drama · 60 min

18:24-42:11

Prev Play Next Audio Subtitles 1080P

Broadcast — condensed caps with the show name leading, labelled pill buttons and spec chips. Channel-ident styling.

The Long Afternoon

S2 E4 · 1080p

18:24-42:11

Pulse — the app indigo carried into the player: a glowing progress bar and a ring around whatever has focus.

S2 E4 The Long Afternoon 1.0× 18:24 / 60:35

Ticket — everything on one slim band with the progress line along its top edge, so the picture keeps most of the screen.

The Long Afternoon

18:2460:35

Legacy — the controls Debrify used before this setting existed, kept for anyone who preferred them.

Good to know

The choice is per profile, so two people sharing a TV can use different docks.
It changes appearance only. Every dock has the same controls and the same DPAD behaviour.
Debrify TV has its own setting. Player › Debrify TV Player, directly underneath, styles the channel player instead.
Apple TV does not have this setting. It runs a different player with a single look, so the whole Player section is absent there.
Phones and desktops have a row with the same name, but it is a different setting: Screen layouts › Player Controls styles the touch dock, offering a style, a palette and a size instead of these seven designs.
The pictures above are illustrations drawn to each design, not screenshots — the backdrop is an abstract gradient rather than a video frame.

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