Google is ending support for smart displays from Lenovo, JBL and LG

Google is dropping support for several smart display devices such as those from Lenovo, LG, and JBL. That has to do with the fact that the company is scaling back support for Android Things, the OS that was once intended for IoT devices.

Google is stopping updates for the 7, 8 and 10 inch Lenovo Smart Displays, the JBL Link View and the LG Xboom AI ThinQ WK9. These are three of the most popular smart displays, a type of tablet that could be used for video calling, for example. Google writes in an update on a support page that it immediately no longer releases software updates for those devices. They can still be used, but Google warns that “the quality of video calls and meetings may deteriorate.” Also, the devices are probably no longer safe to use, because if vulnerabilities are found, they will no longer be repaired.

The smart displays run on Google’s operating system for internet-of-things devices, Android Things. It started in 2015 under the name Brillo and was intended to control IoT, but the OS never became popular. Google already partially stopped the platform in 2020, but it was about the console where users created projects themselves. Since 2019, Google has already focused the OS on smart speakers, a number of which were still in circulation.

Several other smart screens will continue to work. Devices such as the Lenovo Smart Clock run on other operating systems. In addition, Google still has its own Nest Hub.