It’s easy to make an older 'dumb' TV feel new by attaching an Android TV box or stick, but it’s not quite that simple when you just have a Raspberry Pi for your DIY project. Even though the homebrew tinkering flagbearer uses the same ARM architecture as most Android devices, porting Android to the Pi has always been a tricky process. Nonetheless, XDA Senior Member KonstaT has been responsible for compiling Android for the popular credit card-sized computer and his latest effort now shoehorns Android TV 13 to the Raspberry Pi 4.

Raspberry Pi 4 running the unofficial Android TV 13 build

This Android TV 13 build for the Raspberry Pi is based upon the LineageOS 20 codebase and includes the latest November 2022 security patch. A major bonus here is that this release is also compatible with the Raspberry Pi 400, which is a full-fledged compact PC all contained within a mini keyboard form factor. The Compute Module 4 can run this port as well, although you should opt for the 2GB RAM variant at least and attach it to a suitable carrier board to run the operating system.

Unlike the previous Android 13 port by KonstaT, the ROM runs Android in TV mode, and not as a typical tablet interface. That's likely a better fit for the Raspberry Pi, as you can use a standard IR remote control for navigating the UI from your couch after pairing it with an external GPIO IR module.

Notably, power users can boot the ROM from an external USB storage media. The parameter can be set by heading over to the /boot/config.txt. The forum thread for the ROM says hardware-accelerated video playback is currently missing. Furthermore, you can't utilize Chromecast as it's not Google-certified port. The builds work with Android TV-compatible Gapps packages, though, so you can access the Play Store if needed.

Android TV 13 on the Raspberry Pi 4 is not the only feat here, as the developer has also compiled an unofficial LineageOS 20 build for the tiny ARM-powered PCs. If you want to learn more, or give one of the ROM variants a try on your own Raspberry Pi, check out the forum thread link below.

Download Android TV 13 port for the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, Pi 400, and Compute Module 4