Google TV’s ‘Magic Button’ makes its debut — but not on a Chromecast

Google’s rumored “Magic Button” shortcut for Google TV has been spotted in the wild on a real-world remote for an upcoming streaming box... made by Walmart.

AFTVnews got hold of Walmart’s still-unreleased Onn 4K Pro — a Google TV-powered streaming box — and the remote features the new star button in the top right corner. The device simply calls it the “customizable button,” and it can be programmed as a shortcut to an app or to allow you to change inputs. It replaces the dedicated TV input button on previous Onn streaming box remotes.

The button has been leaking as part of Google TV-adjacent hardware for years, but it hasn’t actually showed up until now. It first appeared in marketing materials for Google’s debut Chromecast TV in 2020. Then last year, it appeared inside Android TV beta code, suggesting it could come to an upcoming Chromecast under the name “Magic Button.” Google has its I/O developer conference coming on May 14th, and it’s possible the company could reveal a new version of Chromecast there.

The Onn 4K Pro was leaked last week in a YouTube livestream by Superdell-TV. The new device features a built-in smart speaker along with “Pro” features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. The remote also has a large “Free TV” button that takes you to Google’s FAST channels. The device has yet to appear on Walmart’s website, but the leaks suggest it’ll be released in an official capacity very soon.