17 Cool Android TV Tips and Tricks to Enhance Your TV Experience
Oct. 19, 2020Here, we have mentioned all kinds of tips and tricks for Android TV. From sideloading apps to customizing the interface, everything is covered. You can glance over the tricks below and click on the link to move to the corresponding point.
This is the first Android TV trick that you should know. There are times when you want to send files to your Android TV buthave to look for pen drivesfor file transfer which is a hassle. Not anymore.
WithSend Files to TV app(Free, offers in-app purchases), you can wirelessly send files from your Android smartphone to Android TV. You just need to be on a common WiFi network and SFTV app will work seamlessly.
If you are not aware, Google Duo has arrived on Android TV and it’s available on the Play Store. You just need to plug in a webcam and Android TV will take care of everything. Keep in mind, your Android TV should be on Android 9 build to be able to use this feature. The best part about Google Duo on Android TV is thateven Picture-in-Picture mode (PiP) works.
For instance, while you are on a video call on Duo,press the Home button on the remoteand a PiP window will appear as an overlay. Now, you can open any sports app and co-watch the game with your friends and family.
What’s more, the overlay windowremains on topof video players as well. If you want to learn how toinstall Google Duo on Android TVthen follow our linked guide.
Android TV does come with a native screensaver feature (Backdrop), but it’s very limited and youcan’t set your own photos. Secondly, the much-lovedGoogle Photosintegration with Android TV is gonedue to a security issue. So basically, you don’t have many options left to display your personal set of photos either from your Google account or internal storage.
In that case, thePhoto Gallery and Screensaver app(Free, offers in-app purchases) comes to the rescue. The app is specifically designed for Android TV and brings all the screensaver features that you have always wanted on a larger TV screen.
You can choose your photos from internal storage, change the aspect ratio, apply a transition effect, and do much more. And the best part is that through this app, you caneven connect your Google accountand it can pull your photos and display them as a screensaver. To sum up, Photo Gallery and Screensaver is one of thebest Android TV appsand you should know this trick to further customize your Android TV.
If you want to tweak your Android TV then enabling ADB is a must. You can sideload apps without APK transfer, uninstall bloatware, enable hidden features, and more. Here is how you can do it. Open Settings on your Android TV -> Network and Internet -> Your WiFi network andmake a note of the IP Address. You will need it later.
Now, open Settings -> Device Preferences -> About -> Scroll down to the Build menu. Now, click on the “Build” menufor 7-8 times continuously. It will enable Developer Options on your Android TV.
Next, go back to Device Preferences and scroll down. You will find “Developer Options“. Open it. Here, scroll down a bit and enable the toggle for “USB Debugging“.
Now move to your computer and install ADB. No matter if you have a Windows PC, Mac, Chromebook, or a Linux machine, you canset up ADBbyfollowing our linked guide.
Once ADB is ready on your computer,runadb connect ipaddresscommand to connect to your Android TV wirelessly. Here, replaceipaddresswith the actual address that you noted above. You will get a prompt on your Android TV. Enable the checkbox for “Always allow” and then click on the “OK” button.
If everything is fine then you will getconnected to ipaddressresponse in the Terminal. Finally,runadb devicescommand to reconfirm if your computer is connected to your Android TV. If your Android TV is connected then it will show the device along with its IP address. You are done.
As I mentioned above, enabling ADB opens the floodgate for advanced customization and tweaking on Android TV. As such, you can even install apps without transferring the APK file on your Android TV. Justenable wireless ADB (point 4)on your Android TV and then move the APK to the Platform Tools or ADB folder of your computer.
Now, simply runadb install firefox.apkand that’s it. You can changefirefox.apkto whatever APK file you want to install. After that, the APK will be wirelessly installed on your Android TV. You can find the app under the App Drawer or you can use the Sideload Launcher app (Free) to find those sideloaded apps. That’s one neat Android TV trick, right?
Sideload Launcher is for those users who frequently install APK files and need quick access to those apps. You caninstall Sideload Launcher(Free) from Android TV’s Play Store and pin it on your home screen. Whenever you want to open third-party apps that are generally not available on Android TV, just open this Launcher and you will find all your apps.
Recently, Google introduced Google TV with its new Chromecast and further announced that from next year, Android TVs will transition to Google TV. However,you don’t have to waitfor that long.
We have alreadyinstalled Google TV on Android TVand itworks pretty wellexcept for some features like smartphone notification and the new Settings app. So go ahead and follow the guide to taste Google TV on your Android TV right now. Don’t worry, you just need to enable Wireless ADB and then the steps are a breeze.
The next Android TV trick that you must learn is using Google Assistant to its full advantage. For example, you cansearch for movies, music, and videoswith just a press of a button and it will pull the content from various apps instantly. Apart from that, you can check the weather, your next schedule on Calendar, and ask just about any question that you can do on your smartphone.
In fact, you cancontrol your Android TV right from your smartphoneusing Google Assistant. Just ask the Google Assistant on your smartphone to turn on the TV or play something while you are away from the remote. Make sure to add “on TV” at the end of your voice command. And your TV will follow suit.
Android TV boxes come with some really decent remotes. The Mi Box comes with a really nice, lightweight, and sleek remote. However, these Bluetooth remotes can only go so far when it comes to ease of use, especially when you need to type text on your TV.
Fortunately, Google has an “Android TV Remote Control” app (free), that you can use to get aremote interface on your mobile. With a Bluetooth or WiFi connection between your TV and phone, you can easily navigate the interface through your Android phone.
The best thing about this is that when you need to enter text on the Android TV, you canuse the on-screen keyboard in your mobileto do so, which is definitely much faster than using the lean back keyboard that Android TVs come with.
Apart from that, the big highlight of this app is that youdon’t need anIR-compatible smartphoneto navigate Android TV. So go ahead and try this trick on your Android TV to have a convenient typing experience.
Android TVs come with USB ports and standard connectivity options like Bluetooth, which means you can use them as makeshift computers. Besides consuming media through a variety of platforms on Android TV, you can use it to browse the internet (as we saw above) and perform basic tasks like checking your email or editing online documents. For this, you can use awireless keyboard-mousecombo like the Logitech MK270 ($17.88).
For a lot of smart TVs, the process of taking screenshots is the same as Android smartphones. You canpress the Volume Down and Power buttonon the remote simultaneously and the screenshots are saved in “/sdcard/Pictures/Screenshots“.
However, certain TVs might not support that and in order to get it going, you will have toestablish an ADB connection (see point 4 of this article), and you’ll need a Windows or a Mac PC. For the process, we’re using a Windows PC but the ADB commands remain the same.
You can start byopening Command Prompt(on Windows) or Terminal (on Mac) with Admin privileges with the directory set to the ADB folder. Make sure the TV and the PC are on the same local WiFi network.
Android TV, as a platform, tries very hard to always have something new for us to watch. This can be both a boon and a bane; and while some people may like the “Recommendations” that Android TV offers, Idon’t want to see recommendationsfrom just about every pre-installed source on my Android TV.
Fortunately, there’s aneasy way to customize the sourcesthat show up in the recommendations carousel on your Android TV. To do this, just follow the steps below:
For people who are moving from non-smart TVs to Android TV, the interface might be overwhelming given there is a whole list of apps on the home screen itself. So if you just want the right apps on the home screen andre-arrange thingsbased on your preference then press and hold the “OK” button (the circular one in the middle of navigation buttons) while the app is highlighted.
Here, you will find “Move” for re-arranging the app order and “Remove from favorites” to remove the app from the home screen. If you want more options then you canhead to Settings -> Device Preferences -> Home screen. Here, you can customize specific channels and video previews as well. Finally, you should also follow our linked article toremove ads from Home screen on your Android TVto get a cleaner experience.
With Chromecast integration, you can easily mirror your smartphone on the TV. You canplay videos, music, and display photosthat are available locally on your smartphone right on your TV. And it does not need any pairing process or any additional hardware. All you need is an Android smartphone that is connected to the same WiFi network as your TV.
After that, open any app andlook for the “cast” icon. Tap on it and select your Android TV and voila, there you have it. In case, an app does not show the cast icon, you can bring down the quick settings panel and tap on the cast button to completely mirror your smartphone screen on the TV.
On laptops, you caneasily cast to your Android TV with Google Chrome. You can choose to cast just the tab you’re in, or the entire Google Chrome screen to your Android TV. On Google Chrome, just click on the 3-dot menu and then click on Cast. After that, select the TV and it will start casting the current tab onto your TV.
While Chromecast works fine if you are using an Android smartphone or using Chrome on Windows 10, it does not cast the whole Windows 10 screen. Basically, on Windows 10, the casting is justlimited to Chrome tabs.
Thankfully, there isMiracast technologywhich supports Windows 10 casting. We have written a detailed guide onhow to cast Windows 10 on Android TVso follow the guide and you will be up and running Windows 10 on Android TV.
Data Saver Mode is a great addition to Android TV by Google. With Data saver mode enabled,you can watch 3 times more content using the same amount of data. You can also enable alerts if the data reaches certain limits. This feature will be helpful for those who use mobile hotspots to stream content on Android TV.
However, keep in mind, the feature update has not hit all Android TVs yet and it will be available with theAndroid 9 update. As for Mi TV in India, Data Saver Mode is already available and that’s why we have included it in our list ofbest Mi TV tips and tricks. For other Android TVs, you will find Data Saver Mode in “Device Preferences” under the Settings page.
Android TV also supports a wide range of games including some action-packed titles like Asphalt 8. But, to be able to play these games, you’ll need to attach a gamepad via USB orvia Bluetooth.
While standard gamepads would easily serve you, if you have a PS4, you can also use your existing PS4Dual Shock controllersand connect them with the Android TV. Just follow these steps:
Use These Android TV Tweaks to Get More out of Your TV
The similarity between Android TV and Android on a smartphone is striking and this means there is really a lot of customization possible on an Android TV. You can use these tips and tricks to enhance your experience with an Android TV.
As always, we’d love to know your thoughts on Android TV as a platform; and the app support (or lack, thereof) for Android TV. Also, if you know of any other Android TV tips and tricks, do let us know about them in the comments section below.
Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.
