Do More With Your Android Smart TV
Android is the operating system of
choice for many brands of smart TVs. This opens your TV up to a number of
additional features
Do More With Apps
Considering that most TVs are not ‘official’ Android TVs, they
may not have access to the Google Play Store to add apps. To install additional
apps, you have two options: sideload them (transfer installable files using a
USB drive) or install a third-party app store. The catch is you have to
sideload the third-party app store in any case. On your TV’s web-browser, go
to https://en.aptoide.com and Install Aptoide — this
is a free third-party app store. Aptoide has many apps that you can download
directly. For sideloading, you will have to download APK (Android installer)
files for each app you want to install on your TV. You can find APK files for
many popular apps on www.apkmirror.com. Copy these
APK files to a USB drive and plug into the TV. You may need to allow app
installation from ‘unknown sources’ in settings. Keep in mind that not all the
apps installed via the sideload will work — it’s a little bit of a hit and
miss.
Link Bluetooth Accessories
Smart TVs come with built-in WiFi & Bluetooth. Most smart TVs
support various Bluetooth accessories. The BT headphone option is is great if
you do not want to disturb others while watching TV.
Local Multimedia Streaming
Typically, TVs that run the official Android TV OS come with a
built-in Chromecast that allows yout o stream content from a
smartphone/computer. However, since most smart TVs do have WiFi or Ethernet
connectivity, you can use free apps to stream content. We recommend Plex (www.plex.tv) or Kodi (https://kodi.tv). Both apps
come with a server app that is easy to setup on a computer/phone. And there’s a
companion APK file that you can install on your TV (use the sideload method
outlined in this article). Once you install the server software on your
computer, you can stream content from the computer/phone wirelessly over your
local home network.
Wireless File Transfers
The trouble with most smart TVs is that they have limited
internal storage — this means you cannot store content. One solution is to
connect an external drive, but you will have to keep updating content from a
computer. A simpler way is to transfer files wirelessly to the TV. We recommend
using ES File Explorer for its simplicity. On a Windows computer, create a new
folder, right click on it and open Properties. A new box will open asking you
to choose people on your network with whom the folder will be shared. Select
Everyone, tap on add and in the permissions setting, choose Read Only. Once you
have finished this setup on your computer, open ES Explorer on the smart TV. In
the directory menu on the left, select LAN & the shared folder from your
computer will be visible there — you can select files from the folder and copy
them to your TV easily. Keep in mind that both the TV and computer need to be
on the same WiFi network for this to work.
Playing DVDs Without a DVD Player
Even though DVDs are becoming a thing of the past, you may need
to re-watch something from an old collection you have. It’s not worth investing
in a DVD player for occasional use because they don’t last very long. The other
option is to convert the DVD to a digital file — a laborious process. Instead,
some portable DVD writers have a feature that allows them to work with TVs that
have USB ports. This is in addition to the usual connection to a
laptop/desktop. We recommend LiteOn’s external DVD writer (₹1,199) with the Link2TV feature.
Just connect it to a TV’s USB port and use it to access the DVD without
installing any extra app or drivers.
Karan Bajaj
ET26MAR18
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