Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:33 am
If you’ve just got yourself an Android TV box and are wondering what apps to install in your new device, this post will offer quick suggestions.
If you new to this game, rest easy. It’s not as tough as you think it would be.
If you installed apps in your Android smartphone the procedure is very much the same.
In fact, most of the apps that works with an Android smartphone will also work with an Android TV box.
That said, let’s assume that the apps you would be interested in is related to video.
We’ll also be talking about free Android TV box apps.
Of course if you’ve premium membership accounts with certain video streaming services, you can always download their Android TV box apps and login to their system to view their content.
Here then are the Android TV box apps you should have if you have video viewing in mind.
YouTube App
This is a must-have app for every Android TV box.
If you’ve been watching YouTube videos over your computer or smartphone, an Android TV box will give you a richer viewing experience when it’s connected to your HDTV.
Most of the latest Android TV boxes support 4K video and if you’re an owner of a UHD TV, you would welcome the experience of watching 4K YouTube videos.
The good news is most of the latest Android TV box models come with the YouTube app installed.
Once you connect your Android TV boc to your HDTV and establish an Internet connection either wireless or through a LAN connection, you’re ready start watching YouTube videos.
ES File Explorer
If you don’t already have a file explorer app installed, you can opt for the ES File Explorer.
It is very much like a computer file explorer that will allow you to copy, rename and delete files, among others.
You can also extract compressed files with it.
The file explorer will also be useful when you want to navigate the contents of a pen drive you plug into your Android TV box.
MX Player
Remember, your Android TV box is also a media player. It doesn’t only allow you to stream videos, but it also allows you to play back media files from an external source like pen drives and external hard drives.
In order to do that, you would need a media player app. If you don’t already have something in mind, you can choose the MX Player.
Some TV show apps would require you to use a media player app. This is when the MX Player would come handy.
Google Chrome
If you want to quickly browse a website for information or compose an email, while sitting in front of your TV, it’s a good idea to install the Google Chrome app.
Google Chrome will also be useful if you have media files in your Google Drive. You can download it through the browser by logging into your Google account.
You can then play the media files through the installed media player, like the MX player, mentioned above.
How to Install Apps on an Android TV Box
The easiest way to install apps into your Android TV box is through the Google Play Store. Again, you may be aware of this if you’re an Android smartphone user.
So, if you wish to install any of the apps above, if they’re not already installed in your Android TV box, head over to Google Play Store and do a search for the desired app.
Then again, there will be some apps that you’ll need to install separately from other sources.
Sideloading Apps on Android TV Box
When you install apps this way, it’s called sideloading apps. There are two ways to do it.
The first way is through your pen drive. You download the APK file and copy it to your pen drive.
Then inside the pen drive into the USB port of your Android TV box.
Using your file explorer app, navigate to the USB drive port and click on the app to install.
The second way is to download from a cloud service to your Android box storage and install from there.
This could be done through Google Drive or from file download sites.
Once an app is downloaded, you can navigate to the default download folder and click on it to install.
