This post invites you to discover a set of options to customize or modify your Android TV device.
Following this tutorial, you will learn to install Android applications on the Android TV system or change the default launcher. As we have already seen in some of our reviews, in this system we have certain limitations when it comes to finding the apps in its Google Play store since it only allows apps designed specifically for this environment. You may also be interested in how to install APKs on any Android TV device.
Download and install Android APK
You have multiple methods to install APKs on your Android TV devices, even on those Sticks where we don’t have a USB port to use external memory to copy our APKs.
Install Android APK from Alternative App Store
You can try to install the alternative app store Aptoide TV, this store is not available on Google Play to download and install. To install it, you need to follow the steps in the next point, still, there are some Android TV devices that block installing this app.
CLASSIC ANDROID APP LAUNCHER
To be able to manage and launch all the Android apps that you have installed, we recommend installing the following apps that will show us all the apps installed on your system, whether they are Android TV or normal Android mobile.
- You just have to search for these apps and install them.
- Sideload Launcher is a simple classic app that always gives us maximum compatibility.
- App drawer is a more modern version that allows us to do the same.
AVOID APP ROTATION
Some applications designed for Android cause problems on Android TV, since they automatically rotate and do not occupy the entire screen, to avoid this you can install the Set Orientation app and put it in Landscape.
REMOTE CONTROL AND MOUSE EMULATOR
You can control your Android TV from a mobile using the official Google app for this purpose. We can also emulate the mouse pointer with the Mouse Toggle app, something especially practical if we use normal Android apps on Android TV.
- To remotely control Android TV you can use the Android TV Remote Control app, install it on the mobile or tablet.
- We can emulate a mouse pointer with the app with Mouse Toggle app, even on some devices it doesn’t work.
CHANGE REMOTE KEYS
With the Button Mapper app that you can find in the Google Play app store within the Android TV system. You just have to install it and you can use the functions to change the allowed keys by assigning apps or shortcuts.
- Find the Button Mapper.
CHANGE LAUNCHER ANDROID TV
If we don’t like the default environment of Android TV or the Google TV update or we want to have less content advertising on our home screen, it is possible to change the launcher.
- Read our guide to the best launchers for Android TV
