How to sideload apps on Google TV and Android TV

Sideloading means installing an app from its developer’s website instead of from Google Play. Google TV and Android TV both allow it once you switch it on, one app at a time. You need the TV remote, a network connection and the web address of the app. The steps use ZiroTV as the example; any Android TV app offered as an APK file installs the same way.

Google TV or Android TV?

Both are Google’s TV systems, and the menus differ a little. Google TV has a home screen with For you and Apps tabs along the top; it runs on the Google TV Streamer, Chromecast with Google TV and TVs from makers such as Sony and TCL. The older Android TV home screen shows rows of apps and channels, as on the NVIDIA SHIELD and many TV boxes. The steps below give the Google TV menu first and the Android TV one after it.

To check the version, open Settings > System > About (on Android TV, Settings > Device Preferences > About) and look for the Android TV OS or Android version. ZiroTV needs Android 7.0 or newer.

Step 1: Install Downloader

1. On the home screen, open search, or open Google Play from your apps.
2. Search for Downloader and select the Downloader app by AFTVnews.
3. Select Install, and wait for it to finish.

Downloader is free. It fetches a file from a web address or a number code you type with the remote, and hands it to the TV’s installer.

Step 2: Turn on developer mode

On Google TV, the setting that lets an app install other apps stays hidden until developer mode is on. You only do this once.

1. Go to Settings > System > About.
2. Scroll down to Android TV OS build and press select on it seven times, until the TV says You are now a developer!

On an older Android TV, the line is called Build, under Settings > Device Preferences > About. Developer mode changes nothing you will notice: it only adds a Developer options menu.

Step 3: Allow Downloader to install apps

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Security & restrictions > Unknown sources.
2. Switch Downloader on.

On an older Android TV, the list is under Settings > Device Preferences > Security & restrictions > Unknown sources. Some TV makers put it somewhere else, such as Settings > Privacy > Security > Install unknown apps or Settings > Apps > Special app access > Install unknown apps. If you cannot find it, skip ahead: when you open the file in step 4, the TV says it cannot install from this source and offers a Settings button that takes you straight to the right switch.

Step 4: Download and install the app

1. Open Downloader, and allow it to access files on the TV when it asks.
2. Select the address box on the Home tab and type the app’s web address. For ZiroTV, that is zirotv.com/apk.
3. Select Go. When the file has downloaded, the installer opens.
4. Select Install, then Open.
5. Let Downloader delete the file afterwards. The app stays installed, and small devices such as the Chromecast need the space.

Google Play Protect may warn that it does not recognise the app, because it did not come from Google Play. If you trust where the file came from, choose the option to install anyway; on some TVs it sits under More details.

How to install an APK without Downloader

Any app that can open an APK file can install it, as long as you allow that app under Unknown sources first, the same way as Downloader in step 3.

From your phone, with Send files to TV

1. Install Send files to TV from Google Play on the TV and on your Android phone.
2. Download the APK on your phone.
3. Choose Receive on the TV and Send on the phone, then pick the file and your TV.
4. On the TV, open the file that arrived and select Install.

From a USB drive

1. Copy the APK to a USB drive on your computer.
2. Plug it into the TV or box. A Chromecast with Google TV needs a USB-C hub for this.
3. Install a file manager app from Google Play, allow it under Unknown sources, and open the APK from the drive with it.

If you already use ADB on a computer, that works too once USB debugging is on in Settings > System > Developer options. The Fire TV guide shows the two commands.

Is sideloading safe?

The permission is safe to give; the file is what you need to trust. Google Play checks the apps in its store, but a file from a website is only as good as the website. Download apps from their developer’s own site, and skip modified versions of paid apps and any app that comes loaded with free channels or films.

Unknown sources is set per app, so allowing Downloader lets nothing else install. You can switch it off again afterwards and the apps you installed keep working. An app that updates itself, as ZiroTV does, may ask for the same permission the first time it installs an update.

Troubleshooting

Unknown sources is not in the menu

Turn on developer mode first (step 2), then look again. If your TV still has no such menu, open the file in Downloader anyway and use the Settings button in the message that appears.

“App not installed”

The download was cut short, the TV runs an Android version older than the app needs, or storage is full. Download the file again, check the version under About, and free up space. If an older copy of the same app came from somewhere else, uninstall it first: Android will not install an update signed by a different developer.

Downloader cannot save or open the file

Downloader needs access to the TV’s storage. Open Settings > Apps, select Downloader (under See all apps if it is not listed), open Permissions and allow access to files. Then try again.

The download fails straight away

Check the address for typing mistakes. A clock that is far out also breaks secure downloads, so check Settings > System > Date & time.

The TV is short on storage

The Chromecast with Google TV has little room. In Settings > Apps, uninstall apps you do not use and clear the cache of the rest, and let Downloader delete files after installing.

Still stuck installing ZiroTV? The download page lists the fix for each message, and support can help. Once it is installed, set up your TV guide.