INSTALL APPS FROM OUTSIDE OFFICIAL APP STORES
All streaming devices let you install apps from the thousands available in their o cial app stores – or the Google Play Store if the manufacturer doesn’t have its own marketplace. But although the quantity and quality of free and paid-for apps are generally impressive, you may find your device’s store doesn’t have every app you want.
Sometimes this is because Google, Amazon and/or Roku prohibit apps of that type – such as tools that block adverts, modify a device’s behaviour or provide access to copyrighted content. Last year, the popular – and entirely legal – app ‘Downloader by Aftvnews’ was briefly banned from the Play Store, following complaints that it let users view piracy websites (www.snipca. com/50295), as you can in any web browser. We’ll cover that app in more detail below.
In other instances, developers choose to exclude their apps from o cial stores, because they’ll have more freedom – and occasionally make more money – by oering them independently. And some apps aren’t available because they’re not optimised for TVS, even though they work fine on big screens.
Thankfully, provided an app doesn’t pose a threat to your privacy or security, it’s usually possible to sideload it on your streaming stick or box, by downloading and installing its APK file. We’ll now explain how to do this on dierent TV devices (see our How To on page 35 for more on sideloading).
Sideload apps on a Fire TV device
Before you can sideload apps on a Fire TV Stick or Cube, you’ll need to enable the secret Developer Options menu, which Amazon now hides on its various TV devices. Open ‘Settings’ on your home screen and choose My Fire TV, then About. Select the name of your device seven times to unlock Developer Options, then press the Back key on your remote. Choose ‘Developer Options’ and switch on ADB Debugging.
Next, you’ll need to install an app that can search for and download APK files. The best option is the ‘Downloader by Aftvnews’ app mentioned above, which is free to install from the Amazon Appstore (www.snipca.com/50300). Launch the app, grant it permission to access files on your device and choose OK. Go back to Developer Options, select ‘Install unknown apps’ and set Downloader to ‘On’.
You can now use the Downloader app to sideload apps on your Fire TV device – either by entering the name or URL of an APK file in its address bar/search box (see screenshot above), or by using its browser to visit a trustworthy source such as Apkmirror (www.apkmirror.com). Be careful not to click any ads, especially those with fake download buttons.
Once the APK file has downloaded, select Install to sideload the app on your Fire TV Stick or Cube. Its tile should be added to the ‘Your Apps & Channels’ screen – if not, see page 55 for advice. Note that some Fire TV users have recently received alerts from Amazon, warning them that a sideloaded app has been disabled “because it can put your device or personal data at risk” (www.snipca. com/50297). If this happens, you’ll be given the option to uninstall the app – even if you don’t, you won’t be able to open it.
Sideload apps on an Android TV stick or box
You can also use ‘Downloader by Aftvnews’ to sideload apps on Android TV devices, including the ‘Chromecast with Google TV’, Nvidia Shield TV players and boxes from lesser-known manufacturers. Just download and install the free app from the device’s version of the Google Play Store. You may be able to do this through the Play Store website on your PC, if you’re signed into the same Google account as on your Android TV stick or box. Just visit the page for ‘Downloader by Aftvnews’ (www.snipca.com/50301), click Install and choose your streaming device in the dropdown menu.
As with Fire TV devices, you’ll need to enable ‘Developer options’ to install apps from unknown sources. Open the Settings menu, choose System then About and scroll down to ‘Android TV OS build’
( 1 in our screenshot below left). Keep selecting this option until the message ‘You are now a developer!’ appears 2 . If you don’t see this message, it’s probably because the manufacturer of your Android box has disabled ‘Developer options’, which means you won’t be able to sideload apps.
The first time you download and open an APK file in ‘Downloader by Aftvnews’, you’ll be prompted to grant it permission to install non-store apps.
Another sideloading option is to install the free app ‘Send Files to TV’ (www. snipca.com/50304 – see screenshot below) on both an Android phone or tablet and a TV stick or box. This lets you find and download APK files through your mobile browser, which is much easier than using
a TV remote control, then send them to your streaming device to install there. ‘Send Files to TV’ is also available for Fire TV (www.snipca.com/50305).
Mirror unavailable apps to your Roku device
Roku devices don’t allow you to install apps – or ‘channels’, as the company calls them – from outside the ocial Roku Channel Store. You used to be able to unlock thousands of private, non-certified channels by entering special codes, but Roku blocked this option two years ago. Only developers testing beta versions of their apps can now use unocial channels.
One way to view apps that aren’t available in the Roku Channel Store, such as Kodi, is to mirror them from a PC or mobile device connected to the same Wi-fi network.
In Windows 10 or 11, press the Windows key+k to open the Connect panel and select your Roku streaming stick to mirror the contents of your desktop. On an Android device, swipe down from the top of the screen, and choose Cast, ‘Screen cast’ or similar; and on an iphone or ipad, open the Control Centre and select Screen Mirroring.
If that doesn’t work, go to Settings then System on your Roku device, choose ‘Screen mirroring’ then ‘Screen mirroring mode’, and ensure it’s set to Prompt (see screenshot above right) or ‘Always allow’.
You can also cast audio, video and photo content from compatible mobile apps to your Roku stick, by tapping the Cast button in the top-right corner of their screens.
Stream games to your TV stick or box
Although there are plenty of games you can install from ocial app stores, they tend to take up lots of space on streaming sticks and boxes, which don’t have much storage to begin with. Additionally, many of the best games aren’t available from stores.
You can solve both these problems by subscribing to a game-streaming service such as Amazon Luna for Fire TV devices (www.snipca.com/50315) or Nvidia Geforce Now for Nvidia Shield TV and other Android TV devices – including the ‘Chromecast with Google TV’ (www. snipca.com/50316).
These stream games from the ‘cloud’, most notably Resident Evil and Fortnite variations – which you can’t get from app stores – but also lots of retro, strategy and family titles, such as Monopoly Plus (see screenshot below).
Both oer a choice of plans – Luna’s basic option is included with Amazon Prime, as well as the Luna app (www. snipca.com/50318), with paid-for plans starting at £8.99 a month, while Geforce Now can be played for free for one-hour sessions, then costs £9.99 a month. Connect a wireless game controller to your streaming device, to avoid struggling to play games with the remote.
Google closed its own game-streaming platform, Stadia, at the start of 2023, but lets you stream games from rival service Steam to your Android TV device using the Steam Link app (www.snipca.com/50319).