Google TV can now be installed on your television with Android TV: this is how you can do it

The Chromecast with Google TV is one of the company’s latest devices to arrive in Spain, a device that has come to revolutionize how we enjoy our content on any television, regardless of whether it is a smart TV or a basic television, as long as it is have an HDMI port.

The advantage of the new Chromecast is that it is no longer just a device to which you send content from your mobile, but it also allows us to enjoy Google TV, a version that, taking Android TV as a base, aspires to replace the popular operating system of smart TVs. So you can install Google TV on your current television.

Installing Google TV on a current Android TV is easier than you thought

When we met Google TV, many questions arose about the future of Android TV. Is the new system coming to replace the old one, is it a name change as happened when Android TV was renamed Wear OS, or is it simply a layer of customization?

Well, it seems that reality is simpler, and that is that the entire Google TV experience is accessible througha simple launcher. And we are not talking about an adaptation or ahackNot much less, but you can really have the entire Google TV experience on Android TV, simply by installing the official Google launcher, with some conditions, of course.

Google TV in the Google Play Store.

Google has uploaded the official Google TV launcher in the Play Store a few hours ago, a launcher that will update the experience of using the new Chromecast as it can be purchased in Spain from October 15. When we go to install the application, it will indicate that we do not have compatible devices, something reasonable since today the only accessible one is not for sale.

But Android TV is still Android, and that always leaves us the possibility of taking the APK and directly installing it on our Android TV. Since the APK file is already available in APKMirror and is compatible with devices that at least are available on Android 9, it was worth trying to install it. And it seems that it can be installed like that, without more.

The application does not replace the current Android TV launcher, so your television experience will not change radically. If you press the start button it will take you to the traditional Android TV menu, and although the Google TV launcher will appear in the list of applications (under the name of Launcher) to have a comfortable experience you will have tomap out any of the buttons on your remote to make the experience comfortable.

And we would already be. In my personal experience I have installed it on my 2019 Nvidia Shield, so the experience is completely smooth given the hardware. On more modest devices it should work fine (as the new Chromecast is not a technical prodigy). Let’s take a look at the peculiarities of this new launcher.

The main menu shows us contents of all the platforms that we have installed, combining them all in one. When we click on a content, it gives us the option to see it in the main application, to see the trailer, mark it on our pending list, see in which streaming services it is available, mark it as a view and rate it.

In the case of Iron Man, we can watch it on Netflix or rent / buy it on Google TV, which replaces Android TV.

Although the contents have taken the main page, we have an applications section, with all the Android TV applications installed (those that we have downloaded as APKs are still not shown directly, as in Android TV).

And in the collection section appears the movies purchased on Google Play Movies (which from now on will be called Google TV).

Although the installation and use medium is a bit cumbersome if you are not used to installing third-party applications on Android TV, we did not expect the experience to change simply by installing the Chromecast launcher with Google TV. It is hoped that once the months pass, all Android TVs updated to Android 9 will begin to receive this launcher and that it will replace the traditional home screen.

How to install an APK file on Android TV, the most universal method

1. The first,we need an APK file. The most direct way to have it on your device is by using apps like Send Files to TV. In this article we explain in depth how it is done in a simple way.
   • If your Android TV has a USB port, you can run it through a pendrive.
2. One aspect to improve about Send Files to TV is that, although it can open images, it cannot do the same with APK applications. To install it we will have to use a file explorer. There are many applications, in our case we recommend:
   • FX Explorer.
   • Solid Explorer.
3. Once the application is installed, it will probably not appear on the home screen. You will need alauncher to access applications. In the Play Store for Android TV there are many models
   • ATV Launcher.
   • App drawer.
   • Sideload Launcher.

If you want to know more about the process of installing APKs on Android, we recommend the following article, in which we talk about the process in greater depth.

How to install any APK application on Android TV

If you want to install any APK application on Android TV, these are the steps you must follow in order to install and run them.

The Google TV input can now be installed on your television with Android TV: this is how you can do it, it appears first in The Free Android.