If you own a Google TV, you know the frustration. Every time you switch it on, you are greeted by recommendations, sponsored content, and a home screen that feels more interested in selling you things than helping you watch something. One writer finally stopped putting up with it, and the fix was surprisingly simple: sideloading apps onto the TV with a USB drive.
Google TV home screen (Credits: MakeUseOf)
USB Sideloading on Google TV: How It Works
Sideloading lets you install apps that are not available on the Google Play Store, and on Google TV it is much easier than you might expect. All you need is a FAT32-formatted USB drive, the X-plore File Manager app, and the APK of the app you want.
First, download X-plore File Manager from the Play Store on your TV. Then enable Developer Mode: open Settings, go to System, then About, and click on the Android TV OS Build entry seven times. On a PC, download the app’s APK from its official source, copy it to the USB drive, plug the drive into the TV, and open the APK in X-plore. Google TV will ask you to allow installations from X-plore, and once you grant permission, the app installs in minutes.
Why SmartTube Changed the TV Experience
The app in question was SmartTube, a free, open-source alternative to YouTube. The official YouTube app works fine, but its ads can stretch to nearly two minutes before a video even starts. SmartTube removes video ads altogether, and its SponsorBlock integration can automatically skip sponsored segments inside videos too.
The best part is that nothing else is lost. You still get your watch history and all the familiar content you enjoy, plus extras like HDR playback, picture-in-picture mode, and extra video-quality controls. The whole process took just a few minutes, and the TV finally stopped selling things and started just playing videos.
If your TV’s default software feels more like an ad platform than a television, sideloading is worth a look. A USB drive and a few minutes is all it takes to take the home screen back.
Also Read: My Galaxy Phone Butchered My Photos With AI I Didn’t Ask For, So I Switched to a FOSS Camera App
Source: MakeUseOf — read the full story there.
