The 10 Must-Have Android Apps For Your TV

Featured article by Aaron Richards is Marketing Manager and Independent Author

Smart televisions these days come with built-in applications. Nonetheless, you can still install several other apps and games to make the most out of your smart TV experience.

Whether you have an Android TV or an Android TV box (check out http://www.wgtvboxes.com/android-tv-boxes/), you can easily access the Google Play Store to download a plethora of Android apps. You can download apps that let you relax with a movie after long day’s work, tell you about the weather, keep you updated with the latest news from across the globe, and many more.

Here are the 10 must-have Android apps for your smart TV.

1. AllCast

AllCast is an app that lets you stream music, photos, and videos from your Android device straight to your smart TV. It also lets you stream content stored on different cloud services such as Google Drive and Dropbox. It has a user-friendly and simple interface.

Presently, the app is available in free and paid versions. Its free version has barriers such as splash screens, advertising, and a five-minute limited viewing on pictures and videos. To be sure that it works for you, try the free version first. If it does work for you, you can get the full version priced at $4.99.

2. Google Play Music

Google Play Music is a music streaming service that is easier to use, smarter, and more assistive. It figures out what type of music you like with its machine-learning capabilities. It handpicks playlists to personalize music whenever you want and wherever you are. It also provides radio stations filtered by artists, albums, and songs or by mood, decade, genre, etc.

It is available in free and paid versions. While using the free version, you can upload a maximum of 50,000 of your songs to Google Play Music and stream them to your smart TV. You also get access to a wide range of playlists. If you go for the paid version ($9.99/month), you can stream millions of songs and videos (along with YouTube Red) ad-free. Get the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.music.

3. Pandora

Pandora lets you create customized stations that play songs based on your taste and music favorites. It gives you access to hundreds of radio stations to perfectly fit your current activity or mood. Create a Pandora account to listen to music recommendations and stations across all your devices, from your computer, smartphone, to your smart TV.

You may opt to get the Pandora Plus™ app for $4.99/month for ad-free music streaming and unlimited skips. It also lets you listen to your favorite stations while offline.

4. Spotify

A lot of people claim that Spotify is the best music streaming app there is, and for good reason. It is simple to use and features countless songs and excellent playlist and discovery options. It lets you stream free music in shuffle mode with your smartphone and stream whatever music you like (with advertising) with your tablet.

For the price of $9.99/month, you can enjoy its premium version by playing any song across devices such as your smart TV. It also lets you download music and playlists for offline listening. Simply sit down, relax, and enjoy uninterrupted music with amazing sound quality with this app.

5. Netflix

Netflix is the leading subscription service for watching TV episodes and movies across devices. A lot of people already have Netflix subscriptions or have thought about getting it.

Get a Netflix membership for $9.99/month, and you can stream thousands of movies and TV shows directly on your smart TV and any device anytime you want. You can even start streaming on one device and continue streaming on another as well as rate your favorite movies and TV shows.

6. Hulu

Hulu is another app that lets you stream the latest movies, your favorite TV shows, and the hottest new series. It lets you watch some shows in high definition, which is a plus with smart TVs. What sets it apart from other big streaming sites such as Netflix is its immediate availability of big name shows.

Its recent upgrade lets you create profiles based on your viewing history, personalized watch list, and recommendations. You can also set up profiles for your kids that only let them watch kid-friendly shows and cartoons devoid of mature content.

You can get a Hulu subscription for the price of $7.99/month with limited commercials or for the price of $11.99/month with no commercials.

7. Kodi

Kodi is a free home screen app that goes well with your smart TV (check the app out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.xbmc.kodi). It has an attractive, simple, and easy-to-use interface that puts all of your apps and media in one place. It is designed to be your living room’s trusted media player and uses a remote control as its primary input device.

You can easily watch your locally stored content with this app. You can even browse and view music, podcasts, photos, and videos from the Internet, your local network, hard drive, etc. with only a click of a few buttons.

8. Plex

Plex organizes and streams your stored photo collections, music, and video on your computer directly to your smart TV. All you have to do is to install the app on your smart TV and install the server software on your PC. You can get it for free but with one-minute limited streaming of music or videos or get a Plex Pass for $4.99/month with add-on features.

9. VLC

VLC is one of the few smart TV-compatible video player apps and one of the most popular video players across the globe. It is well known for its ability to play a wide range of video file types. Moreover, it also supports different music files.

It is entirely free with a wide range of useful features minus the advertising.

10. YouTube

Of course, you should never forget the world’s most popular and largest video streaming service there is. Though you cannot watch the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows with this app, you can stream countless interesting videos straight to your smart TV. It is entirely free, but you can sign up for YouTube Red at $9.99/month to watch all videos without advertising (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.youtube).