# Best Android TV apps: 8 worth installing on any new box *Published:* 2025-05-09 *Author:* arthur ### TL;DR **The pick:** Eight [apps](https://bestforandroid.com/best/apps-android/ "Best Apps Category") cover most Android TV setups: Plex for your local media library, Jellyfin for the open-source alternative, VLC for arbitrary file playback, Sideload Launcher for accessing sideloaded apps, SmartTube for ad-free YouTube, Aptoide TV for app discovery beyond the Play Store, Solid Explorer for file management, and a real keyboard remote like Yatse. **Runner-up:** your Android TV setup is the Google TV stock interface plus [Netflix](https://bestforandroid.com/movie-streaming-apps/ "best free movie apps") and YouTube. Then you only need the bottom three on the list: VLC, SmartTube, Yatse. **Skip if:** you only watch live broadcast or cable. Skip this list entirely; an Android TV box doesn’t add anything in that use case. .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block, .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block *, .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block *::before, .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block *::after { box-sizing: border-box; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block { container-type: inline-size; container-name: bfa-hero-trio; font-family: "Source Serif 4", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; color: #0E1A1A; background: #FAF7F2; border: 1px solid #E8E0D2; border-radius: 20px; padding: 36px 28px; margin: 28px 0; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__eyebrow { font-family: "Inter", system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #44706E; margin: 0 0 12px 0; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__title { font-family: "Fraunces", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: 600; font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0 0 14px 0; color: #0E1A1A; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__title em { font-style: italic; color: #1F3837; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__intro { font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.55; color: #4B5C5B; margin: 0 0 28px 0; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr; gap: 14px; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__stat { background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #E8E0D2; border-radius: 14px; padding: 22px 18px; text-align: left; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__value { font-family: "Fraunces", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-feature-settings: "tnum" 1; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; font-weight: 600; font-size: 44px; line-height: 1; color: #1F3837; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__unit { font-family: "Inter", system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #44706E; margin-left: 6px; letter-spacing: 0.04em; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__caption { font-family: "Inter", system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: #728483; margin: 8px 0 0 0; line-height: 1.4; } @container bfa-hero-trio (min-width: 560px) { .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); gap: 16px; } .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__title { font-size: 38px; } } @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { .bfa-hero-stat-trio-block .bfa-hero-trio__value { transition: none; } } Android TV app audit Eight apps. *Three real jobs.* Worth the install on any Android TV box. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Android TV apps split into three jobs: [streaming](https://bestforandroid.com/streaming/movies/ "Movie Category") your own media, getting around the stock UI’s friction, and replacing apps that have ad-walls on TV. The eight below cover all three. 0appsWorth installing on a fresh Android TV box 0jobsPersonal media / UI bypass / ad-free streaming 0minSetup time end-to-end on a new box (function () { function init(block) { if (block.getAttribute("data-bfa-trio-bound") === "1") { return; } block.setAttribute("data-bfa-trio-bound", "1"); var values = block.getElementsByClassName("bfa-hero-trio__value"); var reduce = window.matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)").matches; function animate(el) { var target = parseInt(el.getAttribute("data-bfa-trio-value"), 10) || 0; if (reduce) { el.textContent = String(target); return; } var start = null; var dur = 1800; function step(ts) { if (start === null) { start = ts; } var t = Math.min(1, (ts - start) / dur); var eased = 1 - Math.pow(1 - t, 3); el.textContent = String(Math.round(target * eased)); if (t < 1) { requestAnimationFrame(step); } } requestAnimationFrame(step); } if (typeof IntersectionObserver === "undefined") { Array.prototype.forEach.call(values, function (el) { animate(el); }); return; } var io = new IntersectionObserver(function (entries) { entries.forEach(function (entry) { if (entry.isIntersecting) { animate(entry.target); io.unobserve(entry.target); } }); }, { threshold: 0.4 }); Array.prototype.forEach.call(values, function (el) { io.observe(el); }); } function run() { var blocks = document.getElementsByClassName("bfa-hero-stat-trio-block"); Array.prototype.forEach.call(blocks, function (b) { try { init(b); } catch (e) {} }); } if (document.readyState === "loading") { document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", run); } else { run(); } })(); An Android TV box ships with Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and a stock UI that makes everything else hard to find. The eight apps below are the ones we install on every new box, in this order. Personal media (your own library) --------------------------------- 1. Plex ------- **Best for:** the best polished media server experience. Plex on Android TV pulls from your home Plex server (running on a desktop, NAS, or a dedicated server box) and presents your media library with metadata, trailers, and watch-progress sync. Free for basic use, $5/month or $120 lifetime for Plex Pass. The Android TV app is genuinely good; the platform's recent ad-injection in some menus is the trade-off you're paying around. [Visit Plex](https://www.plex.tv/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexapp.android) 2. Jellyfin ----------- **Best for:** the open-source alternative without ads. Jellyfin is the open-source media server. Same idea as Plex (your library, presented well, on every device) without the cloud-account requirement and without ads. Free, no upsell. Setup is more technical than Plex; the payoff is full ownership of the stack. [Visit Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.jellyfin.androidtv) 3. VLC ------ **Best for:** playing arbitrary file formats. VLC handles every codec without complaint, plays from network shares (SMB, NFS), and runs equally well on Android TV as on every other platform. Free, open-source, no ads ever. [Visit VLC](https://www.videolan.org/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc) Bypass the stock UI ------------------- 4. Sideload Launcher -------------------- **Best for:** accessing sideloaded apps that don't appear in the launcher. Stock Android TV launchers don't show sideloaded apps in the main grid. Sideload Launcher is a free utility that gives you a launcher screen with every app installed, sideloaded or not. Free. Install via the Play Store. [Visit Sideload Launcher](https://chainfire.eu/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.sideloadlauncher) 5. Aptoide TV ------------- **Best for:** app discovery beyond the Play Store. Aptoide is an alternative app store that's been around since the early Android days, with a TV-specific variant. Useful for apps that aren't on the Google Play Store's TV section but exist in [APK](https://bestforandroid.com/apk/ "apps apk download") form. Side note: Play Protect doesn't scan apps installed from Aptoide, so use it for known-good apps you can't find elsewhere, not as a primary store. [Visit Aptoide TV](https://www.aptoide.com/) [Get on Play Store](None) Replace ad-walled apps ---------------------- 6. SmartTube ------------ **Best for:** ad-free YouTube on Android TV. SmartTube is a community YouTube client for Android TV that strips ads, supports SponsorBlock, and runs much faster than the stock YouTube TV app. Sideload from the SmartTube GitHub releases. Free, open-source. [Visit SmartTube](https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube) [Get on Play Store](None) 7. Solid Explorer ----------------- **Best for:** file management from the TV. Solid Explorer on Android TV gives you a file manager with network share support, FTP/SFTP, cloud storage integration, and a clean UI. About $3 one-time after a 14-day trial. Useful when you're moving files onto the TV box without going through a desktop. [Visit Solid Explorer](https://neatbytes.com/solidexplorer/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2) 8. Yatse (smartphone remote) ---------------------------- **Best for:** controlling Plex, Kodi, and other media servers from your phone. Yatse is a remote control app that runs on your phone and controls Plex, Kodi, and other media servers on the TV. The TV-side support is part of those server apps; Yatse is the phone-side remote that's better than the included one. Free for basic use, paid tier (~$5) for power features. [Visit Yatse (smartphone remote)](https://yatse.tv/) [Get on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree) Verdict ------- Plex if you have a polished media server, Jellyfin if you want full ownership, VLC for everything else. Sideload Launcher to actually see sideloaded apps. SmartTube for ad-free YouTube. Aptoide TV for app discovery beyond the Play Store. Solid Explorer for file management. Yatse for a phone-side remote that works. Eight apps, ten minutes, every Android TV box becomes meaningfully more useful. #### How we tested All eight tested across NVIDIA Shield TV Pro, Chromecast with Google TV (4K), and a stock 2024 Sony Bravia. 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