How to Install third-party apps in Samsung TVs (Tizen & Android)

When someone hears of third-party apps, he or she might think of them as an illegal type of application. On the contrary, this is not the case since using the third-party app is not illegal. Third-party apps are software applications that are made by developers other than the manufacturer of the device or its operating system.

Now, do you want to download third-party apps on your Smart Samsung TV but don’t know how to go about it? Well, take a journey through this page and get your question answered in the simplest ways. As much as you have known how to download apps from the Play Store in your Samsung TV, it will be advantageous for you to know and understand how to get third-party apps as well.

Most noteworthy, to achieve a successful download of the third-party apps in your Smart Samsung TV, you will require to have a computer and a storage device like Flash Drive, SD card or Pen Drive among others. Moreover, you need to ensure that you connect your computer and the TV to the same wireless network.

Now as you are heading to download the third-party apps, you first need to allow the installation from unknown sources by turning on the Unknown Sources feature on your Samsung Smart TV. To achieve this, you will need to follow the steps outlined below:

Note for TIZEN Users: Tizen has SDB which it uses for communication with connected devices. Therefore, if you are on Tizen, use this tool instead of the one mentioned in the article.

Enabling the installation from Unknown Sources

1. Turn on your Samsung Smart TV.
2. On the home screen, navigate to the Settings menu.
3. Select the Personal tab and look for the option for Security.
4. Now, you will be able to see the setting for Unknown Sources. Toggle the switch next to it to enable it.
5. Once this is enabled, you will now be free to download apps from other sources apart from the Play Store.

Enabling the Developer Mode

Secondly, you will need to enable the Developer Mode on your Samsung Smart TV. Turning on the developer mode will allow you to have access to all kinds of useful tools and tweaks in your Smart TV. Downloading third-party apps is one of the functionalities you can achieve with the developer mode. Therefore, be sure to follow the steps given below to enable it:

1. Turn your Samsung Smart TV on.
2. Navigate on settings and select the Smart Hub option.
3. Select the Apps section.
4. You will be prompted to enter pin after clicking on the apps panel. With your remote, enter 12345 as the pin. This is the default code for all Samsung Smart TVs.
5. Now a window with Developer mode configuration will appear. Toggle the Developer Mode to ON.
6. Next, enter the IP address of the computer that you want to connect to the TV and click on OK. (You can find the IP address of your computer from Microsoft support)
7. You can then reboot your TV and be good to go.

Now that the requirements are in place, you can go ahead and download the third-party apps on your Smart TV. There are external and internal ways in which you can download the apps. This involves the use of a command prompt in your computer or uses external storage devices.

Downloading Third-party Apps using Command Prompt

This is one of the easiest ways to download third-party apps into your Samsung Smart TV. With the help of your computer, you will use the command prompt to enter a few commands and have the app installed on your TV. However, to achieve this, you will need to find out the IP address of your TV. Be sure to follow the procedure below to get the IP address:

1. Turn on your TV and navigate to Settings.
2. Select the network option.
3. Click on Information and you will see the IP Address section.
4. Jot down the IP Address of your TV. It should be resembling this, 168.2.201

Now that you have the IP Address of your TV, you can now proceed with the download process by following the given steps below:

1. Open your computer and run the Command Prompt.
2. In the Command Prompt, enter the command adb connect 192.168.2.201 (your TV’s IP). This will show you that you are connected to 192.168.2.201:5555
3. Run the command install D\install.apk (this is the file location of your app).
4. Be patient for a while as the download is under process. It should appear as a success in prompt.
5. Disconnect your TV from the computer by entering the command adb disconnect 192.168.2.201 (the IP Address of your TV)
6. Now you will have successfully downloaded the third-party app into your Samsung Smart TV. You can now navigate on the smart hub and then apps in your TV and that way you will find the application that you have downloaded.

Downloading Third-party apps using External Storage Devices

This involves the process of sideloading apps from a trusted source available on the internet. This is done using the web browser of your computer where the app will be downloaded into your computer. Now by use of storage devices like a flash drive, you can copy the file from your computer and transfer it to your Samsung Smart TV. Hence, to achieve this process you will have to follow the given steps below:

1. Go to the web browser in your computer or Laptop.
2. From the trusted sources, find the .apk file for the app that you want to install into your Samsung Smart TV and then download it.
3. Insert the Flash Drive into your laptop or computer and copy the file into it.
4. After copying the file, remove the flash drive from the computer and plug it into the TV.
5. Open the flash drive and after finding the .apk file, select it and click on Install.
6. Once the installation process is complete, you can now open and enjoy the app that you have just installed on your Samsung Smart TV.

Bonus: Configuring ADB on Windows

If you are having problems configuring ADB on Windows, follow the listed instructions below. Make sure that you are logged in as an administrator.

1. Download the ADB Installation for Windows from here.
2. Unzip the contents to an accessible location (preferred in Desktop or in a Drive).
3. Next, open the command prompt (Windows + S, type cmd, right-click on it and select Run as administrator).
4. Now you have to cd to the location where you extracted the zipped file. Use dir command to see which folders are listed in your current location in the command prompt.

   

5. Now, when you type adb as a command run it, it will be accessible.