Having a television that has Android TV as the operating system or Google TV invites you to install applications. Each person is different and each one of us has different preferences, but these are some of the basic applications that can be useful if you have a TV with Android TV.
Leaving aside some applications that may already be installed on television such as YouTube or Netflix and leaving aside applications such as Disney + or HBO that can only be of interest to subscribers, we are going to focus on basic applications that can provide a extra function to our television.
AccuWeather
One of the first things we do before going to bed is to check the weather for the next day. On Android TV we can find several applications related to weather, but AccuWeather is one of the most popular. Through a geolocation system, it gives us the part of the weather in our city directly, showing both daily and hourly forecasts.
It also has a video section with which you can see what the weather is like anywhere in the world, as well as radar and satellite images to improve forecasting. All this in an interface that is adapted to your television.
AirScreen
An application that allows us to send all kinds of multimedia content from our computer or mobile directly to the television. It supports various wireless transmission protocols such as AirPlay or Google Cast.
File transmission promises maximum security as it runs encrypted to prevent your photos and videos from being intercepted or stolen. Among other functions, you can mirror from your iPhone to your Android TV.
Kodi
Another of the basic applications that cannot be missing on your Android TV is Kodi. This application turns our television into a fully customizable multimedia center. Through Kodi we can access multimedia files locally, access the different DTT channels or connect to services such as YouTube.
Kodi has an add-on system with which you can add different types of functionalities. These add-ons allow you to show weather forecasts, listen to the radio or access cloud storage services, among others.
Plex
An application focused on turning a computer into a multimedia center that can be accessed directly from the television. Plex recognizes all the files locally that you may have on your computer and is also compatible with practically all audio and video formats.
Another interesting feature of Plex is that once configured, we can access our files from any device. To do this, the first thing we have to do is install the Plex Media Server application and then install Plex on your Android TV. This application allows you to organize your folder differentiating videos, photos and music, in addition to encrypting the connections if we connect remotely.
Puffin tv
One of the less pleasant experiences is using a browser on television when we do not have a keyboard or mouse. Puffin TV is a browser that is fully adapted to be used on your Android TV. This application makes browsing more friendly and comfortable through a system of modules where we can add our favorite websites. It also has recommendations for popular pages to avoid having to write the address.
One of the most practical features of Puffin TV is that we can create bookmarks through a QR code. By scanning the QR code with the mobile, a connection is established in which we can write the page we want to view on television on the mobile, achieving a more fluid and comfortable browsing experience.
