How to install an application on Android TV Smart Box?
In order to download a new application to your Smart TV set-top box, you must have Google Play Store installed on it. This program is included in the standard package of Android applications, which is pre-installed on any international version of even the Chinese set-top box. Our Xiaomi Mi Box S is no exception.
Therefore, go to the “Applications” menu or click on the button of the same name on the control panel
Here we select “More applications” or directly open the Play Store
And we are looking for the application we need. In this case, the search can be performed by entering the name using the virtual keyboard
and using a voice assistant, which is much more convenient. You can call it from the on-screen menu or a separate button on the remote control
Let's say we want to install one of the popular media players for Android TV - VLC. Enter it into the search and select from the list
Next, press “OK” on the remote control and click on the “Install” button on the screen
The download and installation process will depend on your Internet speed, but it usually takes less than a minute. After that, you can immediately launch the newly installed application for Android TV Box from here.
Russians were left without video content
The HD VideoBox application, which allowed you to watch movies and TV series for free on your smartphone or smart TV, suddenly stopped working. The application has a separate topic on the forum of the resource w3bsit3-dns.com (blocked in Russia). The moderator of this topic announced the termination of its development.
The authors of the HD VideoBox application did not explain in any way the reasons for stopping work on the project. The topic on w3bsit3-dns.com dedicated to him was closed at the time of publication of the material, allegedly due to flooding (off-topic messages), and the application itself did not work and displayed a message that everything was over.
The HD VideoBox service acted as an aggregator of pirated content. This is a kind of parser that searches, for example, for a movie or TV series desired by the user on a variety of resources. It allowed you to choose not only the quality of the video, but even the desired voice acting.
A message that is now visible to all HD VideoBox users
A topic on w3bsit3-dns.com dedicated to HD VideoBox was created on November 24, 2016. In less than five years, it received more than 3,000 user comments, which may indicate the significant popularity of the project among Russians. The app itself last received an update on March 22, 2021.
At the time of publication of the material, the developers managed to close the official website of the project (getvideocatalog.li) and delete all messages in the Telegram channel dedicated to it, renaming it at the same time. At the same time, the additional resource (hdvideobox.ru), which describes the capabilities of the service, continued to operate, and from it you can still download the application distribution for Android and smart TVs based on Android TV (APK format).
How to install APK application on Android TV from a flash drive from unknown sources?
As you know, not all the applications you need can be found in the official Google Store. Personally, I generally download everything from specialized forums and install it manually. How to install an application downloaded from third-party sources?
There is nothing complicated. We need to download a file with an APK extension, which is the installation file for Android programs. You can download it directly to your TV through the browser for Android TV. For some, it will be easier to first save it to a computer or laptop. In this case, we have several options to transfer the file with the application from the computer to the TV or set-top box. The most convenient are the following:
- Move it to a flash drive, which you then connect to the TV and run through the file manager
- Transfer it directly over the local network via an FTP server using the TV File Commander application
- Upload to a cloud service on the Internet (Mail.Ru Cloud, Yandex Disk, Google Drive) and access it from the TV
I use the last two because they don't require any special movements. All that is required is to simply transfer the application file from your computer to your TV.
Next, for the Android TV system, you need to allow the installation of applications on the TV from unknown sources. To do this, go to the “Security and Restrictions” settings.
Select "Unknown sources"
And we activate the switch on the file manager application with which you navigate through folders on the TV.
Now you can again open the directory where the application file is located and start installing it on the TV itself
Alternative application store for Smart TV Box on Android
Sometimes you come across Chinese TV set-top boxes that do not have the Google Play Store pre-installed. In this case, in order to be able to download programs directly from the TV, and not download them each time first to a flash drive, you can download and install this same Play Market using the method described above.
However, in our time, the editorial policy of Google developers is characterized by high requirements for the applications hosted on it. As a result, many useful programs simply do not get there. For example, online players.
Therefore, in addition to the official one, I recommend installing another application store from third-party developers - Aptoide TV. You can install its installation file directly on the TV Box or on a USB drive and install the APK file just like any other application.
After which you will have access to a full set of various programs for Android TV.
Adding an app to the Android TV home screen
To get quick access to a program, you can add it to the first row of applications on the Home screen. To do this, click on the plus icon
and select the desired application
It's now in your favorites list
So what's now
There are unofficial groups and channels on Telegram and other messengers dedicated to the HD VideoBox service. After the project was closed, they began to look for methods that would allow them to continue using this application.
One of the sites dedicated to the service is still working
In a thread on w3bsit3-dns.com dedicated to the service, participants suggested not deleting the application from the device, but simply clearing the cache and resetting all its settings (via the corresponding menu in Android). After this, according to them, the operation of HD VideoBox will be restored. The only disadvantage of this method, they say, is the loss of Plus status, which must be purchased with money.
The official Telegram channel of the service has ceased to exist
Plus status costs 2 euros (174 rubles at the Central Bank exchange rate as of August 23, 2021). It disables advertising in the application and in front of the movie, allows you to search for content on torrents, provides access to 4K video and provides a number of other advantages.
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An allegedly working build of the HD VideoBox application also appeared in a third-party Telegram channel. Its distribution is carried out by the users themselves, and it is unknown what exactly has been changed in its program code.
You should install such software on your devices only at your own peril and risk.
There are also other services that provide similar capabilities to HD VideoBox. They allow you to watch pirated content both on a smartphone or tablet, and on the large screen of a smart TV.
Setting up the side menu of Android TV Box applications
If you noticed, Android TV has another menu - a side menu. It displays various installed applications, which correspond to rows of pictures with movie posters on the main screen of the program for quick access. New movies added recently on the Internet and found by the corresponding programs are displayed here. In order to set up or add a new information channel here, you need to scroll down the entire page and click on the “Add channel” button
Select the desired application
And select those information channels that we want to display in the list.
Now you can move them or completely remove them from the main screen. To do this, select the desired program and press the left arrow key on the control panel - two more menu icons will appear. One is for moving a line up and down
another to remove from the start page
In the same way, you can configure the display of playlists for watching YouTube on Smart TV.
Possible reason for closure
The termination of the project may be related to activities, writes the Durov Code portal. This is the hosting provider of the site hdvideobox.ru, while getvideocatalog.li is hosted by Amazon.
A topic on w3bsit3-dns.com dedicated to HD VideoBox lasted five years
Over the past seven years, since 2014, the Eurobyte provider has been involved in more than 120 legal proceedings in the Moscow City Court. The vast majority of them are associated with a violation of Part 3 of Article 26 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, concerning the protection of copyright and/or related rights in information and telecommunication networks, including on the Internet.
One of the latest cases against Eurobyte (number 3-1085/2021) was considered with a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in mid-July 2021. The defendants in it were, in addition to the hosting provider, Novoserv Bi. Vi., Ddos-Guard LLC and Friendhosting Ltd.
A small part of the cases against Eurobyte
The plaintiff in the case was a certain Evgeniy Khodchenkov . He appealed to the Moscow City Court with a demand to prohibit the defendants from distributing educational videos “Dividend salary: from words to deeds” and “Passive income. Automatically."
Control installed the application from Android from a TV set-top box?
It also happens that you pump up everything unnecessary, and there is a need to get rid of unnecessary programs.
In order to manage applications installed on the Android TV set-top box, you need to go to the menu section of the same name
and select the program you are interested in. An additional window will open with a menu in which you can perform the following actions:
- Remove from the console completely
- View information
- Remove from favorites list
- Move
- Launch
Additional confirmation is required for complete deletion
However, these are not all the actions that we can apply to installed programs. Additional configurations are hidden in the settings menu. To enter it, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen - this is the Android TV settings menu
Next, look for the “Applications” section
And select the one you plan to delete
Information about this program will open, in particular the size it occupies on disk, cache size, and so on. Here you can already:
- remove the application from the TV,
- force quit,
- clear accumulated garbage stored in the program memory
Legal justification
In Russia, since June 2021, Law No. 177-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” has been in force. It requires blocking mobile applications that distribute pirated content.
A selection of HD VideoBox analogues from a well-known IT site
According to the text of the document, Roskomnadzor is in charge of deciding whether to terminate the operation of such a service. First, the regulator sends the owner of the information resource on which such an application is located a notification that this software violates certain copyrights.
This resource then notifies the application owner of Roskomnadzor’s request within one business day. He must, within one more working day, fulfill all the requirements of the regulator to remove the content about which the complaint was received. In case of disobedience on the part of the owner of the application, the resource on which it is hosted is obliged to block it within three working days from the receipt of the notification from Roskomnadzor.
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Elyas Qasmi
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