I want to buy a new TCL AndroidTV to watch Iptv channels but i don't know if playstore have The same apps as in Smartphone or it is limited , for example i want to download IPTV smarters pro , is it available in AndroidTV ? And does it allow Apk installation through usb stick ?
I'll try to be helpful here, also new to Android TV. For what it's worth I splurged on a new Sony Bravia for the nicer hardware, but we use a Roku TCL downstairs and they are getting nicer all the time.
Also, I know nothing about IPTV stuff. sorry. I am sure there are many ways to do it though.
I first recommend adding some STORAGE if you haven't. It's cheap. You want to install USB stick or drive with a respectable read/write speed that you plan to ALWAYS leave connected. I have a tiny Samsung 128GB thumb drive. It should walk you through how to force it to reformat to act as permanent internal storage. It is advisable to do this first before starting to install a bunch of apps and filling it up, just so you don't leave junk when it transfers over later.
The TV's app store IS limited as it only displays apps "approved" for A TV. I also find it a little frustrating to navigate unless you use voice for searching specfic apps. But it's good for finding some of the basics. To be in this version of the store means that Google certifies (to some extent) that they should work fairly well on the larger screen and with standard TV controls (usually a remote). As you can imagine this is not a TON of apps (growing fast), but still more than many smart TVs.
There's no YouTube Music yet which confuses me terribly.
I find that in general, the EASIEST, way to search for TV apps is to use the regular old google play store on a PC/laptop browser. From there you can get to ALL apps. Then you can very quickly see which devices that you own an app will work with and install it to any of those devices directly from there (including the TV or phone or Chromebook, whatever).
You can pretty easily (and same way you do it on a phone) sideload any Android app at all onto your device, there is just no guarantee it will work or work properly / usably. You can google around or just try it yourself and delete it if you want. There's a decent amount of chatter on this in this sub but honestly, I do more trial and error. For example, I force installed the Owlet app to see my child on camera via an .apk. I found that it did not display correctly and I could not control it without touch, so I deleted it. You still have to allow installs from different sources, but it will help you do that.
Search out a "solid" file explorer first and get comfortable with navigating it. Maybe the one that came with your TV is fine. Maybe your tv will allow you to delete the stock file manager. Maybe you want to have 3 different ones for different reasons.
A good browser to start with might be Puffin TV as it's pretty simple and looks good on the big screen but you can then sideload different browsers even.
Send Files to TV (SFTV) is an approved app that works very well to get files where you want them without moving USBs around physically.
If you sideload an app and it's not displaying over the whole screen or cut off... odds are it is stuck in phone vertical mode. You can download a "screen rotate app" to force all apps into horizontal to fill the screen. I got stuck on this for a minute, lol.
Also, familiarize yourself with how to force close or delete apps in the "settings / apps". You will need to show system apps sometimes to see sideloaded apps. This may vary with device or remote. Some devices, long pressing home gets you to recent apps. Some not. YOu can even dowload apps to remap buttons so that this IS the case.
If you are looking for games... I will first preface by saying clearly: Today, the Android TV built-in is NOT a gaming device. Even something like the Shield is walking a thin line. YOu most likely end up with a third party bluetooth controller, a bunch of sideloaded apps, and a clunky experience in general. Depending on your tastes, I will bet that you can probably find 25 games worth playing for more than a day that will be a smooth experience out of the box. I am not saying it is not worth gaming on, just a word of warning. It's sort of like building a linux computer for gaming... it works and is working better all the time, but there are intrinsic hurdles that make it so that if you want to game... buy a device for gaming.
That being said, keep it simple. I use RetroArch to emulate like 40 SNES games and they are all as fun as they were when I was growing up (takes a little setting up, but youtube it). Sega has some fun rebuilds for Android (namely Sonic 2 Classic). The runner games usually look alright. Beach Buggy and Asphalt 8 (9 seems to be buggy??) are approved racing games to kill some time. Tumbleweed Park is a retro feel to but sucking me in hard...
So in the end, it is Android and as always, endlessly customizable. But also as with most iteration of Android. Can get buggy fast as you mess with it outside of the prepackaged intentions.
Have fun!!
It does not have the same apps as the mobile store. There is a much smaller App Store for AndroidTV because the apps need to be modified to be used with a remote instead of a touch screen. There are iptv apps available (tivimate, smarters etc) through the google play store, you won’t need to side load.
Just a word of warning, androidtv built in is generally underpowered and does not get updates as frequently. You would be better off getting a non-smart tv with an external androidtv box (nvidea shield, fire stick)