TikTok now has an Android TV app. Yes, if you needed more reason to waste time watching videos of cats raising hell or some dude on his skateboard drinking cranberry juice on a much larger screen, you’re in luck. The TikTok for Android TV app is currently live on the Play Store and is available to install on smart TVs. However, the availability appears to be region locked at the time of writing this. But this is not TikTok’s first large-screen adventure, as Samsung smart TVs landed the short-form video-sharing app back in December last year.
You can watch TikTok videos on your smart TV even without logging in
So, coming back to TikTok’s arrival on Android TVs, it claims to offer a ‘personalized video feed based on what you watch, like and share.’ As per a Reddit thread, some users encountered a region unavailability error when they tried to log in to their TikTok account. A few others mentioned that the app won’t work in the US or South-East Asian countries, and doesn’t work with a Xiaomi Mi Box S or NVIDIA Shield. However, Android Police claims that they got in working in the UK.
The folks over at EFTM were also able to get the TikTok app working on an Android TV by sideloading the APK in Australia, as the official Play Store install doesn’t appear to be working for users Down Under. Also, it appears that you don’t necessarily have to log-in for watching TikTok videos. However, there is an option to log-in to your TikTok account by scanning a QR code if you want to primarily watch videos posted by the accounts you follow.
The log-in process via QR code scanning pretty simple. No password needed!
EFTM’s report adds that videos do not loop by default and play in portrait orientation, just like they would do on the mobile app. Clicking right skips to the next video, while clicking the down button opens the likes and comments section. Pressing the down button twice brings up the categories section. While watching a video, information such as view count and title appear on the left side, while music details sit below.
Once you install the TikTok for Android TV app, it will appear under the My Apps section on your Android TV. When the app launches on your smart TV for the first time, you can choose between the ‘Watch Now’ option to start watching random curated videos without having to log in to your TikTok account, and a ‘Log In’ button below it. You can download the TikTok for Android TV app from the Play Store or sideload the APK here.
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