A few days ago you bought a new Philips Smart TV and now you’re eager to explore all its features to make the most of it. As you probably already know, one of the main strengths of Smart TVs in general is the applications: thanks to dedicated stores, like the well-known Google Play, each of these devices can be enriched with apps that meet many needs, from streaming to organizing content, including games and personal calendars.
Philips pre-installs the most popular and widely used apps on its TVs, but as you can imagine, there are many other applications that can be added and enjoyed through these devices. I bet you’re here to find out how to download apps on Philips Smart TV, and if that’s the case, I’m happy to tell you that you’ve come to the right place: below, I will explain how to achieve your goal with just a few clicks of the remote control, and I will also show you (if you haven’t already) how to connect your TV to the Internet.
Before proceeding, I want to clarify: the latest Philips Smart TVs come equipped with Android TV, the Google operating system for TVs, while slightly older models have a proprietary operating system, designed by Philips itself. Don’t worry; you don’t need to be an expert on the topic or be concerned if you have one operating system instead of another: I will explain how to proceed in both cases. With that said, I wish you happy reading and, most importantly, happy downloading!
Index
- How to Download Apps on Philips Smart TV Android
- How to Download Apps on Philips Smart TV Non-Android
How to Download Apps on Philips Smart TV Android
If your Philips Smart TV runs on Google TV/Android TV, you’ll be pleased to know that you can install apps directly from Google Play, just like on Android devices. Generally, the Google operating system requires the user to establish an Internet connection and configure a Google account right away after turning on the TV for the first time.
However, if for some reason you haven’t completed these steps, you can still use the settings menu to connect to the network and add a personal profile to the TV, which is essential to download apps. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you can create one for free, following the instructions available in my specific guide on the topic.
Internet Connection
If you haven’t set any internet connection during the initial setup of the TV, proceed as follows: If you intend to connect using a Ethernet cable, plug the ends of the cable into the appropriate port on the back of the TV and one of the LAN ports on the back of the router, press the Home button on the remote control (the house icon), and that’s it: shortly, the TV should show you a message indicating that the connection has been established.
If you want to connect via Wi-Fi, take the TV remote, press the Home button, and press the up arrow two or three times until you highlight the top row of items; now move to the right until you select the gear icon, highlight it and press OK.
At this point, wait for the list of available networks to appear on the screen, select the network you are interested in, and press OK; finally, use the virtual keyboard to enter the network password, press the checkmark in the lower-right corner of the Android keyboard, and wait a few seconds for the connection to be established. If prompted, accept the terms of use of the operating system and complete any available updates.
Now, it’s time to set up your Google account, if you haven’t done so yet: to do this, return to the TV’s Settings menu, press on Accounts and Profiles, then on the Add Account button displayed on the screen.
Download Apps
Once your network is configured, you are ready to download and install all the applications you want, using the integrated Play Store on the TV. If you previously decided to activate the Google Assistant and voice control features, locate the Google button on the remote (featuring three colored circles), press it and hold it while you say the name of the app you want to download.
For example, if you are trying to figure out how to download the NOW TV app on Philips Smart TV, simply say the words now TV while holding down the Google button; similarly, if you want to know how to download the Disney Plus app on Philips Smart TV, just press the Google button and, without releasing it, say disney plus.
If all went smoothly, you should find yourself in the section of the Play Store dedicated to the chosen app; if not, you should see another panel displaying the most relevant results: select the one that fits your needs best and press OK to access the app’s page.
Alternatively, you can access the integrated store without using voice control: to do so, take the remote, press the Home button (the house icon), and highlight the top menu by pressing the up directional arrow two or three times. Next, highlight the Apps tab, press OK, select the Search apps and games bar in the center of the screen, and press OK again to bring up the search field with the virtual keyboard.
Now, all you have to do is type the name of the app you’re interested in using the on-screen keyboard and remote: for instance, if you’re here to understand how to download the Mediaset Infinity app on Philips Smart TV, just type the word infinity in the search field; also, if you’re interested in knowing how to download the DAZN app on Philips TV, you need to enter the word dazn. After typing, press the button with a magnifying glass, wait for the results to appear on the screen, and after selecting the one that closely matches your needs, press OK.
Note that, via the Apps section, you can also browse the Android TV applications using categories or quickly access apps installed on other devices linked to the same account; however, in this case too, you need to select the preview of the app you are interested in and press OK to access its page.
Regardless of the procedure used to find the application, installing it is a piece of cake: just press the Install button displayed on the screen and patiently wait for the application to download onto the TV. Once the download process is complete, you can launch the app immediately by pressing the Open button or using the icon that has been added to the Home screen of Google TV.
How to Download Apps on Philips Smart TV Non-Android
If your Philips Smart TV does not run on Android TV/Google TV, but rather operates on the TitanOS platform or another proprietary system, even if the available applications are significantly fewer than those available on the Google Play Store, it’s still possible that you can find and install exactly what you’re looking for: everything is explained below.
Internet Connection
A different situation unfolds with Philips TVs that run on a different operating system, as the connection to the internet might not be offered during the initial setup. However, you can still establish a connection after the fact, as long as you have a Wi-Fi router already connected to the internet or a TV with an Ethernet port, a cable of the same type, and a free LAN port on the back of the modem.
To connect the Smart TV to the internet via Wi-Fi, press the Home button on the remote (the house icon), select the Settings tab from the panel that appears (the gear icon), and press OK. Now, navigate to All Settings (if necessary) Wireless and Networks > Wired or Wi-Fi, and if necessary, toggle the switch for the Wi-Fi activation to ON.
In some cases, you might need to follow a slightly different path: after opening the Home screen on the TV, press the Settings > Network buttons, open the Wi-Fi ON/OFF menu, and toggle the switch you see on the next screen to ON; then press the Back button on the remote.
Now, open the Connect to Network section located in the same panel, choose the Wireless (Wi-Fi) option, and wait a moment for the list of available wireless networks to appear on the screen; when it does, select the name of the connection of interest, press OK, and when prompted, enter the network key using the on-screen keyboard. When finished, press OK and wait for the message indicating that the connection has been established.
If you prefer connecting via Ethernet, plug the dedicated cable into the Ethernet/LAN ports available on the TV and router, then press the Home button on the remote and open the Settings tab. Now select All Settings (if necessary) Wireless and Networks > Wired or Wi-Fi > Connect to Network > Wired, and wait for the confirmation message indicating the connection has been established: no additional configuration should be required.
On some slightly older Philips TVs, the steps may differ slightly: you will need to press the Settings button on the remote (the gear icon), select Config > Connect to Network > Connect, and choose between the Wireless option for Wi-Fi or Wired for Ethernet.
Download Apps
Once the connection is established, you can immediately download applications from the TV store without configuring any user profile. Therefore, first, press the Home button on the remote (the house icon), open the Apps tab and then press the App Gallery icon; alternatively, press the Smart TV button (whose icon resembles a stylized butterfly), go to the Apps tab and press on the App Gallery box, if present, located inside it.
At this point, all you have to do is search for the app you are interested in by category, or using the dedicated search bar located in the top right corner and typing, within it, the name of the application that interests you. Once done, press OK, click on the preview of the application and, when you arrive at the next panel, press the Add button to proceed with the installation and add the corresponding icon to the Home screen.
Alternative Solutions
What if the proprietary store on your Philips Smart TV doesn’t include the app you were looking for? Unfortunately, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to install it any other way, as Philips does not provide any option for external app installation, at least for TVs running on non-Android systems.
However, you can circumvent this by purchasing a “stick” or HDMI box with Smart functions, equipped with Play Store or App Store, that connects to empty HDMI ports on the TV and allows you to use a different operating system than the one present on the TV: this is the case, for example, with Chromecast and Google TV Streamer (which come with Google’s operating system with Google Play Store), Apple TV (which has Apple’s tvOS with App Store) and Amazon Fire TV (equipped with FireOS, Amazon Appstore, and the ability to install third-party apps).
For more information, I invite you to read my in-depth articles dedicated to each of the mentioned devices, and for further clarification, my guide on how to turn a TV into a Smart TV.