Android TVs are awesome and with Android TV boxes like the Mi Box, the cost of having an Android TVs is also greatly reduced. The Mi Box can be easily set up, and gives you all the freedom of the Android environment. However, while there are some various features used in the Android TV, there are some obscure features inserted away in the platform.

1.Sideload Apps on Android TV

There are lot of apps available for the Android TV, the selection of apps available in the Android TV Play Store can be quite limited at times. Particularly when it comes to utility apps we may need to have on your TV. Fortunately, we can easily sideload Android apps on your Android TV.

To sideload apps on your Android TV, we can simply download the APK file to your computer, copy it to a USB flash drive. Then, simply attach the USB drive to your Android TV, and use an app like ES File Explorer, to install the APK on your TV.

If attaching a USB flash drive is not a viable option for you, you can even use FTP to sideload Android apps on your Android TV.

2.Use Your Mobile Phone as the Remote for Android TV

Android TV boxes come with really remotes. The Mi Box comes with a really nice, lightweight, and smooth remote. But, these Bluetooth remotes can only go so far when it comes to ease of use, particularly when you want to type text on your TV. Google has an “Android TV Remote Control” app (free), that you can use to get a remote interface on your mobile. With a Bluetooth/WiFi connection between your TV, and phone, you can easily navigate the interface through your Android phone.

The best thing is that when you want to enter text on the Android TV, you can use the on-screen keyboard in your mobile which is definitely much faster than using the Lean back keyboard.

3.Use Android TV as a Computer

If you can use your Android TV as a computer. After all, it does pack enough power to serve as a basic browsing machine, along with some lightweight gaming, and word processing. Which is quite a lot, considering that Android TV boxes go for as low as $70.

You can just connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to your Android TV box, and you’re all set. Use the cursor to point and click, and the keyboard to quickly type, and there you have it, an easy to set up Android powered computer, right in your living room, on the biggest screen you have. In addition, with Bluetooth peripherals, you can sit wherever you need, and use your computer with ease.

4.Take Screenshots on Android TV

The Android TV platform is great for casual gaming, due to the fact that even affordable Android TV boxes, like the Mi Box can easily handle most games. So, what if you’re playing Leo’s Fortune on your Android TV, and need to share somewhat really cool with a friend. Screenshots are the way to go! Fortunately, you can easily take screenshots on Android TVs as well, and the process is exactly the same as it’s on every Android device.

Just press and hold the Power button, and the volume down button at the same time to take a screenshot of your Android TV. The screenshots are saved in “/sdcard/Pictures/Screenshots/”, so you can easily access them later.

5.Customize the Recommendations Carousel

Android TV, as a platform, tries very hard to always have something new for us to watch. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage and while some people may like the “Recommendations” that Android TV offers, you don’t want to see recommendations from just about every pre-installed source on my Android TV. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to customize the sources that show up in the recommendations carousel on your Android TV.

To do this, just follow the below steps:

• Go to Settings -> Home screen.

• Go to “Recommendations Row“.

• Here, you can show/hide the sources available on your TV, according to your preferences.

6.Increase Internal Storage with Adoptable Storage

If there’s one problem with affordable Android TV boxes, like the Mi Box ($69), it’s that they come with extremely limited storage space. Fortunately, you can easily add a lot of storage to these boxes, because of USB OTG support. You can easily add a USB flash drive to the Android TV box, and increase the amount of storage your TV has.

To do this, just follow the below steps:

• Connect an external USB flash drive to your Android TV. You’ll be greeted with a screen that says “USB drive connected”. Here, choose “Set up as internal storage“.

• In the next screen, choose “Format”.

The USB flash drive will be formatted as internal storage, and you can start using it as a logical internal memory partition to save apps, and more.

Note: 

Formatting a USB drive will erase any data that is already on it. Ensure you have a backup of all the data on your USB drive before you do this.

7.Play the Android Marshmallow Easter Egg Game

Android TV currently runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and as you probably know, there is a hidden game inside Android Marshmallow. You can play it on your Android TV as well. This is much better than playing it on an Android mobile, because of the bigger screen. To play the Android Marshmallow Easter Egg game, just follow the below steps:

• Go to Settings -> About.

• Scroll down to “Version”,and rapidly click on it a few times.

• In the next screen, again click rapidly a number of times.

The Marshmallow game will release, and you can press the select (or Up) button on your remote to control the Android bot on the screen. Don’t be fooled, though, playing this game on a bigger screen is as difficult as it is on a smaller screen.

8.Mirror Your Phone/Laptop Screen with Google Cast

Another cool thing you can do with your Android TV, is cast your phone or laptop screen to your TV over WiFi. Just open the media file that you need to cast to your TV, and start streaming. On laptops, you can easily cast to your Android TV, with Google Chrome. You can choose to cast just the tab you’re in, or your entire desktop to your Android TV.

Unfortunately, iPhone’s don’t support Google Cast. But, if you need to stream media files from your iPhone to your Android TV, you can use an app like All Cast (free, in-app purchases) to achieve this. The app has a free version, which puts a limit on the length of videos that can be cast to your Android TV, along with ads. You can remove these restrictions with an in-app purchase of $4.99

9.Display Information on Your Idle TV

By default, when your TV is idle, it just shows a black screen. However, with Android TV, you can get your TV to display useful information when it’s not in use due to the Daydream feature in Android devices, you can get your TV to display information like the current time, along with the date, and weather right on the screen. Using an app like “Lucid Daydream” (free, with in-app purchases), you can get this feature on your Android TV. There are a some other modules available in Lucid Daydream, including calendar events, notifications, and more. You can choose the things you want your TV to display, from Daydream settings.

To set up Daydream, just follow the steps below:

• Go to Settings -> Display.

• Here, go to “Daydream”.

You can then choose the app for Daydream, along with other Daydream settings that you can play around with. In addition, if Lucid Daydream is not to your liking, there are a lot of cool Daydream apps that you can use.

10.Play with Android TV Developer Options

If you like tinkering with settings, and playing around with hidden features, you’ll be ready to know that you can access Developer Options on your Android TV as well. To enable Developer Options on an Android TV, just do the following:

• Go to Settings -> About, and tap on the “Build Number” 7 times.

• You can then find Developer Options in “Settings”,under “Preferences”.

• In Developer Options, you can do things like turn on ADB debugging. This can come in handy if you’re developing Android TV apps, and would like to test them out on your Android TV.

• Under the “Drawing” section, you can change the animation scale for various animations. Changing these settings can make the system appear much more snappy than usual.

There is a lot more you can change in Developer Options, but due to the nature of these settings, they should only be played with what you’re doing.