7 Android TV Tips And Tricks To Maximize Your TV Time

Watching TV is one of the most common ways to relax and enjoy your free time. Android TV can take this experience to the next level with on-demand streaming, personalization, personalized recommendations, and even video games. Plus, new features are constantly being added to improve your experience, so there's always something else to look forward to.

To make sure you don't miss out on any of these great features, we've rounded up the best Android TV tips and tricks you can try. Most of them are very simple, so you don't need much technical knowledge and you don't have to read a boring manual to get started.

Do you have Google TV? Check out our guide to the best Google TV tips and tricks.

Use your voice assistant for hands-free control

Imagine watching a great new movie and getting up to eat. You come back and realize you left the mouse in the kitchen. Well, don't get up again. You can use the voice assistant to control playback and volume.

Step 1 Say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google" to activate the voice assistant.

Step 2: Place an order. You can say something like "turn the volume down". You can ask the voice assistant to change rooms, start a new show, search your content library, control the weather, and more.

If you want to see all the options you can use with the voice assistant, click "What can you do?" This will give you a list of commands that you can try.

Use your phone as a remote control

Back to how it was, there is another way to use the remote control to control Android TV besides the standard remote control. Use your phone! Here's how to set up your phone and control it as a remote control.

Step 1: Download the Google TV app on your phone and open it.

Step 2: Select the " Remote " option in the bottom right corner.

Step 3 : Select your TV name and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the pairing. You can now use your phone's on-screen buttons as a second remote control.

You can use any Android TV remote control app available on the Google Play Store.

Create watchlist

There are so many new shows coming out every month that it can be hard to keep track of everything you want to watch. Luckily, Android TV allows you to create a watchlist to watch all of your content.

Step 1 Find the desired show or find it in the Discover tab. Hover or press and hold on a name and you'll see an option to add it to your watchlist.

Step 2: You can click the title to view the list and select a watchlist.

If you are using Google Browser on a laptop or PC, you can search for the name of the show and add it directly to your online playlist by clicking on the playlist icon under the name of the show.

Step 3: The contents of your watchlist will appear on your home page for easy access.

Refine your Tinder-style recommendations.

If swiping through dating apps isn't enough, you can also swipe through shows to get better recommendations on Android TV. Here's how to use this feature.

Step 1 On the Android TV home screen, go to the Discover tab.

Step 2: Look under the Best Options for You section and you will see an Update Your Recommendations button. Using this option, you can easily like and dislike movies and TV shows.

This tells the algorithm what you are doing and what you don't want to see in the future.

Customize your home screen

Is your home screen full of useless suggestions for apps you don't use? Hate ads that interrupt your browsing? Well, now you can customize the Android TV home screen to your liking. Here's how.

Step 1. Go to Android TV settings .

Step 2: Go to Device Settings > Home Screen .

Step 3: You now have many options for customizing your home screen. You can turn previews (trailers) on and off, disable/enable sound previews, and change the order of programs and games displayed on the screen.

Save money with data save mode

Don't want to pay high internet bills? You can save data on Android TV using the save data mode. Here's how to turn it on.

Step 1 Go to Settings > Network & Internet .

Step 2 : Click " Traffic Saving ».

Step 3: Choose the appropriate data alert setting to make sure you don't exceed your current data plan's data limit.

Mirror your phone with Chromecast

If you have a great video on your phone that you want to watch on the big screen, you can mirror your phone (or laptop) with the built-in Chromecast. Here's how.

Step 1 Make sure your phone or laptop and TV are connected to the same network.

Step 2: Open the file you want to play on your phone or laptop. You can open apps like YouTube and VLC media player.

Step 3: Look at the icon above. This allows you to display content from your phone on your TV.

Step 4: You can also use the Google Browser Streaming feature. Open the content you want to play and click the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window. Then select the Cast option.

Step 5: Now choose a name for your TV and you can display photos, videos, files, streaming content and more on it.

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