It’s been a couple of years since Android TV has come out and it’s been slowly maturing as a platform. It has more apps and games available for it than ever before. There could be more hardware available, but we’re sure that’s coming sooner or later. If you have an Android TV device and you’re looking to get the best experience, then check out the best Android TV apps! Also, most Android TV apps have a Chromecast built-in. That means any app with Chromecast support can be used on most Android TV devices!
Amazon Prime Video
Archos Video Player
Google Play Music
Hulu
Netflix
Plex
Sling TV
Spotify
Wake On Lan
YouTube
Here are some more excellent app lists for Android TV owners!
15 best Chromecast apps for Android!
10 best video streaming apps and video streaming services for Android!
Amazon Prime Video
Price: Free / $12.99 per month / $119.99 per year
Amazon is fairly ornery when it comes to their streaming services. Amazon Prime Video on Android TV is a no brainer. The Android app doesn’t support Chromecast (only Fire TV sticks). Thus, the Android TV app is the only way to get it on an Android-powered TV without some sort of hassle. The selection is decent. Paying the price of admission also unlocks other Prime benefits. The service also includes a variety of specialized channels with additional content. It’s not bad for what it is. The main app could really use some Chromecast support, though.
Archos Video Player
Price: Free / $4.99
Archos is a functional video player app for Android TV. Some may opt for the more popular VLC or MX Player video players. However, Archos has a few extra TV-specific features for those who want it. That includes AC3 and DTS passthrough (on supported TVs and boxes), support for 3D TVs, and more. It can do the basics on top of that with a wide range of codecs as well as external storage support. We may not recommend this first for phones, but it’s definitely the best one for Android TVs.
Google Play Music
Price: Free / $9.99-$14.99 per month
Google Play Music is another obvious choice for Android TV apps. It has a rock solid music streaming experience. In fact, it’s probably better than the mobile phone version. You can also upload 50,000 of your own songs to the cloud and access them anywhere. That makes this service the easiest way to listen to your locally stored music on your TV. Uploading music and select radio stations are free. The $12.99 per month charge is for on-demand music play, no ads on YouTube, and some other features. This is getting replaced by YouTube Music eventually, but until then, it’s a great music streaming app for Android TV.
Hulu
Price: Free trial / $7.99-$39.99 per month
Hulu is slowly growing into one of the better Android TV apps. It has a decent video streaming service. There are just a ton of shows to watch. Additionally, the service allows for live TV for $39.99 per month. It includes a bunch of channels, including local sports channels. Going for the live TV option also includes all of Hulu’s in-house streaming content as well. That makes it an enticing option for cable cutters. You can also add HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and additional cloud storage space for additional fees. Keep an eye out for the big Disney bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ as well. That’s a seriously good set of video streaming apps.
Netflix
Price: Free trial / $8.99-$15.99 per month
Netflix is among the most obvious Android TV apps. It has a huge selection, is binge friendly, and it’s still among the cheapest video streaming services out there. The Android TV version looks and feels a lot like the Xbox and PlayStation versions. Thus, veterans of those platforms know what to expect. It also supports 4K video and HDR 10 as well as Dolby Vision if your TV supports it. It also requires the highest subscription price and that price likes to jump up frequently.
Here are some more related app lists worth checking out!
15 best Android apps available right now!
10 best TV apps and Live TV apps for Android!
Plex
Price: Free / $4.99 per month / $39.99 per year
Plex was one of the first Android TV apps. It remains one of the best. Its main purpose is to play videos from your computer or phone to your TV. It also works with other types of files like music, photos, and more. The app also allows streaming from various cloud storage sites like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. It has a variety of apps that add more stuff you can watch. However, you’ll need the Plex Pass subscription or a one-time in-app purchase to get them. It’s a bit expensive, but it Plex does good work.
Sling TV and other live TV apps
Price: Free trial / $25+ per month
Sling TV was one of the first live TV apps on mobile and, of course, there’s an Android TV app. Along with Sling, you can also find find individual channel apps like CBS All Access, gaming streams from Twitch, and even live sports from WatchESPN. There are far too much apps that provide live TV experiences to list here, so we recommend checking around. However, Sling TV is the easiest way to get local sports, some cable TV, and some premium channels for not a lot of money. YouTube TV is also quite good on Android TV.
Spotify
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
Spotify is another one of the obvious Android TV apps. It is a rock solid music streaming service. It also has podcasts and even some video content. Word around the grapevine says that they’re experimenting with Hi-Fi music as well. That might sound really good coming out of your home theater set up if you have one. The prices have remained the same for ages. The selections are also far above average. We like Google Play better, but Spotify is just as good.
Wake On Lan
Price: Free
Wake On Lan is a very unique Android TV app. It lets you wake your computer, NAS storage, etc from your Android TV device with just one click. If that didn’t make sense, that’s okay, this one is a bit more for the tech savvy than most apps. With the ability to wake up your computer or NAS storage, you can simply sit down, turn your stuff on in one location, and watch your stuff without any extra work. The app can’t put devices back to sleep. However, there are ways to automate that on your computer anyway. We definitely recommend this one.
YouTube
Price: Free / $12.99 per month
YouTube is a bit of a cheap pick for Android TV apps. We admit that. The service has more video than 1,000 people can watch in a lifetime. That includes comedy, tech, music, and even politics if you really want to make yourself angry. You can get an ad-free experience with YouTube Premium for $12.99 per month and that also lets you download videos for offline viewing. The Android TV version of this app has its ups and downs. In some cases, it may even be easier to cast from the app on your phone. It works well enough if you don’t want to go down the cast route, though.
Thank you for reading! Here are some final recommendations for you!
10 best video player apps for Android!
15 best Android TV games you can play right now!
If we missed any of the best Android TV apps, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
Read more: androidauthority.com
