Install

Pick your TV. Same steps as in the tester guide.

Android TV · Google TV · Fire TV

Status: tried on a Google TV emulator only. This file has not run on any real device yet, and Fire TV is untested. If it does not install or open at all, that is an important result: tell us.

You need

  • An Android TV, Google TV or Fire TV device (TV, stick or box) with internet. No computer.
  • About 200 MB free space (the app is 95 MB). It runs next to the normal YouTube app.
  • If TizenTube Cobalt is installed, uninstall it first (both use the same phone-link port).

Easiest: the Downloader app (no computer)

  1. On the TV, open the app store (Google Play, or the Appstore on Fire TV), search Downloader (by AFTVnews, orange icon) and install it.
  2. Allow Downloader to install unknown apps:
    • Android TV / Google TV: Settings → Apps → Security & restrictions → Unknown sources → Downloader on. Not there? Settings → System → About → press Android TV OS build 7 times, then try again. (Names differ a little by brand.)
    • Fire TV: Settings → My Fire TV → Developer options → Install unknown apps → Downloader on. No Developer options? Settings → My Fire TV → About → press the device name 7 times.
  3. Open Downloader (allow its storage request), select the address box and type: sofatube.github.io/tv then press Go.
  4. When the download ends, choose Install, then Open. Downloader then offers to delete the downloaded file: Delete saves space.

Fallback: USB stick (needs a computer)

Download the .apk from sofatube.github.io/tv, copy it to a USB stick, open it on the TV with a file manager app, allow that app to install unknown apps, then Install, Open.

Good to know

  • The first start may reload YouTube once; that is normal. Most Android remotes have no colour buttons: use ★ Sofa Tube in YouTube's sidebar or the ★ button in the player bar.
  • Phone settings need no extra app here: Settings → Backup and about → Settings on your phone.
  • Updates: install the new .apk over this one the same way; settings stay.

LG TV (webOS)

First: uninstall the official YouTube app from the TV. Sofa Tube uses the same app ID (youtube.leanback.v4), so both cannot be installed together. New: installing from a phone has not been tried by us yet; tell us how it went.

You need

An LG webOS TV and an Android phone on the same Wi-Fi (or a computer). A free LG Developer account and LG's Developer Mode app. No rooting, no Homebrew Channel.

Easiest: with an Android phone

  1. On the phone, create an LG Developer account at webostv.developer.lge.com.
  2. On the TV, install Developer Mode from the LG Content Store, open it and sign in with that account.
  3. Turn on Dev Mode Status (the TV restarts), open the app again and turn on Key Server. Write down the IP address and the passphrase.
  4. On the phone, install webOS Dev Manager: github.com/webosbrew/dev-manager-desktop → Releases → the file ending universal.apk. Allow your browser to install unknown apps when asked.
  5. In webOS Dev Manager, add the TV with that IP and passphrase.
  6. In the phone's browser, open sofatube.github.io/lg and sofatube.github.io/lg-phone: both files download.
  7. In webOS Dev Manager, install the main app .ipk, then the Phone app .ipk, from the phone's Downloads.
  8. On the TV, open Sofa Tube. The first-time setup asks for language, PIN and kid mode. Green opens the settings.

Fallback: with a computer

Same steps, with webOS Dev Manager for Windows, Mac or Linux (same page) and the two .ipk files from the links above.

Good to know

  • Developer Mode sessions expire, and then the apps you installed stop opening. Open the Developer Mode app now and then and extend the session.
  • Sofa Tube Phone is a second app: open it to change settings from your phone (QR code). Screen off also needs it opened once after the TV starts.
  • Updating later: install the new .ipk the same way; your settings stay.

Samsung TV (Tizen)

Status: the npm module sofatube is published, but it has not been tried on a real Samsung TV yet, so you are one of the first.

You need

  • A Samsung TV from 2018 or newer (Tizen 4.0 or newer).
  • A Windows, Mac or Linux computer on the same Wi-Fi as the TV, once, to install TizenBrew. After that everything happens on the TV.
  • TVs from 2023 or newer (Tizen 7+): a free Samsung account (the installer asks you to sign in).

Already have TizenBrew (for example from TizenTube)? No computer needed: go to step 5.

Steps

  1. On the TV: open Apps, type 1 2 3 4 5 on the remote, set Developer mode to On, enter your computer's IP as Host PC IP, OK, then restart the TV (hold the Power button).
  2. On the computer: download TizenBrew Installer from github.com/reisxd/TizenBrewInstaller/releases (the file for your system) and run it.
  3. Click Install TizenBrew. On 2023+ TVs, sign in to your Samsung account when asked.
  4. On the TV: Apps → 1 2 3 4 5 again, set Host PC IP to 127.0.0.1, restart the TV.
  5. Open TizenBrew, press the Green button (module manager), add an NPM module and type sofatube.
  6. Sofa Tube now appears in TizenBrew. Open it: start screen, then YouTube.

Good to know

  • Why a computer? TizenBrew's old installer in the TV's web browser (TVs up to 2021) has been withdrawn; TizenBrew's guide now lists only the computer installer.
  • Updates are automatic: TizenBrew loads the newest Sofa Tube each time.
  • Always open Sofa Tube from TizenBrew (not the normal YouTube app).
  • The very newest Samsung TVs may refuse TizenBrew. If the installer fails, report your TV model.