Installing on a Chromecast with Google TV, using only the remote Print

A Chromecast has no file browser and no keyboard, so the app is installed with the help of a small free app called Downloader. You need nothing else: no computer, no USB stick, no phone. Set aside ten minutes the first time.

Have the download address for Stream Player to hand before you start — it is in your welcome email, and it is the one thing you will have to type.

1. Install Downloader

1. Press Home on the remote.
2. Move up to the top row and across to Apps, and press OK.
3. Choose Search for apps.
4. Type Downloader and choose it from the results — the orange icon with a white arrow, by AFTVnews.
5. Choose Install and wait for it to finish. Do not open it yet: it will not be allowed to install anything until the next two steps are done.

2. Turn on developer options

The setting that lets one app install another is hidden until the device is told you know what you are doing. This is normal, it is safe, and you do it once.

1. Press Home.
2. Press up until the row with your profile picture is highlighted at the top of the screen.
3. Move right to the cog icon and press OK. That is Settings.
4. Move down to System and press OK.
5. Move down to About and press OK.
6. Move down to the bottom of the list, to Android TV OS build. It looks like an ordinary line of text rather than something you can press — that is right.
7. Press OK on it seven times, one press after another. After a few presses a small message counts down: You are now 3 steps away from being a developer.
8. Keep pressing until it says You are now a developer!
9. Press Back twice to return to the main Settings list.

3. Allow Downloader to install apps

1. Still in Settings, move down to Apps and press OK.
2. Move down to Security & restrictions and press OK. If that line is not there, step 2 has not taken effect — go back to About and press OK on the build number until the developer message appears.
3. Choose Unknown sources and press OK.
4. Find Downloader in the list and press OK to switch it on. The switch moves across and turns blue.
5. Press Back until you are on the home screen again.

You are permitting one named app, not opening the device up. Anything else that wants to install something has to be permitted separately, in the same list.

4. Download and install Stream Player

1. Go to Apps and open Downloader.
2. The first time it opens it asks for permission to access files. Choose Allow.
3. If a notice about a browser or an update appears, choose OK to close it.
4. The cursor sits in the address box at the top. Press OK to bring up the on-screen keyboard.
5. Type the download address exactly as it was given to you, including https://. Addresses are case sensitive, so watch capital letters.
6. Move down to Go and press OK.
7. A progress bar appears while the file downloads. Leave it alone until it finishes.
8. Android then asks whether you want to install this application. Move to Install and press OK.
9. When it says the app is installed, choose Done.
10. Downloader offers to delete the downloaded file. Choose Delete, and Delete again to confirm. The app is installed; the file is no longer needed.

5. Open the app

1. Press Home, go to Apps, and move to the end of the row — new apps are added last.
2. To move it to the front, highlight it, hold OK for a moment, and choose Move. Use left and right to place it, then press OK.
3. Open Stream Player. It asks for your licence key first, and then for your TV provider.

If something does not go to plan

• "For your security, your phone is not allowed to install unknown apps from this source." Step 3 was missed, or it was granted to a different app. The message itself has a button that takes you straight to the right setting.
• Security & restrictions is not in the Apps menu. Step 2 has not taken effect. Go back to Settings → System → About and press OK on Android TV OS build until the developer message appears.
• "There was a problem parsing the package." The download did not finish. Run it again in Downloader and let it complete before pressing anything.
• "App not installed." Usually an older copy of the app, installed from somewhere else. Uninstall that one first, then install again.
• The address will not type correctly. A remote keyboard makes a long address painful, and one wrong character gives a page-not-found. Ask support for a short link.

You only do this once. Later versions of Stream Player tell you themselves when an update is ready and install it from inside the app — no Downloader, and no address to type.