Installing a third-party video player on TVs with the Android TV operating system often becomes necessary when the standard application cannot cope with certain file formats or does not support the necessary audio codecs. MX Player deservedly considered one of the most powerful tools for playing media on mobile devices, and its adaptation for the big screen opens up new possibilities for home cinema. However, the process of transferring a mobile application to a television platform has its own nuances that require a careful approach to setting up the interface and decoders.
Owners of devices based on Android TV are often faced with the fact that in the official Google Play store for TVs, the version of the application may be missing or be cut down. This is due to differences in control: the touch screen of a smartphone and the remote control require completely different approaches to navigation. The correct configuration of the player will allow you to enjoy high-definition content without freezes and sound problems.
Next we will analyze in detail all the stages: from searching for the installation file to fine-tuning codecs and network functions. You will learn how to make the application respond correctly to remote control commands and how to organize access to files on a computer or NAS server directly from the TV screen.
Preparing and installing the application on the TV
The first step is to obtain the installation package .apk, since direct downloading through the store on the TV can be not available. You will need to download the latest stable version MX Playeradapted for your processor architecture (usually ARM or x86), to your computer or smartphone. Once downloaded, the file must be transferred to the TV using a USB drive or an application for transferring files over the network, for example Send Files to TV.
To start the installation on the TV, you need to allow the installation of applications from unknown sources. Go to the Settings → Security and restrictions → Unknown sources section and activate the switch for your file manager. This step is critically important, since the system by default blocks the launch of unverified software.
⚠️ Attention: Download installation files only from official developer resources or verified repositories like APKMirror. Using modified versions from dubious sources may lead to infection of the system with malware or unstable operation of the TV.
After installation, run the application. If you see a message saying touch is not supported, don't panic. This is a standard situation for mobile versions on TVs. In the settings of the application itself or through third-party utilities, you can activate the mouse emulation mode, but it is better to immediately look for a version marked as compatible with TV, or configure control via adb.
☑️ Preparing for installation
Setting up the remote control and interface
The main difficulty when using mobile applications on Android TV is the absence of a mouse cursor. The standard remote control operates on the principle of focus navigation (D-pad), while MX Player was originally designed for touch. To solve this problem, there are several methods to make the interface responsive.
One of the effective ways is to use the “Mouse Toggle” mode (mouse emulation). Some TV firmware versions have this function built-in, but more often it requires the installation of additional software. Activating this mode allows you to move the cursor around the screen using the directional buttons on the remote control, which gives full access to all player controls.
- 🖱️ Activate mouse emulation in the accessibility settings of your TV.
- ⚙️ In the player itself, go to
Settings → Controland select the control type “Remote” Remote control" if such an option is available in your version. - 📱 Consider using your smartphone as a touchpad through applications like CetusPlay or Android TV Remote.
If the interface seems too small to view from the sofa, you can change the scale. Some launchers have global font size and interface settings that affect all applications. It is also worth paying attention to the “Full Screen Mode” option in the player settings to hide the system status bar and increase the usable screen area.
To quickly open the settings menu in mouse emulation mode, you often use a long press of the central OK button or a combination of the "Back" and "Menu" buttons on the remote control.
Codec configuration and decoding video
The key advantage MX Player is its powerful codec system, capable of playing formats that are not supported by your TV's hardware. By default, the application uses hardware decoding (HW), which is energy efficient, but may not cope with heavy files like HEVC (H.265) or AV1 on older TV models.
If during playback you experience desynchronization of audio and video, a greenish screen or a complete absence of image, you need to switch to software decoding (SW). To do this, in the player settings, go to the Decoder section and change the priority. Sometimes it is necessary to manually download additional codec packages from the official website of the developer, which are then selected in the item Custom codec.
| Decoder type | Performance | Compatibility | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| HW (Hardware) | High | Standard formats | Use as default |
| HW+ | Medium | Extended formats | For color problems |
| SW (app) | Low | All formats | For heavy 4K files |
It is important to understand that switching to app mode increases the load on the TV's central processor. On budget models, this can lead to slowdown of the system interface during viewing. Therefore, the balance between picture quality and smooth operation must be selected experimentally for each specific device.
What to do if the sound comes with a delay?
If the video plays normally, but the sound lags, try changing the “Audio Synchronization” parameter in the decoder settings. Switching the audio stream from PASSTHROUGH to PCM in the sound settings of the TV itself also helps.
Working with subtitles and audio tracks
For fans of foreign cinema, correct work with subtitles is critical. MX Player offers advanced tools for customizing text display, which often exceed the capabilities of standard ones players. You can change the font size, its color, position on the screen, and even the encoding if hieroglyphs or gibberish are displayed instead of letters.
To connect external subtitles, place the file with the extension .srt or .ass in the same folder where the video file is located, and name them identically. The player will automatically pick them up upon startup. If the automatic connection does not work, use the menu Subtitles → Open to manually select a file through the built-in file manager.
- 📝 Change the encoding in the subtitles menu to
UTF-8orWindows-1251if the text is displayed incorrectly. - ⏱️ Use the synchronization functions (time shift) if the subtitles do not match the speech of the actors.
- 🎨 Adjust the text style in the section
Fontto make the captions more readable on a large screen screen.
It is also convenient to switch between several audio tracks if the film contains the original and dubbing. In the player, this is done through the sound menu, where a list of available streams is displayed. This is especially true for files of the MKVformat, which often contain several language options in one container.
Setting up network access and SMB
One of the most popular features is the ability to play video directly from a network-attached storage (NAS) or computer without the need to copy files to a flash drive. MX Player supports protocols SMB, FTP i UPnP/DLNA, which turns the TV into a full-fledged home media network client.
To configure access via SMB, go to the player’s navigation menu and select “Network”. Click on the plus or add new host button. You will need to enter the IP address of your computer or server, as well as the login and password for the account that has access to the shared folders. Make sure that the receiving device allows access to files over the network and that the password requirement is disabled (if using guest access).
⚠️ Attention: When connecting to network resources, make sure that your TV and server are on the same subnet. Firewalls on PCs can block the connection, so sometimes you need to add an exception for port 445 in Windows security settings.
After a successful connection, you will see a list of available folders. Navigation is carried out in the same way as through the local file system. The advantage of this method is the absence of wear and tear on USB ports and the ability to instantly access huge movie libraries stored on computer hard drives.
Using a wired connection (LAN) instead of Wi-Fi significantly increases the stability of playing heavy 4K files over the network and eliminates buffering.
Solving common problems and optimization
Despite the flexibility of the settings, users may encounter various errors. One of the common problems is the lack of sound when playing files with the codec AC3 or DTS. This is due to licensing restrictions in Android, which do not allow some devices to decode these formats out of the box.
In such cases, the solution is to install a third-party audio codec or change the audio output settings in the TV itself to PCMwhich will force the device to decode audio programmatically, although with a possible loss of multi-channel. It is also worth checking whether the “Hardware decoding only” mode is enabled in the player settings and disabling it.
If the application crashes immediately after launch, try clearing the cache and application data through the Android system settings: Settings → Applications → MX Player → Memory → Clear cache. In extreme cases, completely reinstalling the application and deleting the previous version helps.
To optimize performance, it is recommended to regularly close the application after watching, especially if you used software decoding, which heavily loads the processor. This will free up the system's RAM for other tasks and ensure the speed of the TV interface.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Why does MX Player not see files on the flash drive?
Make sure that the flash drive is formatted in a file system supported by Android (usually FAT32 or exFAT). The NTFS file system may not be readable without special drivers. Also check in the application settings whether scanning of external drives is enabled.
Is it possible to watch torrents directly through MX Player on TV?
The player itself cannot download torrents. This requires installing a separate client application (for example, TorrServe), which will broadcast the video stream to MX Player via a network protocol.
How to return the standard player to the default?
Go to the Android TV settings, “Applications” section. Find MX Player, select "Open as default" and click "Remove default settings". The next time you start the video, the system will again ask which application to use.
Does the application support 3D video?
Yes, in the decoder and video output settings there are options for working with 3D content. However, to view it, you need an appropriate 3D TV and glasses, since most modern TVs no longer support this technology in hardware.
Is it safe to use older versions of the application?
Using outdated versions may be unsafe due to the lack of security patches. In addition, older versions may not work correctly with new video compression formats. It is recommended to always use the current stable build.