How to install a VPN on an Android TV without a browser

Will it work on your TV

• A TV or set-top box on Android TV with Android 6 or newer. The version is in the settings, under «About».
• Samsung TVs (Tizen) and LG TVs (webOS) cannot run VPN apps at all, ours or anyone else's.
• Old operator set-top boxes with Android 5 or lower cannot install the app.

Steps

1. Find the Downloader app in the TV app store. Saying the name is easier than typing it: the remote has a microphone button.
2. Open Downloader, select the address bar at the top, type the code 1943374 and press «Go». The «#» button next to the bar opens a number pad.
3. The file downloads by itself. The TV asks once to allow installs from Downloader: allow it.
4. Google may warn about an app from outside its store: the «Install anyway» button is at the bottom, reachable with the remote.
5. Open Shtil and press «Try for free»: 2 hours and 1 GB work right away, no Telegram or email.
6. For a permanent subscription press «Add key»: the TV shows a 10-digit code, send it to the bot @ShtilVipBot from your phone. The code lasts 15 minutes.

If you have an Android phone nearby

Install the free «Send files to TV» app on the phone and on the TV. Download the Shtil file to the phone from shtil.vip/tv, pick it in the app and tap the TV's name. The remote is only needed for «OK».

The phone and the TV must be on the same home Wi-Fi. A guest network where devices cannot see each other will not work.

If the TV has no Google Play

On a computer, download shtil.vip/tv.apk to a USB stick, plug it into the TV and open the file in the file manager («Files» or «File Manager»).

If the code does not work

Type the full address: shtil.vip/tv.apk. Start with the site name, without «https://».

TVs always get the 32-bit file: it installs on any set-top box, while the 64-bit one does not install on all of them.

Once the app is installed

The connection turns on with one button. Russian sites and the TV's own services go directly, not through the VPN, so firmware updates and built-in apps are not slowed down.

The app finds new versions by itself and offers to install them on the same screen.