How to install an APK on a TV from a USB stick: steps for Android TV and Google TV

Without a store, an app goes onto a TV as an APK file — from a USB stick or through the browser. Below: which TVs can take it at all, four steps from the stick to an installed app, and what to do about “App not installed”. Our example is Mayak, but the steps are the same for any file.

Which TVs can take an APK at all

APK is the Android app format, so it installs only where there is Android inside. The easiest tell is the store on the TV.

• Google Play is there — it is Android TV or Google TV. The file will install, steps below. Do look in the store first, though: if the app is there, you need no USB stick (how to search on Android TV and Google TV).
• YaOS (“Yandex TV”, TV Station) — Android inside too, and Yandex itself describes installing a file from a USB stick through the “File manager”; there is a catch for devices bought on a subscription — step by step in the Yandex TV article.
• Salut TV and SberBox — the file goes not from a USB stick but through Sber's developer account: the Sber article.
• Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS), Hisense with VIDAA — not Android; an APK will not run there, from a USB stick or otherwise. What to do instead: Samsung and LG, LG separately, Hisense — an Android TV box in the HDMI port, or a router.

Mayak needs Android 7.0 or newer: the version is shown in the TV settings, under “About” or “System”.

Step 1. Prepare the USB stick and the file

1. The stick. Any ordinary one will do. FAT32 is the safest file system: Sony TVs read FAT16, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS (Sony help; older models do not list exFAT), and Xiaomi recommends FAT32 when there are problems (Xiaomi help). If the TV or box offers to format the stick, agree only if there are no files you need on it: formatting erases them.
2. Download the file on a computer or phone. Ours is at mayak.ws/dl/app: you get mayak-vpn.apk, version 0.7.40 and about 18.6 MB as of 2 October 2026. Installing another app? Take its file from the developer's own site, not from “free APK” collections.
3. Copy the file to the root of the stick, not into a folder: it is easier to find with a remote. Compare the size of the copy with the original — a half-copied file will not install.

Step 2. Open the stick on the TV

Plug the stick into the TV's USB port. Next you need an app that can open a file from the stick and hand it to the installer — a file manager.

• The TV has its own file manager (“Files”, “File manager”, “Explorer”) — open it, choose the stick and find mayak-vpn.apk. On YaOS it is literally called “File manager”, in the Apps section.
• There is only a media player. It shows photos and videos from the stick but does not install apps: Sony's help, for example, leads to the stick through “Media Player” and says nothing about installing files. Then you need a separate file manager from Google Play.
• Google Play is on the TV — check first whether the app you want is right there. Mayak is in Google Play, and installing it from the store is easier than from a stick.

We do not recommend third-party file managers by name: TV makers do not name them in their help pages, and we have not tested them.

Step 3. Allow installing from an unknown source

Android will not install files from outside the store until you allow it. Since Android 8.0 the permission is not given to everything at once but to a specific app — the one you open the file with (Android 8.0 changes). So you allow the file manager (or the browser, if you download with it).

• Where to look. On Sony it is Settings → Device Preferences → Security & restrictions (Sony help). On other TVs the item is called “Unknown sources” or “Install unknown apps” and sits nearby, under Security or Apps.
• What to turn on. In the list of apps, turn on the switch next to the file manager. On Android 7 there is a single switch for everything — “Unknown sources”.
• Can't find it — just open the file. Android usually answers with a window saying apps from this source can't be installed, with a Settings button that leads straight to the right switch.
• The item is missing altogether. On some Google TV models, according to third-party guides, it shows up only after you enable developer mode: Settings → System → About, tap the build number seven times (that is how it is enabled on Android generally — Android docs). We have not found Google help on this for TVs specifically.

The TV asks for this permission for any file from outside the store, not only for ours.

Step 4. Install and open the app

Select the file with the remote and press Install. The TV may show a Play Protect warning about an app from outside the store: that is the usual line for any file installed past Google Play. Our file is signed with our key, and the same app is in Google Play as “Mayak — private network”.

After installation Mayak appears on the home screen, in the row of apps: the file declares it as a TV app, the remote is enough, no touchscreen needed. Then sign in with a code: the TV shows a QR code and an eight-character code, and you confirm them in Mayak on your phone or in your account page. Details are in the TV article. You can unplug the stick after installing.

Once everything is installed, you can turn the permission from step 3 off again: the installed app stays.

If it says “App not installed”

That is one line for several different causes. In order, from common to rare:

• The same app is already installed, but from another source. The Google Play and website versions of Mayak are signed with different keys and do not install over each other. Remove the installed one and install the file again; you can sign in afterwards with the same on-screen code.
• The file was not copied in full. Compare the size on the stick with the original and copy again.
• Android on the TV is older than 7.0. Our file will not install on such a system; look for firmware updates in the TV settings.
• Not enough space. Mayak needs about 40 MB free during installation (our write-up); budget TVs often have their memory almost full.
• The installed version is newer than the file. Then there is nothing to install, or remove and install again.

These causes match how Android itself describes installer failures: a conflict with an already installed package and incompatible certificates, low storage, incompatibility with the device, a corrupt file (Android reference). The TV's processor is not an obstacle: our file carries builds for all four kinds of Android processors. Other cases are inin “A VPN that will not download or install”nbsp;“Ain “A VPN that will not download or install”nbsp;VPN that will not download orin “A VPN that will not download or install”nbsp;install”.

Without a USB stick: the TV browser

If the TV has a browser, you need no stick: type mayak.ws/dl/app into it, the file lands in Downloads, open it from there. The permission from step 3 then goes to the browser rather than the file manager. And simplest of all is Google Play, if the app is there.

Our TV articles by brand

• A VPN on a TV: the general guide and code sign-in; how to choose a VPN for a TV.
• Android TV and Google TV: Sony, Philips, Kivi, Toshiba, Thomson.
• TCL and Haier, DEXP and Xiaomi, Hisense.
• Yandex TV (YaOS), Sber and SberBox.
• Samsung and LG, LG on webOS; boxes and a router — for TVs without Android.

What we tested

• The file itself, 2 October 2026. mayak.ws/dl/app serves mayak-vpn.apk, 18,589,170 bytes, version 0.7.40. Inside are builds for all four kinds of Android processors (arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, x86, x86_64), and the touchscreen and TV features are both marked optional: one app for both a phone and a TV.
• Installation on Android TV, code sign-in from a phone and connecting up to “Protected” — on the Android TV emulator, in September 2026.
• Menu paths and USB file systems — from Google and manufacturer help pages opened on 2 October 2026 (links in the text).

What we do not know

• We have not walked the USB-stick path ourselves: no real TV with a USB port was in our tests, and the emulator has no stick.
• What the menu item is called on your model. Makers translate and move settings around in their own way; look for “Unknown sources”, “Security & restrictions” or “Install unknown apps”.
• Whether your TV has a file manager out of the box. Some models do, some do not.
• Stuck at some step — write to support with what you see on the screen and your model: we will add it here.

Short answers

How do I install an APK on a TV from a USB stick? Copy the file to the stick, plug it into the TV, open the file with a file manager and allow that file manager to install apps. It works on Android TV, Google TV and YaOS.

Can I install an APK on Samsung or LG? No: Samsung runs Tizen and LG runs webOS, not Android. For them — a box or a router.

Where do I turn on “Unknown sources”? Usually Settings → Device Preferences → Security & restrictions → Unknown sources, and turn on the switch next to the file manager. More in step 3.

The TV does not see the USB stick. What now? Reformat it to FAT32 on a computer (this erases the files on it) and try another USB port. Which file systems your model reads is in its manual.

Why “App not installed”? Most often the same app is already installed from another source, or the file was not copied in full. Details above.

Is installing an APK safe? As safe as the source of the file. Take the file from the developer's site, and turn the step 3 permission off after installing.

Is it true Google will stop APK installs? Google started verifying developers on 30 September 2026, but according to its FAQ (updated 15 July 2026) this so far covers only phones and tablets in four countries and installs from stores. A file installed directly is not affected for now, and neither are TVs. Google has not said by device type what happens in 2027.

How much is Mayak on a TV? The trial is free, needs no card and covers two devices. After that the TV takes a slot on the plan, like a phone: “Start” is up to 3 devices for 300 ₽ a month.