12 best smart TV apps

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Modern televisions have long been not just receivers and reproducers of the terrestrial signal, as their 'CRT' ancestors were. The functionality of almost any, even the most inexpensive TV, includes additional features, in particular, technologies for integrating network content into the software shell of the device. The widespread technology Smart TV (Smart TV) allows you to watch TV shows, movies, any other content, using only an Internet connection.

The editors have prepared for you a short overview of the best Smart TV applications that will significantly expand the capabilities of a modern TV as a provider of entertainment and educational content.

Rating of the best apps for smart TV

Nomination	a place	application	rating
Film and television	1	Megogo	5.0
	2	IVI	4.9
	3	Okko	4.8
Streamers and video bloggers	1	Youtube	5.0
Useful and interesting	1	365 Body Workout	5.0
	2	Culinary Academy LG	4.9
	3	Travels	4.8
	4	Bookshelf	4.7
Instruments	1	VLC	5.0
	2	Tv bro	4.9
	3	LeanKey KeyBoard	4.8

Film and television

In the first collection of the review, we will get acquainted with applications for Smart TV, the main task of which is to provide the user with access to movie libraries, recordings of TV programs, broadcasts of terrestrial, satellite and cable channels.

Megogo

Rating: 5.0

We will start with an application and service that are as close as possible to using the TV for its intended purpose – to watch full-fledged television channels. Megogo also provides the ability to watch individual TV shows, feature films and series. Actually, it is on the cinema in the service that a noticeable emphasis is placed. Now it is the most popular, convenient and content-rich online cinema in the CIS in 12 countries. The audience is in the tens of millions.

If we analyze the entire Megogo media resource, we get the following: about 5 thousand feature films and series, 45 thousand TV shows (TV shows, concerts, clips), 20 thousand news programs, 1.5 thousand cartoons. And this is all not counting the basic functionality – access to broadcasts of television channels, and there are more than 250 of them in the Megogo pool, and several dozen of their own in HD quality.

Most of the TV channels in the Megogo environment support pause and rewind. Almost every day, the application offers the user individual thematic collections of content. In the section with premieres, you can buy a one-time or permanent viewing of any available novelty. The viewing history with the latest timings is available in your personal account – the series viewed the day before will start from the very place where the viewing was paused.

The service provides some of the content for free, offers a trial subscription for a nominal fee (conditional one ruble). When you buy any subscription, ads are automatically disabled when viewed. It is possible to 'rent' for a single viewing, however, not all new items.

Megogo deserves special praise for its social initiatives to improve the accessibility of broadcasting for people with disabilities – its own sign translation studio and a whole section with content for the hearing impaired.

Against the background of the mass of advantages, it is worth noting that some users had problems with automatic paid subscriptions, which were allegedly not agreed. In order to avoid this, it is advisable to carefully monitor the terms of trial subscriptions, promotions and other promotional tools.

Advantages

• huge resource of content;
• prompt publication of premieres;
• ease of use;
• flexible and affordable pricing policy;
• friendliness to people with disabilities;
• multi-platform;
• great community.

disadvantages

• Complaints about paid subscriptions inconsistent with the user.

IVI

Rating: 4.9

The second number in the review of the best applications for Smart TV in 2019, according to the version, will be considered another super popular online cinema in the Russian-speaking segment. This is precisely a cinema, since the nature of the content is focused on film production, although there is also access to a number of television channels.

The IVI application for Smart TV gives you access to all the resources and capabilities of the service. The service itself works according to this scheme, when a significant part of the content is provided completely free of charge and even without registration, but at the same time you have to put up with advertising breaks. Any subscription automatically removes ads and expands the horizons of entertainment.

Connecting a subscription opens access to more than 80 thousand units of content (films and series), enables collective viewing on five devices simultaneously, and allows you to download locally to the device more than 10 thousand series and feature films. Finally, perhaps most importantly, the subscription unlocks the ability to view in FullHD, as well as ultra-high definition 4K, with support for HDR and five-channel audio. Of course, all this is possible for those content units that initially own such properties.

IVI works directly with leading Hollywood majors as well as hundreds of independent studios around the world. Especially for the younger audience, the service provides a separate children's version of IVI with appropriate adaptation.

As with the previous service, the audience of IVI service viewers is estimated at tens of millions, and their lion's share falls on Smart TV users. According to experts, including specialists, IVI occupies about a quarter of the smart TV consumer market.

The application works on Smart TV systems of Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Philips TVs, as well as on other platforms – Apple TV, Android – systems, etc. etc.

The pricing policy of the service is quite loyal. The first weeks of the subscription can be provided at a symbolic price, after which the subscription will be automatically renewed at the stated rate. Auto-renewal can be easily turned off in the settings.

Advantages

• a large amount of content, including in ultra-high quality;
• user-friendly interface;
• intuitive sorting by genre;
• separate version for children;
• multi-platform;
• loyal pricing policy;
• great community.

disadvantages

• some users sometimes experience application crashes.

Okko

Rating: 4.8

At the end of the selection of the best Smart TV applications in the segment of films and series, experts suggest paying attention to another service with a special approach to organizing access to content categories.

It's worth starting with the fact that the service is completely paid – these are almost the only drawbacks of Okko. But this is quite a deliberate approach, since Okko positions itself as a premium service. Actually, there is still limited free access, but 'on the rights' of the free period as part of a paid subscription.

But the subscription options themselves are offered a whole set of 12 options – here are world cinema, and Russian films with TV shows, content for the smallest, separate subscriptions to the products of Doisney and ABC studios, thousands of scientific and educational films, author films, the best cartoons and much other. In addition to all of the above, a subscription to sports events is offered as a separate item.

For the most demanding consumers, the service offers two subscription packages. 'Optimum' – 9 subscriptions and 'Premium' – all 13 Okko subscriptions at a price three times lower than if all these subscriptions were issued separately. The collection includes films and broadcasts in 4K quality with multichannel sound.

The Okko application is available on all TVs that support Smart TV, as well as its individual versions are developed for other popular platforms.

Advantages

• a large amount of available content in high quality;
• flexible organization of subscriptions;
• convenient application interface;
• choice of content in 4K with multichannel sound.

disadvantages

• there is practically no completely free content.

Streamers and video bloggers

The modern home entertainment television industry is not limited to films, television, and similar content. With the emergence and development of video hosting, whole new genres have appeared – video blogging, game and conversational streaming, as well as a host of various derivatives. The undisputed world leaders in this segment in terms of the number of active content consumers are Youtube video hosting and live Internet broadcasting service Twitch. The latter, unfortunately, does not have its own Smart TV application, only unofficial ones, which are not welcomed by the company's policy. Therefore, we will only consider the Youtube application, where streamers often have parallel streams from Twitch.

Youtube

Rating: 5.0

YouTube itself, as a video hosting service, does not need special introduction. In the modern world, many people have a close acquaintance with him almost from infancy. However, in the context of watching YouTube content on Smart TVs, some explanations would be helpful.

In the beginning, YouTube consisted almost exclusively of amateur content. Later, after removing the hard limit on the duration of the video, there was an explosive growth in the content of the service. Professional studios have already settled on this site, and then whole TV and radio companies with film studios. The focus of all of the above YouTube is today. Most of the content is free, and the viewer 'pays' for use by viewing ads.

The YouTube Smart TV app gives you access to a video hosting service for watching content. To do this, you need to activate your Google account in the application. From that moment on, as the videos are watched, the service will learn to understand the tastes and preferences of the user, making individual thematic selections and making autoplay lists.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the growing popularity of live broadcasts (streams) on YouTube, which are the basic content of the platform Twitch, and it's not just about game streams. Despite the lack of specific functionality, YouTube streaming is still the only compromise for consumers of legal content on Smart TV.

Popular brands of TVs with Smart TVs released in 2013 and later, as well as some 2012 models, have YouTube installed by default. There are also separate versions for Apple TV and Android TV platforms.

On TVs earlier than 2012, the native YouTube app may have been native, but it may have (and disappeared) over time as the gap between modern video hosting capabilities and the potential of older TVs widens. There are not so many solutions to the problem: buying a new TV, buying a separate set-top box, installing third-party applications at your own peril and risk.

Advantages

• access to the most popular video hosting in the world;
• live broadcasts;
• mostly free content;
• widespread in TVs by default;
• mostly intuitive and user-friendly interface;
• adaptive intelligent adjustment to the tastes of the user.

disadvantages

• almost inevitable ad breaks.

Useful and interesting

The presence of the Smart TV function on the TV opens access not only to entertainment content, but also to many other types of it – educational, applied, and even scientific. The most universal in this regard is the above-described YouTube, but this versatility has a downside – the complexity of finding really high-quality material. At the same time, quite a lot of special applications have been released for Smart TV viewers for self-education, broadening their horizons, developing practical skills in certain areas.

365 Body Workout

Rating: 5.0

First of all, let us draw your attention to a solution, which is especially relevant right now, when a healthy lifestyle is in trend. This is a Smart TV application designed to help everyone keep themselves in good physical shape.

The application gives the user access to an extensive library of exercises, recommendations and practical examples of effective maintenance of tone and health. Whole home workout schools will help you at least tune in to an active work day in the morning, and with a more in-depth approach, you can achieve weight loss, improve background health, get rid of body problems caused by physical inactivity and, as a general result, improve the quality of life.

Videos with exercises are provided with additional visual explanations in the form of three-dimensional animated images. Optionally, you can enable voice comments and prompts. Separately, you can read the recommendations of specialists on the daily regimen, healthy eating and in general on healthy lifestyle.

For those wishing to achieve more impressive results, the 365 Body Workout app for Smart TV will provide advice on muscle gain, drying, the effectiveness of certain nutritional supplements and other issues relevant to the athlete.

Most of the content of the application is provided free of charge, and this is more than enough for the general user. More highly specialized, advanced and in-depth materials can be connected for an additional fee.

The only drawback of 365 Body Workout for a Russian-speaking user is only the English language of the interface and content. But as of 2019, this application is significantly better, more complete and professional than its Russian-speaking counterparts.

Advantages

• user-friendly interface;
• effective and affordable techniques;
• visual three-dimensional animation;
• voice prompts;
• enough free content.

disadvantages

• English only.

Culinary Academy LG

Rating: 4.9

Now let's move smoothly from a healthy lifestyle to a topic that is largely related to it. Recently the company LG has released a special themed app for Smart TV dedicated to culinary topics.

The Culinary Academy LG is a voluminous multimedia library with a guide to preparing a wide variety of dishes at home. The catalog contains thousands of recipes with detailed instructions, detailed descriptions of the composition, practical recommendations, general useful tips.

The functionality of the application allows you not only to quickly find the desired recipe, but also to navigate what can be prepared from the products already available in the house. To do this, you can use convenient and visual filters for ingredients. Other criteria can also be used as filter keys – for example, cooking time, conditional labor intensity, and the necessary tools.

To select recipes that are relevant to a specific event, the application suggests using the 'Situation' function. Here you can pick up dishes for the New Year celebration, for a party or a romantic dinner.

Especially for beginners, recipes are provided with detailed step-by-step algorithms, accompanied by useful tips. Among other things, the application will advise on the optimal equipment for cooking – specific models of microwave ovens, ovens, stoves, individual hobs.

All content of the Culinary Academy LG is created with the assistance and supervision of professionals. The creators guarantee the correctness of the recipes given. An indirect confirmation of the high professional level is the availability of video lessons by the famous Russian restaurateur and culinary critic Alexei Zimin.

Advantages

• large catalog of recipes;
• detailed step-by-step instructions;
• useful tips and advice for beginners;
• flexible keyword filters;
• high professional level in general.

disadvantages

• not marked.

Travels

Rating: 4.8

Another Smart TV app is the perfect solution for those who like to travel without leaving the couch. Actually, there is plenty of useful information for real travelers. The application harmoniously combines entertainment and educational aspects to expand the horizons and picture of the world.

The main source of content for the application is the Teletravel channel of the First HDTV channel. This company, in fact, created the application. The recordings of the programs are diverse and rich in useful information, fun facts, impressive stories about the most different parts of the world.

For those who are interested in the stories of famous travelers, the 'Traveling Together!' Program is suitable. Famous personalities will tell and show everything interesting that they themselves have encountered on numerous trips, share invaluable experience, give practical advice, and warn against potential troubles.

“Vacation without Problems” is a program focused specifically on a successful long-awaited vacation. This means not only passive, but also active rest. It tells in detail which country, which place and at what time of the year it makes sense to go on vacation.

For those who prefer the vastness of our homeland – a very patriotic program 'Walk Russia!' There is a lot of interesting things about the natural beauties of Russia, colorful peoples and their customs, national holidays and much more. Those who are interested in nationalities in more detail can supplement their knowledge from the 'National Round Dance' program.

The list of thematic programs in the application is regularly updated, the topics themselves are expanding.

Advantages

• variety of thematic content;
• a lot of exclusive information;
• professional level of gear;
• high cognitive component combined with entertaining;
• regular replenishment and expansion of content.

disadvantages

• not marked.

Bookshelf

Rating: 4.7

And another popular and useful Smart TV application with the 'talking' name Bookshelf. Obviously, here we are talking about an electronic library. Formally, it belongs to the category of training applications, but its function is not limited to only one training. Recommended for both adults and young users from the age of four.

The essence and main 'feature' of the application is in combining ordinary e-books with audio versions dubbed by professional voice actors. The application allows you to simply read the book from the screen, and at any time, when you need to step away or give your eyes a break, switch to the audio version right from the current reading place. Switching is carried out with one button. In this case, the text scrolls automatically, and if you did not hear something, you can always take a quick glance at the text to clarify a word or phrase.

Many books in the Bookshelf Library also contain translations into different languages. The application makes it possible to read books in bilingual mode, when the same text is shown simultaneously on two pages of the 'spread'. This is especially convenient and useful for those who are actively studying foreign languages.

Advantages

• extensive library;
• easy switch to audio version and back;
• professional dubbing;
• translations into different languages ​​(depending on the specific book);
• bilingual mode convenient for learning foreign languages.

disadvantages

• not marked.

Instruments

The final mini-selection of the best applications for Smart TV in 2019 according to the version presents popular solutions that serve as auxiliary tools for the convenience of using Smart TV itself on TV, in principle, regardless of content consumption.

VLC

Rating: 5.0

Let's start with an application that can solve, if not all the difficulties with video playback on your TV, then almost everything. This is a super popular player, which almost from the very beginning found a grateful audience back in the days when Smart TV itself was available only to a limited circle of people.

The VLC player was originally designed for desktops and then scaled up to wearable gadgets and other devices, including smart TVs. The main advantage of VLC at the time of its creation was the ability to play streaming videos, as well as video files with incomplete downloads or 'broken' sections. Most of the popular players could not cope with such tasks.

VLC is now very popular for all of the above, plus its ability to play videos in exotic encoding. This is facilitated by a large number of built-in codecs and regular online updates.

In addition to its main advantages, VLC has all the necessary tools for customization: working with a playlist, switching audio tracks and subtitles, setting image properties, adjusting performance, equalizer, and more.

Advantages

• plays video of non-standard formats;
• reproduces (with reservations) under-downloaded and damaged files;
• stable work;
• flexible settings;
• performance adjustment.

disadvantages

• not everyone likes the minimalistic interface.

Tv bro

Rating: 4.9

Now let's consider a simple, pleasant to use and friendly in all respects TV Bro application. It is a universal web browser for Smart TV systems running OS Android. It is easily installed directly from the Google PlayMarket store.

On first launch, TV Bro prompts the user to select a suitable default search engine. The first on the list will be, as expected, Google. Other available engines are Bing, Yahoo !, Yandex and even the 'conspiratorial' DuckDuckGo. It is also possible to specify any other by selecting Custom.

The application has a Russified interface. In the menu, you can easily configure shortcuts for the most convenient use from the remote control. The soft navigation buttons and open tabs are displayed in a widget that appears on the left side of the screen when you press the Back button on the remote (can be reconfigured).

Web surfing on TV Bro is no different from any other browser on a computer, smartphone or tablet. Websites are displayed in full-fledged versions, pages are rendered correctly and, importantly, quickly. Frequently visited sites can be added to Favorites, just like in any browser.

Advantages

• convenient russified interface;
• flexible settings;
• fast work;
• correct display of pages;
• voice search.

disadvantages

• only for Android TV.

LeanKey KeyBoard

Rating: 4.8

And the review of the best apps for Smart TV in 2019, according to the conclusions of the expert group of the magazine, ends with a simple application that, despite its simplicity, can greatly facilitate the life of many owners of 'smart' TVs with Android TV. This is a convenient and popular virtual keyboard, which is preferred by many users over the standard one.

The application allows you to re-install many language packs by simply downloading from the official Google store. Languages ​​are switched by holding down the 'Space' key. The current language is written on the key itself, that is, on its visual representation.

The keyboard can be fully controlled by a TV or set-top box remote control. The app also supports additional buttons on the remote, such as 'Menu'. With its help, you can significantly speed up the entry into special fields, set up many buttons on the remote control for quick access to certain functions, bind to menu items.

Advantages

• ease of use;
• easy installation of language packs;
• setting up quick access to the buttons of the remote control.

disadvantages

• only for Android TV.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.