The Internet is generally a great place to waste time, but TikTok is the current king in this. I’ve resisted installing it on my phone because I’m getting enough secondhand short video smoke from my girlfriend, but this new development is concerning. TikTok for Android TV is now available on the Play Store, which could put an end to any semblance of productivity that we claimed to still be capable of.
I was able to install the TikTok app on my Chromecast with Google TV, but it is not compatible with my Shield TV for some reason (in the UK). This also appears to be the case for other members of the team in different regions, except for Rita in Lebanon where it is not available at all. It also doesn’t seem to be available for the new Chromecast in the US just yet.
Pretty much everything you can do in the app is available here. When you open it, you can jump right in and watch some videos or log in to see your personalized feed. You use the left and right buttons on the remote to jump forward or back between videos and press down for options such as Profile, Like it, and Comments. I couldn’t see any comments on the videos I watched, but you may need to be signed up for that. Further options – Report, Not interested, and Loop video – are hidden behind the Lake button. Pressing again will access different categories to browse more content.
When watching a video, the title and number of views are on the left and music information in the lower right corner. It is a fairly faithful recreation of the mobile app for the big screen. To display the option to log in, simply press on the remote and enter a code at tiktok.com/activate or scan a QR code with the mobile app to easily see your stuff. I wish more apps had a sign-up process that simple – passwords are doomed.
I’m sure more Android TV devices will get support for the TikTok app soon enough, and we’ll be sure to update this post with such news. If you want to give sideloading a try, we’re talking APK Mirror.
