Setting up ADB sideloading on FireTV (OS X)

setup_adb_sideloading.rst

Setting up ADB Sideloading for FireTV (OS X)

The first step is to download the .apk file of the app which you want to sideload into your 'Downloads' folder. Since Google only wants you to access apps via whatever methods they provide, you cannot just download it directly from the Google Play store. There are essentialy two methods to accomplish the task of downloading. You can either use one of the browser extensions available for the job, or one of the online sites which proxy the download for you.

While the browser extensions are more complex to setup and get working, keep in mind that you have to be very careful when downloading from other websites since it is extremely difficult to verify whether or not the file was modified from the original Play Store version before being provided to you.

(disclaimer: technically speaking it seems that downloading .apk files from the Play Store is against their terms of service since you are not using the interface which Google has provided)

On the FireTV go to Settings > System > Developer Options > ADB Debugging and make sure the option is enabled.

Then go to Settings > System > About > Network and write down the IP Address to use later on.

In OS X, start by opening Terminal (Launchpad > Other > Terminal). Optionally, you can maintain easier access to Terminal by right-clicking on it in the taskbar, then under Options select Keep in Dock.

Paste the command string from the Homebrew install section into the Terminal prompt and press enter to install Homebrew. If you already have Homebrew installed make sure its up to date:

brew update
brew upgrade
brew doctor

Next you need to install the Android command line tools:

brew install android-platform-tools
adb devices

Now you should be able to use ADB to connect to the FireTV:

adb connect IPADDRESS

where 'IPADDRESS' is the IP Address of the FireTV that you wrote down earlier.

Now you can install the app by running:

adb install /Users/YourUserNameHere/Downloads/app_filename_here.apk

Of course you will need to substitute your user name in OS X, and the filename of the app you are sideloading as necessary in the above command.

Note that sideloaded apps are not found in normal locations on the FireTV; you can find sideloaded apps by going to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications and launch the app from there.