The Android TV app

For Android TV and Google TV boxes, sticks and TVs with Android 7 or newer. The app keeps the program and its media on the device, starts when the TV starts, restarts itself if anything hangs, and on a wall keeps the panels in step over the local network even without internet.

It plays video and TV channels natively — multicast and HLS — and Dolby Digital sound even on boxes that cannot decode it themselves. It is the player to choose for most venues.

• Android 7 or newer, with Android System WebView 98 or newer. Older boxes show Update Android System WebView instead of playing; update it (or Chrome) from the Play Store and the app starts by itself.
• Room on the box for the media you book on the stage — see When storage is full.
• A network cable where you can. Wi-Fi works, but a wall on Wi-Fi often cannot keep in step.

On your Android TV or Google TV device, install the Wunderframe player from Google Play, then open it to get your pairing code.

If your device cannot use Google Play, ask your Wunderframe contact for the app file (APK). You can install it manually:

• From a USB stick — copy the file to a stick, install a file manager from the TV’s store, allow it to install apps under Settings → Apps → Security & restrictions → Unknown sources, then open the file and install.
• Over the network — turn on Developer options (press Build seven times under Settings → Device Preferences → About) and USB debugging, then install from a laptop with adb.

The last line lets the app start itself after a reboot. On Android 10 and newer an app may only do that when it may display over other apps, and many TVs have no screen to allow it. Without adb, the pairing screen and the settings overlay show Allow autostart when it is missing.

Two more buttons sit under the code. Use a player link takes the stage’s player link instead of a code — a USB keyboard helps. Rotation turns the picture before pairing, so you can read the code on a TV that already hangs on its side.

The Wunderframe logo assembles out of black in about three seconds, then dissolves into the program. If the files take longer, the logo breathes slowly with a line underneath: Getting this screen ready… 12 of 18 files. It plays only when the app starts, never on a reload — and on a new screen too, before it is paired, where it dissolves into the pairing code. Any button on the remote skips it. On a wall the logo spans all panels. Set Startup animation to Simple or Off on Devices; a TV set to reduce motion plays Simple.

The same app runs on Android tablets and signage players, hung upright or on their side. Give their stage a portrait size such as 1080 × 1920, and design for it; the pairing screen stacks its steps and buttons so the code stays readable on a narrow screen.

The app has no menu on screen. To open its settings, hold MENU on the remote for a second, press BACK five times within four seconds, or hold OK for three seconds. BACK closes the overlay — it never exits the player.

• Facts — the device id, the app and player versions, the server, the stage and panel, the network and local sync, how full the cache and the disk are, the WebView version, the last error and the last restart.
• Actions — Reload the player, Check for a player update, Clear media cache, Pair again, Server, Allow autostart, and Use the web player, an emergency fallback if the app’s own player misbehaves.
• Screen — rotation, volume, render quality and startup animation. Press OK to step to the next value.

TV channels often carry Dolby Digital (AC-3) sound, which many boxes cannot decode. The app picks the best way per stream: send it untouched over HDMI when the TV or soundbar takes it, use the box’s own decoder when it has one, and otherwise decode it itself. Presenter video plays its sound only on stages marked plays presenter audio; on a wall, only the panel under Sound plays from makes sound.

• Waiting for network — the box cannot reach the server and has nothing saved yet. It keeps trying and starts by itself. Check the cable or Wi-Fi.
• This link was revoked — someone got a new link for the stage, or revoked all links. Open the overlay and choose Pair again.
• Already in use on N devices — every place on the stage is taken. Forget an old device on Devices, or pair again and choose Replace.
• Update Android System WebView — the box’s web engine is older than version 98. Update it from the Play Store; the player starts by itself afterwards.

When the network drops while the TV is playing, it simply keeps playing — see Offline, caching and storage.

The player inside the app updates itself: a new version downloads in the background and takes over at the daily restart, at 04:00 venue time, or at once with Update player on Devices.

A new version of the app itself arrives with Update the app on Devices, when your Wunderframe offers one. The box downloads and checks it, then the TV asks to install it — on a box your IT manages as a dedicated device, it installs without asking. Otherwise install the new file the same way as the first one.