Download the digital signage player for your screen.
Pick the one that matches the device in front of you. Every option pairs the same way, with a six-character code, and every option is the same player.
Android
The APK for TV boxes, sticks, tablets and Android displays. Side-load it, allow installation from unknown sources when the device asks, and open it.
Android 8 or newerCurrent build · 0.2.7 · 0.8 MBWindows
The app for a PC behind a screen. It runs full-screen, starts with Windows, restarts itself if it freezes and installs its own updates.
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bitCurrent build · 0.2.0Browser
Open the player in any current browser and go full-screen. Nothing to install, and the fastest way to see the product working on a screen you already have.
Chrome, Edge, Safari or FirefoxMac
A Mac mini behind a screen is a quiet, dependable player. Open the web player, go full-screen, and have the browser open it at login.
A current Chrome or SafariAfter you install it
- 01Open the player. It shows a six-character code.
- 02In the dashboard, choose Add screen and type the code.
- 03Name the screen and assign it a playlist.
- 04The code expires once used — a photo of it is not an account.
What the Android player does once it is on the box
The APK is a thin native shell around the same web player everything else runs. It exists for the jobs a browser tab cannot do on a wall-mounted screen.
Kiosk
Full-screen, no status bar, no accidental exit. On a device provisioned as Device Owner the lock is enforced by Android itself; on an ordinary TV box it degrades to screen pinning.
Starts by itself
It comes back after a reboot, after a power cut and after its own update, without anybody touching the box. A supervisor service watches the player and restarts it if it ever goes missing.
Recovers a broken page
If the page stops responding the shell reloads it, then rebuilds it, then restarts the app, and finally falls back to an offline page that keeps retrying. A frozen screen fixes itself instead of waiting for Monday.
Updates itself
The shell checks the release channel, verifies the download against its published hash, and installs it — silently where Android allows it, and otherwise by asking whoever is standing there. You never have to re-side-load an APK to stay current.
What each option needs
| Option | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Android | Android 8.0 or newer, 2 GB RAM or more, an HDMI output. Wired ethernet preferred over Wi-Fi. |
| Browser | A current version of Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, with local storage available for the offline cache. |
| Windows | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, with WebView2 — part of Windows 11, fetched by the installer on Windows 10. A Windows account that signs in by itself. |
| macOS | Any Mac with a current Chrome or Safari. Set full-screen, and have the browser open the player at login. |
| Network | Outbound HTTPS. Media downloads once and is cached, so bandwidth matters at install time rather than all day. |
Installing and updating
That is expected for an APK that does not come from the Play Store. Allow installation for the app you are installing from — usually the file manager or the browser — and the install continues. On a TV box the setting is in Security or in Apps, depending on the vendor.
The Android shell polls the release channel, downloads the new build, checks it against the hash published in the channel and installs it. Where the device allows a silent install it happens unattended; where it does not, the screen shows a prompt for the next person standing in front of it. The Windows app checks its own channel, verifies the signature and installs the update for its account, and goes back to the previous version if the new one does not start healthy. The web player updates the moment it reloads.
Yes — the APK and the Windows installer are one file each and the same on every screen, and the Windows one also installs silently with /S. Each device pairs with its own code, so fleet rollout is install once, then pair each screen with the code it shows you.
The browser. It pairs in the time it takes to read this, on a laptop you already have, and it shows the same playlist the boxes will show later. Order hardware once you know what you want it to do.
From the blog
- Digital signage player: the five kinds and the specs that matterWhat a digital signage player does, the five kinds (box, stick, computer, built-in, browser), the specs that matter and what to avoid buying.
- Android TV box for digital signage: what to buy and what to skipWhat an Android TV box for digital signage needs, what to skip, kiosk mode and Device Owner in plain words, and how to test one before buying twenty.
- Smart TV digital signage: which TVs can run it on their ownWhich smart TVs run digital signage by themselves, when a Samsung or LG needs an Android box, and where a USB-stick slideshow stops being enough.
Three steps between a blank TV and a live one.
No server to run, no licence per seat, nothing to install on your network. A display, a power socket and an internet connection.