Mayak runs on TVs and boxes with Android TV and Google TV: there is one app, installed from Google Play, or, if there is no store or Mayak did not turn up in it, from a file on our site. Below: how to tell your system, both ways, signing in with a code, and what about the smaller brands.
In short. Google Play is on the TV — Mayak will install. Look for “Mayak — private network” in the store; on Google TV, through Search or the Apps tab. Not found, or no store — a file from mayak.ws/dl/app, through the TV’s browser or from a USB stick. You sign in with the code on the screen, which you confirm on your phone or in your account page; there is no key to type with the remote.
We make Mayak. Our own app is for Android and Android TV: a phone, a TV and a box, all on one account. 3 days free after you confirm your email, no card needed. The trial is free and needs no card; without an email it is 1 day.
🍎 On iPhone, Mayak works through the subscription link from your account page. The real Happ (publisher Flyfrog LLC) is not in the Russian App Store — searching that word there brings up look-alike apps from other publishers. INCY (publisher LLC ITDEV) works instead: checked on 22 September 2026.
Android TV and Google TV: what is the difference for Mayak
None. Google TV is a shell on top of Android: TCL, for example, labels such models “Google TV (Android)”. We have one app, for Android 7.0 and newer, and it installs on both systems. The only difference is where to look for the store on the screen. And if you are still choosing a service, seven signs of the best VPN for a TV help compare them before paying. According to Sony, on Android TV the store is the Google Play Store app in the Apps section, and on Google TV you look for apps through search (Sony help); they are also listed on the Apps tab at the top of the home screen (Google TV help).
How to tell you have Android TV or Google TV
The brand does not decide it, and neither do the words “Smart TV”; the system inside does: a smart TV can run any system. The easiest check is the store.
- Google Play is there — the TV runs Android TV or Google TV, and this article is for you.
- The Android version. You need Android 7.0 or newer: it is written in the TV’s settings, in the About, Information or System section.
- No Google store. Then the system is most likely a different one. Samsung and LG — explained here, LG separately — about webOS; Hisense — about VIDAA; Salute TV — the Sber article; Alice and YaOS — the Yandex TV article.
Way 1: installing from Google Play
- Create an account on your phone or in your account page. Signing up on a TV is awkward: the “not a robot” check may not open there.
- Find Mayak. On Android TV open Google Play and look for “Mayak — private network”. On Google TV there may be no separate store icon: press the Assistant button on the remote or pick Search on the home screen and type “Mayak”.
- Press Install and open the app.
- Sign in with a code and connect, as in the sign-in section below.
What the store shows your TV is decided by Google. If Mayak is not there, install it from a file.
Way 2: without the store, from an APK file
It is the same app as in the store, only as a file from our site. There are two ways to put an APK on Android TV: the TV downloads files the way a phone does, through a browser or a file manager (help page).
- Through the TV’s browser. Open the browser (if there is none, install any from the store) and type mayak.ws/dl/app — the Mayak file downloads, about 18 MB.
- Or from a USB stick. Download the file at the same address on a computer or phone, copy it to a USB stick, plug the stick into the TV and open the file through a file manager.
- Open the downloaded file. The TV asks whether apps from this source may be installed — allow it and press Install.
The Google Play and site versions do not install over each other: to switch, remove the first one. The file will not download or install — step by step in a separate article.
Signing in: no key to type with the remote
You will not have to type a long key or link with the remote. Mayak on the TV shows a QR code and an eight-character code. On the phone: Mayak → Settings → “Sign in a TV” → “Scan QR” → “Confirm sign-in”. No app on the phone? Confirm the code in your account page from any browser, Devices section. You can also type an email and password with the remote, but that is the slowest way. The code lives for five minutes: if it changed, take the new one from the screen. Confirm only the code from your own screen: a code sent to you in a message is a scam. In detail — in the TV article.
Then pick a country and press the connect button. The first time, the TV asks for permission — press OK. “Protected” on the screen means you are done.
If there is no system permission window
Before the first connection Android asks for permission in its own system window. In the stripped-down firmware of some TV boxes and TVs that window is missing, and Mayak shows a hint. Then the permission is granted once from a computer on the same Wi-Fi network as the TV: step by step — on the help page (short address mayak.ws/adb). After that Mayak connects by itself. Stuck — write to support.
Other brands on Android TV and Google TV
For most brands the answer is the same: Google Play is there — install as above. Detailed guides — TCL and Haier, Xiaomi and DEXP, boxes — a separate article. For the smaller brands we gathered what we could confirm from sources. We did not open these brands’ catalogues for Russia, so we do not claim the system of any particular series: look at the store on your own TV.
Sony. BRAVIA runs Android TV or Google TV: Sony describes app installation and search for both (help above). For Mayak these are the same two cases.
Philips. Be careful here. According to heise online of 25 March 2026, all Philips TVs of 2026 run Titan OS, while Android TV and Google TV remain on earlier models. Titan OS is not Android but a system built on web apps (9to5Google), and there is no Mayak app for it. A new Philips — check the store: no Google Play means the way is the same as for LG — a box or a router.
Kivi. In a Rozetked review of the 55U710KB (a 2020 model) the TV runs Android TV 9, and the author writes that apps go on it through Google Play or as an APK file from a USB stick. We did not look at Kivi’s recent series.
Toshiba. Hisense agreed to buy Toshiba’s TV business back in 2017, and Hisense’s own system is VIDAA (our Hisense article). According to an industry overview, VIDAA also runs on Toshiba in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia. Which Toshibas are sold here and what they run we did not check: Google Play is there — that is Android; not there — the way is the same as for Hisense on VIDAA.
Thomson. On Thomson’s site the TVs are presented on Google TV, Fire TV and TiVo. Google TV is our case. We checked nothing about Fire TV and TiVo, and we did not look at which Thomsons are sold in Russia.
Yasin. We found no reliable description of their system and will not guess: check the app store on your TV.
If the connection drops after the TV is switched off
Switch the TV off — the connection closes; switch it on — it has to be brought up again. To avoid doing that by hand, turn on auto-connect in Mayak: Settings → Protection → Auto-connect. Connect by hand once, and after the TV is switched on Mayak brings the last working connection up by itself. We tested this on an Android TV emulator after a normal restart; the standby mode of live TVs we did not test: if the TV is on and there is no “Protected”, open Mayak and press the connect button.
What we tested
- The app on Android TV — on an emulator: install, sign-in with a code from the phone, a connection up to “Protected” and auto-connect after a restart.
- How people install it: the two ways, Google Play and a file from the site, are described on our help page; Mayak is already installed on TVs and boxes of several brands (the list as of 18 September 2026).
- The facts about the brands — from pages opened on 29 September 2026 (links in the text).
What we do not know
- Whether Mayak shows up in the store on your particular model. What to show is decided by Google. Not there — from a file.
- The Sony, Philips, Kivi, Toshiba, Thomson and Yasin catalogues for Russia. We did not open them, and we own no live TVs of these brands.
- The standby mode of specific TVs. We checked only an emulator.
- Video speed on a TV. There were no TVs in our line measurements — more.
Short answers
How do I install a VPN on Android TV? Google Play — find “Mayak — private network” and press Install; no store — the file from mayak.ws/dl/app. Then sign in with the code on the screen.
How is Google TV different from Android TV? For Mayak, not at all: it is one app. Only the place of the store on the screen differs.
Can I download an APK to a TV? Yes: through the browser at mayak.ws/dl/app or from a USB stick through a file manager. The TV will ask for permission to install from this source.
How do I enter the key with the remote? There is no key to enter: the TV shows a QR code and a code, and you confirm them on your phone or in your account page.
Mayak is not in Google Play. What now? Install it from a file: the steps above.
Is there a free option? The trial is free and needs no card; after that it is a plan, and the TV takes a slot on it like a phone.
A TV is just one more device on the same account. The account is created on your phone or in your account page, and the code from the TV screen is confirmed there too. We ask for no payment details for the trial. A confirmed email opens the access — 3 free days. An email is optional: without one the trial is 1 day.