Mayak runs on TVs and set-top boxes with Android TV and Google TV. Below: how to tell in a minute whether your TV will work, and how to set everything up in four steps.
In short. If your TV has Google Play, Mayak will run on it. That means TVs and set-top boxes with Android TV and Google TV. There is no Mayak app for Samsung, LG and other TVs without Google Play — they need an Android TV box. Setup: account on your phone → Mayak on the TV → sign in with a code from your phone → connect.
We make Mayak. One app for your phone and your Android TV, one account for all your devices, and on the TV you sign in with a code from your phone. 7 days free after you confirm your email, no card needed. The trial is free and needs no card; without an email it is 3 days.
📺 Once you have signed up, come back to the TV steps: Mayak is installed on the TV itself, and the code from its screen is confirmed in your account. You do not need the app on a phone for that.
🍎 On iPhone Mayak works through the third-party Happ app — with the subscription link from your account. Happ is not in the Russian App Store; there incy (publisher LLC ITDEV) works instead, checked on 22 September 2026.
Will your TV work
What matters is not the brand but the system inside the TV. The easiest check: does your TV have the Google Play store. The words “smart TV” decide nothing here: almost every TV sold today is a smart TV, but the systems inside differ — and Mayak needs the one that has Google Play.
- Works: Android TV and Google TV. Many TV brands and most set-top boxes run them. As of 18 September 2026, people use Mayak on TCL, Haier, Xiaomi, Sber and HKC TVs and on set-top boxes.
- Does not work: Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS), Hisense on VIDAA and other TVs without Google Play. What to do about them is below.
You also need Android 7.0 or newer. The version is in the TV settings, in a section called “About”, “Device info” or “System”.
How to install Mayak on Android TV: four steps
Step 1. Create an account on your phone
Sign up in Mayak on your phone or on your account page. Signing up on a TV is awkward: it asks you to pass a “not a robot” check, and that check may not open on a TV.
Step 2. Install Mayak on the TV
From Google Play. Open Google Play on the TV, search for “Mayak Networks” and press “Install”.
Not in Google Play? Install it as a file from our website:
- Open a browser on the TV. If there is no browser, install any from Google Play.
- Type mayaknetworks.com/dl/app into the address bar — the Mayak file will download.
- Open the downloaded file. The TV will ask whether apps from this source may be installed: allow it and press “Install”.
The Google Play and website versions cannot be installed over each other: to switch, remove the first one — details.
Step 3. Sign in with a code from your phone
- Open Mayak on the TV. The screen shows a QR code and an eight-character code.
- On your phone open Mayak → Settings → “Sign in a TV” → “Scan QR” and point the camera at the TV screen. Or simpler: point your phone’s regular camera at the QR code.
- Press “Confirm sign-in”. The TV signs in by itself in a couple of seconds.
The code changes every five minutes: if it changed, use the new one on the screen.
No app on your phone? Then confirm the code in your account from any browser — on a computer or on a phone: the «Devices» section, «TV sign-in», enter the code from the screen. You do not need to install Mayak on a phone just for a TV. A third way is to type your email or account number and password on the TV with the remote, but that is the slowest one.
Step 4. Connect
Choose a country and press the connect button. The first time, the TV asks for permission to connect — press “OK”. When “Protected” appears, you are done. The very first connection can take up to 15 seconds.
A VPN on a Samsung or LG TV: what to do
There is no Mayak app for Samsung TVs on Tizen, LG TVs on webOS or other TVs without Google Play.
What you can do: connect an Android TV box to the TV and install Mayak on it with the same four steps. We do not support routers, so you cannot turn on Mayak for your whole home network at once.
What Mayak does on a TV
- Everything works with the remote, and Mayak sits on the home screen with your other apps.
- The same as on a phone: country choice, the “RU Apps” switch, “Connection details”.
- It shows the account page and help as QR codes: a TV usually has no browser, so those pages open on your phone.
What happens to YouTube and other video on the big screen
Let us say it plainly, so there is no disappointment: a tunnel changes the route of your traffic, not the width of your channel. The second half of the road — from our server out into the network — becomes ours, and that half we answer for. The first half, from the TV to us, stays yours entirely: Wi-Fi in the far room, the evening load at your provider and an old router do not go away, and no tunnel cures them.
We have not measured speed on TVs. Our line measurement was made from a work machine; there were no TVs or set-top boxes in it at all, so its numbers say nothing about the big screen. Why video is a special case, how many megabits 1080p and 4K need, and what to do when YouTube buffers even with the tunnel on — in “Why video buffers on YouTube”.
How many plan slots a TV takes
A TV is an ordinary device on your account. You do not buy anything separately for it, but it takes a slot on your plan just like a phone. As of 16 September 2026: Start — up to 3 devices for 300 ₽ a month, Family — up to 5 for 500 ₽, Max — up to 10 for 700 ₽.
The trial covers one device. If it is already running on your phone, the TV will say all device slots are taken when it tries to connect. Free a slot under Settings → “My devices” or on your account page in the “Devices” section, or choose a plan.
In Mayak a TV is just one more device on the same account. Create the account on your phone and sign in on the TV with a code. We do not ask for payment details for the trial. A confirmed email opens the access — 7 free days. An email is optional: without one the trial is 3 days.
🍎 On iPhone Mayak works through the third-party Happ app — with the subscription link from your account. Happ is not in the Russian App Store; there incy (publisher LLC ITDEV) works instead, checked on 22 September 2026.
Is it safe that the code is on screen
Yes. The code opens nothing by itself: it can only be confirmed from a Mayak app that is already signed in, and it lives for five minutes. Your account reports a new TV signing in, and if your email is confirmed, it also sends a letter.
Only confirm the code from your own screen. If someone sent you a code in a message or read it out over the phone, it is a scam: confirming it lets someone else’s device into your account.
What we tested
- On an Android TV emulator (Android 14, 1920×1080 screen, release build): install, sign-in with a code from the phone, connection up to “Protected” — in early September and on 16 September 2026.
- With real users: as of 18 September 2026, Mayak is installed and signed in on TCL, Haier, Xiaomi, Sber and HKC TVs and on set-top boxes — from our data on account devices.
What we do not know
- Whether Mayak shows up in Google Play on your TV. Google decides that: it has separate requirements for TV apps. If it does not show up, install the file from our website.
- Casting from a phone. We have not measured whether what you cast from your phone to the TV goes through the protected connection.
- Video speed on a TV. Our line measurements were made from a work machine; there were no TVs or set-top boxes in them, so to the question “is it enough for 4K through the tunnel” we have no answer.
Short answers
Can I put a VPN on a Samsung TV? There is no Mayak app for Samsung. You need an Android TV box.
What about an LG TV? The same: there is no Mayak app for LG, you need a box.
How do I install a VPN on Android TV? From Google Play on the TV or as a file from our site: mayaknetworks.com/dl/app. Then sign in with a code from your phone.
Does Mayak work on a set-top box? Yes, if the box runs Android TV on Android 7.0 or newer.
Do I need a phone to sign in? For the code, yes: a phone with Mayak. Without one, sign in with your email or account number and password, typed with the remote.
I have an iPhone. How do I sign in on the TV? There is no Mayak app for iPhone, so sign in on the TV with your email or account number and password.
Do I pay extra for the TV? No. The TV takes one slot on your plan, like a phone; the trial has one slot for the whole account.
Someone sent me a code and asks me to confirm a TV sign-in. Do not confirm it: that would give someone else’s device access to your account.