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Sideloading Applications on TV Labs

TV Labs devices support sideloading applications through various methods. Whether you're an experienced developer or launching your application for the first time, this guide will walk you through sideloading your application onto a TV Labs device.

Overview:

  • ⏱️ Duration: ~2 minutes
  • 🎯 Audience: Anyone interested in sideloading applications on TV Labs devices
  • 🧠 Outcome: Understanding how to sideload applications using different methods available on TV Labs devices

Sideloading in Live Sessions​

Drag-and-Drop Upload​

The simplest method to sideload and immediately launch your application (without the need to install additional tools) is using the drag-and-drop build upload feature within a Live Session. After uploading and installing the build, your application will automatically launch on the device. Builds uploaded this way will be assigned to your organizations default app.

Drag-and-Drop Build Upload

Upload in Selector​

The "Sideload Build" button in the Live Session UI allows you to upload a new build and then select it, or select an existing build from the list.

Selector

Using tvlabs connect​

The tvlabs connect CLI tool establishes a secure tunnel between your local machine and the device, enabling you to use locally installed vendor-specific tools for sideloading applications directly. Builds sideloaded on the device this way do not create a build under any app on the platform, since it is uploaded directly to the device.

important

Some platforms (e.g. Tizen) require that the application is signed before sideloading. Other sideloading routes on the TV Labs platform will automatically sign the application package before sideloading. However, because the CLI provides a direct connection to the device, builds on platforms that require signed applications will need to be manually signed when using this method.

For detailed instructions, see the CLI documentation.

Sideloading in Automation Sessions​

To sideload an application through the Automation Editor UI, first ensure that you have an application selected in your automation project's targets. Select the "Trace" menu and then select the target application. Once the application is selected, click on the Build Selector button. You can upload a new build from the selector, or using the tvlabs upload command. To launch the selected app and build, use the Open App automation step.

Automation Sideload

Sideloading in Appium Sessions​

You can sideload builds during Appium sessions by specifying the tvlabs:build capability in your test configuration. Refer to the Appium documentation for more details.