CONFIG: Android TV / Zank Remote

CONFIG: Android TV / Zank Remote

Overview

Chowmain's Android TV drivers for various home automation platforms utilise Zank Remote to control Google TV / Android TV / Fire TV devices.  All communications between the drivers and the Android device is done via the app.  Note that you must install and setup the application via the steps below before configuring the drivers.

Setup the device to a static IP Address

We recommend putting the Google TV / Android TV / Fire TV device onto a static IP or reserved IP address.

Enabling Developer Mode

The Zank Remote requires the following developer mode settings to be enabled to function properly

Developer Mode

  1. From the Home screen, select Settings >Device Preferences > About


  2. Now scroll down to Build and click on Build several (7x as of writing this manual) times until the message appears, "You are now a developer!"




USB Debugging

  1. From the Home screen select Settings > Device Preferences > Developer Options > USB Debugging and select OK



How do i install Zank Remote

Zank Remote can be downloaded from Google Play store.  You can also manually install Zank Remote by downloading the APK attached to bottom of this knowledgebase article.  Note if you download the APK you must install it by sideloading the APK.  Android Authority has a great article on how to sideload if you require instructions.  Alternatively you can follow the instructions on this Yahoo Hot to Geek article.

Once installed start the app.  It will prompt you to allow for USB debugging..

Disabling Auto Update

We also suggest disabling auto updates. When the device has a pending update is can affect the apps running in the background like Zank.

Instructions for specific brands

Nvidia Shield / Generic Android TV

In the nvidia shield or any other generic Android TV device, you can disable auto update by performing the following steps

- Settings
- Device Preferences
- About
- System Upgrade
and turn AutoUpdate to off

FireTV

For the Fire TV, does not need to have auto update disabled.

Help! I am getting text to speech after i install Zank Remote.

On certain Android TV set top boxes this has been seen to happen.  You will need to disable "Google Voice Service Application” on the developer menu.

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