10 Ways to get the most out of your Android HD Media Player
It doesn’t matter which model you own, SRT MPT, SRT AN4, SRT AN4M, SRT RB2, SRT RB4; there are a few simple tricks to get the most out your unit.
1. Ditch the remote and grab yourself a Wireless Mouse
It mind sound silly, but Android is designed as a touch screen operating system for phones and tablets, so when it comes to HD Media Players on your TV, my guess is it isn’t a touch screen TV. So avoid getting frustrated with the devices remote and get a cheap wireless mouse, you can plug the USB dongle into any of the USB ports. P.S. Some find a wireless keyboard handy as well
2. Check your Internet Speed
Now by internet speed we do not mean your download limit, but at what physical speed you gain access to data, sometimes Internet providers give you an approximate download speed, but the reality is often much less due to distance from the exchange, interference and various other factors. A good way to check your actual speed is to verify it on your PC, or even better on the actual Media Player itself, try downloading OOKLA. if you internet speed is 5mps or slower you will probably experience buffering, freezing or lagging on streaming video, but others apps may work fine. And remember, the higher the resolution the faster download speed is required.
3. Go Cable instead of Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is everywhere and it’s all the rage sure, however it can suffer from interference from other various devices around the home, and watching streaming videos over Wi-Fi can sometimes be a bother. Want to stream seamlessly, no buffering or freezing? Try running a LAN Cable, you’ll be glad you did.
4. Load a Good Media Player
Some of our HD Media Players already have a decent Media Player App loaded, others have just a basic generic one, try visiting the Playstore and download or even update MX Player, Dice Player or BS Player, all are very good, stable Apps.
5. Don’t load hundreds of useless Apps
Depending on your model, you may not have a lot of room, or a bit; either way you do not want to load it up with hundreds of useless apps you do not use, especially games and possibly old apps which no longer work. If you have downloaded an app and decided you don’t like it, or will never use it, uninstall it.
6. How to Uninstall Apps
That brings me to the next step, uninstalling Apps you no longer want. Go to Settings, then scroll down to Apps and click on it. it will then give you a list of all Apps installed, scroll down and select the App you wish, it will then prompt you to update, open and various other things, you can select Uninstall from here. You can even add folders of similar apps, like a a folder containing all entertainment apps, all game apps, all music apps etc.
7. How to access Apps and Widgets
You may wish to add Apps of Widgets (apps are programs essentially and Widgets are tools, ie clock, backgrounds etc). Go to your App browser, this maybe be a little house Icon top right hand side or 6 little dots in a circle at the bottom of screen. This will then bring up (a page at a time) all the Apps you have installed. If you want to create a short cut to the home screen, simply press the mouse over the app it will then be highlighted and can drop onto the home screen.
8. What do I do When an App crashes or stops responding
Occasionally you may find an App stops working or fails to respond, this does not mean the unit is faulty, but it is just a glitch or poorly designed app. If it is just a glitch, stop the App and then restart it, sometimes after stopping the App you may need to restart your unit. If it is a regular occurrence with that same App, consider uninstalling it, if it not suitable for your device or if it is poorly designed you really do not want it anyway.
9. How to shut down an open App
I guess number 8 brings me to number 9. On the bottom of your home page you should have a rectangle icon or 2 >> icon. This will bring up a list of all Apps running in the background. It is usually OK to leave these programs running in the background, however occasionally it can be a good idea to clear them out. Select the App you wish to close (or shut down) and hold and hover the mouse over the top, it will then ask if you wish to close it, click yes.
10. How do I access media from a USB Drive?
So occasionally you may not want to use the actual internet, it’s down, out of download, or simply you have other stuff you want to access from a USB Stick or drive. Plug it into one of the USB ports on your unit. You can access via the File Explorer in your App list (probably not on your Home Page – see #7), open this explorer and search for USB, there will be a drop down, or arrow up depending on the model you have. Once you have selected the USB you should see a list of all media on your drive, simply select what you wish to access and click on it. You may be prompted to pick a media player. Select one from list above (#4) you can select always or this time only – I usually select this time only. Why? Not all media plays on all player apps. If you select always your unit will always try to use that app for ALL media. Easier I feel to select each time, if it does not load, you can go back and select a different player app.