8 simple ways to customise your TV

Pretty much every one of us owns a television today. A device without which one can’t imagine life now, it has evolved a whole lot since the olden days when it used to be a big, chunky, nearly immovable box, to a sleek, and light device which lets us do far more than just consume a variety of audio-visual content. It is however, more than just another appliance in your homes.

With mass-market consumer electronics losing their identity, customisation options become even more relevant to help make your device stand out and personalised to your taste. With a few simple tweaks here and there, you can get the maximum bang for your buck. What are these tweaks, you ask? Read on.

ALSO READ: How to setup a smart TV for the first time

Before we go ahead though, it is recommended to stick to customisations that don’t leave any permanent marks or changes that aren’t reversible to the original state. With that out of the way, let’s jump in:

1. Change the TV Stand: The quickest and easiest way to make a visual difference and refresh your TV’s look is to simply change the stand. These stands aren’t too expensive, and more often than not, you will find a quite few options for your TV from the manufacturer itself. Beyond that, there is also a huge market where you can get more adventurous and creative designs to make your TV truly distinct. Here’s a little tip though. Always make sure the stand is compatible with your TV and can the latter’s weight before purchasing.

2. Favorite apps: One of the first things you should do to truly customise and personalise your TV to your tastes is to simply install your favorite apps. Depending on the OS your smart TV is running, these favorite apps generally appear in the top row on the home screen. This gives you easy access to the apps that you use regularly. For Android TVs, you can do so by scrolling to the right-hand side of the apps row, selecting the ‘plus’ icon, and selecting the app you want.

3. Fiddle with recommended content: One of the biggest perks of a smart TV is the personalised content suggestions you get based on whatever you watch. Certain streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, and others can display recommended content. You can customise these suggestions using the ‘customise channel’ option on an Android TV. You can select channels in each app to provide you with suggestions. Simply search for ‘customise channel’ or go to Settings > Preference > Home Screen > Channels > Customise channel and select the channels you want to enable.

4. Customise the wallpaper and screensaver: Many smart TVs let you select and change wallpapers as per your liking, which you can also use to make your TV distinct. It is the quickest and easiest way to make your TV reflect your personality and taste.

5. Create shortcuts: Sometimes when you install an app from the app store of the TV, it doesn’t necessarily appear in the list of all apps. If you’ve faced a similar issue, all you’ve got to do is to create shortcuts for those apps, and you’re sorted.

6. Customise the Play Next channel: Right below the Favorites, there is the ‘Play Next’ channel. It sources content from across apps to suggest you the next video to watch. As smart and intuitive as this feature is, you can enhance it by customising it. You can choose which apps can send content to the Play Next channel. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the home screen, select ‘Customise Channels’, then hit ‘Customise your Play Next channel’. Just turn the toggle on and select the apps you want to be included in the list.

7. Reorder apps: Manufacturers give you a standard layout that is best suited for most but may not feel as intuitive as it could be. To remedy the same, you can reorder apps and game tiles. The simplest and easiest way to do so is, go to Settings > Preferences > Home Screen > Apps > and select either ‘Reorder apps’ or ‘Reorder Games’.

8. Mount your TV: It is not a customisation per se but a pretty convenient way to make your TV stand out and break the monotony. Mounting your TV onto a wall is a particularly good choice in case you have less space in your room. It can help you save space for a TV Table. The process of wall mounting a TV can be a bit tricky if you don’t have the tools for it, but it can be done with a little caution and the right tools. In any case, you can always get a trained technician to do it.

Depending on what type of smart TV you have, a few options and ways to customise can be different or under different settings and features. There are many more software tweaks and customisation options available. All you need to do is explore the Settings menu.