There are all sorts of digital signage devices powered by Android, made by a wide range of manufacturers. But not all Android devices are the same or support installing apps the same way. In this article, we will take a look at the most common setups you will encounter, which setups will require you to side-load the ScreenCloud Player Android app and how to do so.

For the most part, digital signage devices powered by Android will fall into 3 categories:

Simply put, if the device you have supports the Google Play Store or the Amazon appstore, it's very easy to install the ScreenCloud Player Android app. You simply go to the Google Play Store or another supported app store, search for the ScreenCloud Player app and install it. The process is a little bit different on Android TV, but basically, it's really simple. Installing an app through the Google Play Store has its advantages, namely automatic updates, which are handled by the Play Store. The same goes for installing the ScreenCloud player through the Amazon appstore.

If your Android device does not support the Google Play Store or Amazon appstore, you may have to manually install - also known as side-loading - the app. The process is a bit more difficult and you don't get the automatic updates that come through installing an app through an app store app, but it's not all that difficult.

Finally, it's important to note that some Android devices simply use Android at a system level, using it to run services, but not really making all the Android settings you'd find on most Android devices. You'll find this most commonly on the Smart TVs with an Android-powered System on a Chip (SOC) and a custom OS as we mentioned earlier, and basically, in these cases, you will have to get support from that manufacturer on how to install an Android app. You'll often run into this with commercial-level Smart TVs powered by Android.

Now that you understand which devices will require you to side-load the ScreenCloud Player Android app, let's take a look at how to do this. The process is different for versions of Android 7.0 and below, with Google changing how side-loaded apps are handled in Android 8.0. Instead of having a straightforward setting to simply allow installing apps from "unknown sources", side-loading is now enabled or disabled on a per-app basis. For example, if you want to install ScreenCloud Player app after downloading it with the Chrome browser, you’ll have to give Chrome the ability to install apps from unknown sources.

1. Open the "Settings" app
​2. Go to "Apps & Notifications" and then expand the "Advanced" menu and then select "Special app access". Then select "Install Unknown Apps", find Chrome and select it and then make sure "Allow from this source" is enabled. If you don't have Chrome on your device do this for the default browser instead.
​3. Next up, open Google Chrome - or another default browser you may be using - and go to screencloud.com/download and open up the Android player drop down menu (see image below) to find the apk download links for either the Android or Android TV app. Please click [ 4.3.x ] to access the download links.

4. Once the installation file downloads, open it and run the install process and the app will install.

1. Open the "Settings" app
​2. Go to "Security", find "Unknown sources" and make sure it's enabled.
​3. Next up, follow step 3 from above.
​4. Once the installation file downloads, open it and run the install process and the app will install.

Note that these are the steps to take on a stock Android device but the process may be different on another device. If so, find a guide on how to "install unknown apps" on the device you have.