The app that goes on your telly

About the warnings you are going to see

Every device puts a scary looking message in front of an app that did not come from its own shop. That is worth explaining once, properly, because it stops most people in their tracks and it should not.

• Android and Fire TV both ask you to allow apps from unknown sources. That setting simply means the device will accept an app you chose rather than one the shop chose. Our guides show exactly where the switch lives.
• Windows may say the publisher is not recognised. Click More info, then Run anyway. It appears for any program without an expensive Microsoft certificate and says nothing about whether the program is safe.
• The app on its own has no channels in it. It needs an active subscription and your details before it does anything at all, which is why nothing happens on first opening if you have not ordered yet.