"You probably use your TV regularly to watch content, but is it set for testing customers' apps?"
Motivation
LG is one of the biggest-selling brands around the world when it comes to Smart TVs. However, their unique operational system called webOS has its own particularities and requires a few steps to set it up if you want to use the device for testing. In order to prevent you from spending hours on the research, we have created this article. The focus of this article will be on the basic steps required to use the LG Smart TV streaming device. A Desktop computer will be required to install apps on any modern LG TV since the ability to install apps via USB sticks was removed by LG in their latest releases. Finally, make sure the desktop computer and the TV are connected to the same network.
Creating a developer account
In order to install apps on an LG Smart TV, you will need a developer account. To do that, you must access the website here, click on the Sign In button in the top right part of the website, and select a Create Account option.
After clicking on Create Account, a pop-up will be opened (make sure your pop-up blocker is disabled), and you will be prompted to select the country. Please select the same country your TV was set to. In case your country is not supported, you will also need to select a different one and change it on your TV settings (we recommend selecting the US option).
Next, you'll need to agree to LG Account Terms of Use, LG Developer Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy. Afterward, you will need to enter the User ID (Email), and password, select that you are 18 years old or older, and proceed to the next step: Confirmation.
You will need to confirm the account using the link provided in the email sent to your inbox. Once you confirm it, your account will be ready to be used.
When you confirm the account, go back to the Sign-in page, and log in with previously given account details. After the first login, you would need to create the account nickname and save it, afterwards, everything will be set up.
Installing the Developer Mode app on your LG TV
You will now need to install a special app called Developer Mode to connect the TV to your desktop device. The first step is to turn on your LG TV and look for the first-party app store, called LG Content Store (or you will see the APPS icon on your Home screen). Pressing the Home button on your remote usually opens the menu and the store will be shown.
Once you open the store, you must search for the Developer Mode app and install it. After the app is installed, you can run it. The first screen will ask you to enter your User ID and Password. You must use the credentials created in the previous section of this article. Now that you are logged in, you can set the Dev Mode Status and the Key Server to ON. The screen will look like the image below, and you’re ready to connect your TV to your desktop device. Make sure your TV is on for the next steps, and do not leave this page. You will also need the IP Address shown here later in this tutorial (either the wireless or wired one, depending on how your TV is connected to the internet) and the Passphrase.
webOS Studio and .ipk file installation
webOS Studio is a development environment for building, testing, and deploying applications on webOS devices, such as LG smart TVs. If the customer provides the application as the .ipk file, you will need the webOS Studio to install it on your LG TV.
To install and fully use webOS Studio, you will need Visual Studio Code and Node.js. Let's check how to do that by following this step-by-step guide:
NOTE: The steps below were done on a Windows PC.
First of all, you will need to download and install the Node.js. You can go to the Node.js download page, and download the Prebuilt Installer - Please select version 16.20.2 from the dropdown list. After downloading it, please install the Node.js.
After the installation is done, confirm the installation by opening the Command Prompt and executing the command: npm -v
If the Node.js is installed successfully, you will see the npm version.
Now, before installing the Visual Studio Code and webOS Studio extension, you should install the webOS CLI, to do that, please open the Command Prompt and execute the command: npm install -g @webos-tools/cli
When the installation is done, confirm it by executing the command: ares -V
If the installation is successful, you should see the ares version at the end.
Go to the Visual Studio Code website, download and install the application.
Open the Visual Studio Code with Admin privileges (Run as administrator).
You can skip (Close) the Visual Studio Code walkthrough screen.
Navigate to File > Open Folder... in the Visual Code Studio. Here, navigate to any part where you want to place the webOS workspace (For example: Documents), create a new folder, open it, and select it.
If the "Do you trust the authors of the files in this folder?" screen appears, select "Yes, I trust the authors" button.
Go to Extensions in the Visual Code Studio, search for webOS Studio, and install the extension.
When the installation is done, open the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) - if the Command Palette is not opened by pressing the previously mentioned keys, navigate to the "View" in the top Navigation > Command Palette... and execute the command: webOS: Install Global Packages
After the Global Packages are installed, navigate to the webOS Studio extension (Click on webOS Studio in the left menu - below "Extensions"). A prompt Configure SDK Location should be shown. Click on the Select Folder button, and select the previously created folder for webOS workspace from Step 6.
As soon as you select the folder, the webOS Studio extension will load Package Manager, and after this is done, you can proceed to the next step.
Now it is time to make a connection to your TV. With the mouse go to the KNOWN DEVICE section in the webOS Studio extension, and click on the + button. At the top of the Visual Code Studio, you should be able to see the Define Device Information input field where you will need to enter the:
Device Name: You can enter any device name (example: webOS_TV), but make sure that the device name does not start with % or $.
IP Address: Enter the IP Address shown in the Developer Mode screen on your TV.
Port: The default port is 9922
Username: The default username is: prisoner
The device should be added to the Known Devices after you are done. Now in the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) execute the command: webOS TV: Set Up SSH Key
After executing the command, please select the Target Device (previously added TV).
Enter Passphrase: The Passphrase is shown in the Developer Mode screen on your TV.
To confirm that the connection is successful, right-click on the previously added TV under the Known Devices and click on the Show Information. If you can see the information of your TV, the connection was successful.
Installing .ipk files
When the connection is made (as described in the steps above), the installation of the .ipk file is really easy. To do this, proceed as follows:
Right-click on your TV under the KNOWN DEVICES.
Select the Install App option.
At the top of the Visual Code Studio, the Install Application module will appear where you need to specify the file path to the app. To do so, first of all, if the application is zipped, make sure to extract the file, then navigate to the .ipk file (customer app) > Right-click on it and click on the Copy as path (Ctrl + Shift + C).
After you copied the file path, navigate back to the Visual Code Studio and paste the file path into the input field. Make sure to remove the double quotes (") at the beginning and at the end of the file path
Using a VPN on LG TV
Please visit our How to share a VPN connection from your PC article for more information.