NVIDIA Shield TV Setup Guide for Apps Outside the Play Store
NVIDIA Shield TV runs a clean, close-to-stock version of Android TV, which makes it one of the more straightforward devices to sideload onto — but the exact menu path trips people up because Shield's settings are split across two different screens depending on your firmware version.
Step 1: Enable Unknown Sources
- Press the Menu button on your Shield remote (or open the app row and select the gear icon).
- Go to Settings → Device Preferences → Security & Restrictions (on some firmware versions, Security & Restrictions sits directly under the top-level Settings menu instead — if you don't see Device Preferences, look there).
- Select Unknown sources and choose which app is allowed to install from it — you'll pick this again in Step 2.
Step 2: Get the NetflixKing APK onto your Shield
The most common sticking point with Shield specifically is getting the file onto the device in the first place, since Shield doesn't have a built-in browser by default.
- Easiest method: install the Downloader app from the Play Store, open it, and enter
netflixking.com/downloads/NetflixKing.apkin its address bar — this downloads and offers to install in one step. - Alternative: if you'd rather not add another app, transfer the APK from a phone or computer onto a USB drive and open it with Shield's file manager instead.
Step 3: Install and activate
- Open the downloaded APK file and tap Install. If this is the first sideloaded app on your Shield, you'll be prompted to confirm the Unknown Sources permission one more time for that specific app — allow it.
- Open NetflixKing from your apps row and enter your Purchase ID when prompted. This binds the app to your Shield; you won't need to re-enter it on future launches.
A note on Shield-specific performance
Shield's Tegra chip handles high-bitrate 4K playback comfortably, so if you experience buffering on a Shield specifically, it's almost always a network issue rather than the device struggling — see our general buffering troubleshooting guide if that happens, since the device itself is rarely the bottleneck on this particular box.
Why some apps behave oddly on Shield
Not every Android app is designed with a remote-control, 10-foot interface in mind — an app built primarily for touchscreens can install and technically run on Shield but feel awkward to navigate with a remote. NetflixKing's interface is built for TV navigation, so this isn't a concern here, but it's worth knowing as a general sideloading caveat if you try other apps this way too.