4 quick and easy ways to update your smart TV’s software

Most TVs on the market these days are smart TVs. Smart TVs offer a vast range of apps, games, smart home controls, and voice assistance from popular tools like Alexa and Google Assistant when connected to Wi-Fi. However, like your phone, tablet, and laptop, smart TV developers release software updates occasionally. Some of these updates are small and may only fix a few bugs or app enhancements, while more significant updates could change your TV’s entire UI and overall performance.

While smart TV updates aren’t mandatory, if you want your TV running optimally, it’s a good idea to download and install these patches whenever they become available. Fortunately, most smart TVs download and install updates automatically, often when your TV is in standby mode. That’s why we put together this list of five quick ways to update your smart TV’s software.

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Set up automatic updates

Most smart TVs (when connected to the internet) allow you to set up automatic software updates during the initial setup of your TV. Often nothing more than a simple toggle on-off option, you may be prompted to set up auto updates on a setup screen with multiple OS verifications, or the prompt might appear as a standalone query.

Smart TV brands like Samsung, Sony, and LG allow you to set up auto-updates the first time you boot up the TV. You can also access this setting when your TV setup is complete. For a leading midrange 4K TV like the Samsung QN90D Series, grab your TV remote and press Settings. Head to Support > Software Update, and then toggle on Auto Update. You can also turn off the feature from this screen.

Setting up automatic updates is the best way to ensure your TV always runs the latest version of its software. That way, you don’t have to worry about whether you checked for an update recently.

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Download and install updates manually

Not everyone wants to leave automation up to their electronics, a preference we at Android Police understand. It’s easy to download and install smart TV updates manually. One advantage of bypassing auto updates is that you control when your TV uses your network bandwidth to onboard the latest developer patches. This is especially important for homes and businesses where multiple devices are hosted over Wi-Fi.

If your TV is close enough to your internet service provider’s (ISP) modem or router, you should have one or two free LAN ports into which you can plug an Ethernet cable. Plug the other end into your smart TV, and you now have a direct, hardwired A to B between your TV and the internet.

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Going the USB route

If you don’t like using smart TV features or don’t have your TV connected to the internet, there may come a point where your TV requires an update that affects more than your TV’s web-connected capabilities. Sometimes developers release patches for picture and sound issues, and you always want to make sure your TV looks and sounds as good as possible.

You’ll find USB-A ports (often more than one) on most smart TV models. While these connections are traditionally used to play media off external USB flash drives, you can also use your TV’s USB ports to upload and install software updates you’ve downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. It’s usually not difficult to locate new updates and drivers, but take extra care if updating your TV this way.

First, use a flash drive large enough to hold your TV’s update file. Format the drive to FAT16, FAT32, extFAT, or NTFS. Also, save the file to the root directory of the drive. In some cases, a USB update may fail, which could lead to a damaged or unusable smart TV, so use extreme caution.

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Call upon your voice assistant

Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are becoming increasingly popular for smart TV usage. Most of the time, you’ll call up the assistant by pressing a microphone button on your TV remote, while other sets feature built-in mics that actively listen to your voice commands at all times. There are also smart TVs with zero voice assistant compatibility, so figure out if your TV even supports Alexa or Google Assistant commands.

If it does, you can use the assistant to check for available software updates. Say something like, “Alexa, check for software update,” or “OK Google, look for TV update.” What happens next depends on your TV model and its compatibility with the voice assistant you use. You may be directed to the Settings dashboard, where you can search for an update, or nothing may happen.

What to do if a software update fails

It’s a bit of a rarity, but now and then, a smart TV software update may not install correctly. There could be several reasons why an update didn’t upload as intended. Perhaps the update was corrupted, or your TV dropped its internet connection while the update was downloading. Whatever the case, you don’t want your TV running bad software or an inferior software version.

Before installing any update, run a quick Google search on the version number to see if there are reported issues with the patch. Manufacturer websites, Reddit, and related AV forums are good places to check for at-a-glance update info.

If you believe your smart TV was subject to a corrupt software update, go to the manufacturer’s site to download an older version of the TV software or a fixed version of the corrupted patch. Because the software is probably running on your TV (checking for the latest version wouldn’t reveal anything), you may have to upload the update to your TV with a USB flash drive.

Keeping your smart TV up to date is important

We all have a story about how we didn’t download requested updates for a device, and the product continued working until it died one day of old age. You could own your smart TV for 8 to 10 years, never download a software update, and never have an issue. If you want to ensure you always get the best picture, sound, and internet performance on your TV, regularly installing updates is your best bet. If you have problems with your smart TV, we have a few tips to help you fix them.