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BetterSTR TV FAQ

Devices, setup, Free vs Premium, apps and hotels: quick answers about the in-room TV welcome screen.

Getting started and hardware

Devices as cheap as around US$25 generally work. BetterSTR TV runs on any Android TV or Google TV device: a built-in smart TV (TCL, Sony, Philips and others) or an inexpensive plug-in HDMI streaming stick. We recommend the Google TV Streamer 4K or Xiaomi TV Stick 4K. You can install the app yourself from the Google Play Store, or have us provision a fully managed device. Got a Samsung, LG or Amazon Fire TV? Plug a BetterSTR TV box into a spare HDMI port and you get the full experience on any TV.

Yes, through the HDMI port. There’s no native app for Roku, Samsung (Tizen) or LG (webOS). Roku in particular doesn’t let an app become the launcher, so it could never be what loads when the TV switches on. Plug a BetterSTR TV box (or any Android TV device) into an HDMI input and that becomes the source the television starts on, so any TV with HDMI runs the full experience whatever its own operating system is.

The quickest way is to install the app yourself from the Google Play Store and follow the on-screen prompts. For a fully locked-down, hands-off device, run our free desktop setup tool (Mac or Windows) instead: it finds the TV on your network, installs and configures the app, then you scan a QR code on the TV to pair it to a property. Full steps are in our Setting up your Android TV guide.

You plug it in, it sees no WiFi configured and asks you to pick your network. It then shows a QR code on screen: scan it, choose which property to link the device to, and about 30 seconds later the TV is showing that property’s welcome screen. Full walkthrough in Setting up your Android TV.

The Google Play version is the quick DIY option: install it from the Play Store and follow the on-screen prompts. Because Google Play restricts what an app can do, it has a few limitations compared with a device we provision for you with our desktop tool:
  • You enable a couple of settings yourself: turn on Accessibility (so it becomes the home screen), allow “Modify system settings”, and choose BetterSTR TV as the screensaver.
  • Updates come from the Play Store rather than silently over the air.
  • The TV powers on to greet guests at check-in and turns itself off at check-out, both of which work on the Play version. What it can’t do is the “turn the TV off after X hours of no activity” timer, which relies on a system permission Google Play won’t grant.
  • The home screen isn’t fully locked down, and guest app logins (Netflix, Disney+) aren’t wiped between stays.

For a completely hands-off, locked-down guest device, with silent updates, the idle auto-off timer, casting, and a home screen guests can’t leave, use a device we provision with the free setup tool instead.

Yes. The TV needs WiFi or Ethernet to load your guidebook, stream content and receive updates. The same connection powers the guest WiFi QR code on the home screen.

For day-to-day use, yes. It’s a Bluetooth remote with IR functions. One quirk worth knowing: volume is digital, so set the TV itself to around 30–40 and the box then controls 0–100% of that range. Keep the original TV remote in a drawer. Spare remotes are $7 USD in our shop (or $4 each when added to a TV order), and a new remote pairs by holding OK + volume-down for 10 seconds.

One year. Hosts return the unit to us for investigation. We use a known OEM rather than an unbranded box, which costs a little more per unit and saves everyone the pain later. You don’t have to buy from us either. A Xiaomi TV Stick or Google TV Streamer bought from any tech store works just as well. Hardware is in the shop at $35 USD plus shipping.

Free vs Premium and pricing

Every device is free for its first 2 weeks with all features on; we email you 7 days before that ends and never charge automatically. After that the welcome experience (guest name, check-in/out times, WiFi QR, the guidebook, your choice of theme and music, and your Store) stays free forever, or you upgrade to Premium for everything. See the full comparison on every BetterSTR TV feature, or read Android TV: Free vs Premium features.

Free on every TV:
  • Branded welcome home screen
  • One-scan WiFi QR + casting
  • Google Cast & Apple AirPlay
  • Welcome guests by name
  • Show check-in / check-out details
  • Guest language selection (19 languages)
  • Digital guidebook on the TV
  • Theme choice (Crisp or Basic), light or dark style
  • Background music (choose your own)
  • Store: sell your upsells on the TV
  • WiFi QR Marketing
  • Phone remote
Free, using our defaults (Premium lets you choose your own):
  • Local activities
  • Live TV (channels for your country)
  • Photo-frame screensaver
  • App tiles (Netflix, YouTube, etc.)
Premium only:
  • Choose HDMI / TV inputs guests can use
  • Plex movies & TV
  • Custom Live TV channels & playlists
  • Weather
  • On-screen & emergency messages
  • Clear app data at checkout
  • TV power controls & advanced settings
  • Smart Home: Home Assistant & Shelly control, check-in / checkout automations

The welcome screen is free forever. Premium is $4 per TV a month, or $3 when your guidebook is on Premium. Prepay any time from your TV dashboard and it drops to as little as $2 a month, with one upfront payment and no monthly bill. BetterSTR Simple at $15 a property a month includes up to 3 Premium TVs. See pricing.

Guests and the welcome screen

Yes. BetterSTR TV becomes the home screen, so pressing the Home button always returns guests to your branded welcome page rather than the stock launcher. Guests can still open streaming apps from your tiles and come straight back.

Yes. Connect a hotel PMS such as Apaleo or Mews and each room becomes its own property in BetterSTR, so the TV in each room welcomes the guest staying in that room. When a guest moves rooms, their welcome moves with them. Rooms start switched off, so you switch on the rooms that have a TV. See all integrations.

The TV’s own screens, such as the welcome, menus and buttons, come in 19 languages. Guests pick theirs with the globe button, and it resets at check-out for the next guest. Your guidebook can be translated into the same languages. The BetterSTR dashboard you manage everything from is in English.

Every 15–25 minutes while the TV is on, and hourly while it’s in standby. If you want a change immediately, press Home on the remote. That forces a fresh pull from our backend, provided it hasn’t already done one in the last 60 seconds. (The Companion tablet refreshes every 10–15 minutes.)

Apps, casting and inputs

Absolutely. The home screen has one-tap tiles for the apps you enable: Netflix, Plex/movies, live free-to-air and sports channels. Guests sign in to their own streaming accounts as normal.

Yes. Apple devices use AirPlay to share a laptop screen or send video from YouTube and similar; Android devices use Cast. The caveat applies to every TV device, not just ours: not every app permits casting, and some deliberately block it.

Yes. Keep the “Android Apps (app drawer)” tile enabled and it shows every installed app, including the Play Store, so you (or guests) can add new apps, and it’s also how you reach the TV’s Settings. See Choose & reorder the apps guests see.

Yes. In the device’s Apps settings, turn “Show all apps” off, tick the apps you want guests to have, then drag them into the order they appear on the TV. See Choose & reorder the apps guests see.

Yes, it’s a Premium feature. Guests can always change source with the remote’s Source / Input button. On top of that, when BetterSTR runs on the TV itself (not a plug-in box) you can offer an on-screen TV / HDMI tile that switches straight to the inputs you choose. Tick and order them per device, and connected devices show by name (e.g. “Roku Express”). See Restrict which HDMI / TV inputs guests can use.

Managing your TVs

Updates are delivered over the air. You publish a new version and choose whether it goes to one device or the whole fleet; each TV updates itself on its next check-in. On Android 12+ certified devices this is hands-off, with no app store and no manual side-loading.

Yes. In your BetterSTR dashboard open Android TV, select the TV and click “Leave launcher for 10 min”. The TV drops out to its own home screen (or Android Settings) for 10 minutes, then BetterSTR comes back by itself. To come back sooner, open About at the bottom of the BetterSTR home screen and press Resume. Full steps: Temporarily leave the BetterSTR launcher.

Upload landscape 16:9 photos at 1920 × 1080 for a crisp, full-screen fit on the TV. More in Setting up your Android TV.

More about BetterSTR TV

Welcome every guest by name

The TV welcome screen is free forever. All Premium features free for your first 2 weeks.

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