If you’ve just bought yourself a new set such as the excellent Samsung QN90B, the first thing you’ll want to do is load it up with some of these apps. Not sure where to find the best Samsung smart TV apps? Read on and we’ll tell you where to start. Looking for a new Samsung smart TV? The Samsung QN90A is one of the best!
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Samsung TV Plus
This one will come pre-installed on your Samsung smart TV, and it’s a seriously handy extra to have. Samsung TV Plus is entirely free (though you do have to put up with ads) and gives you live TV without the need for one of the best TV antennas. You get more than 200 channels in the U.S., including CBS, ABC and NBC plus music, sports and kids channels, and a bunch of much more niche options (The Bob Ross Channel, anyone?). In the U.K., it comes with CNN and Bloomberg, among many others.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Netflix
Obviously you’ll want this one there, whether for Stranger Things season 4, Umbrella Academy season 3 or any of the other best Netflix shows. The service that invented the binge-watch may have experienced a few problems lately — and we really wish that Netflix canceled shows weren’t so common — but for many people it remains a must-have.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Disney Plus
Another must-have for most, Disney Plus has all of the MCU (well almost — thanks, Spider-Man) and all of Star Wars, including the new Obi-Wan Kenobi show. That would be enough for many people, but throw in the entire Simpsons back-catalogue (though honestly you only need seasons 3-8) and the entire Disney movie roster and you have a pretty special line up for the reasonable price of $7.99 per month.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: HBO Max (U.S. only)
Our pick for the best streaming service, HBO Max just keeps on serving up the hits, from Euphoria to Barry to Hacks to Station Eleven to Succession to… well, we could go on. It’s also well stocked for movies, with the DC Universe jostling for space with the likes of Free Guy and In the Heights. Add this to your Samsung smart TV and you won’t be sorry.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Apple TV Plus
Not that long ago, Apple TV Plus was a slightly poor relation to the other streaming services, but it’s had an excellent last year or so. Ted Lasso kicked things off of course — and season 3 is on its way — while the likes of Severance, The Afterparty and For All Mankind have kept the hits coming. Oh, and it has the Oscar-winning movie CODA, too. At just $5, it’s the biggest bargain in streaming.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Prime Video
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Hulu (U.S. only)
Hulu doesn’t have as many great originals as most of the options in this list, but it does have next-day airings of cable and broadcast TV shows, which makes it a must-have for many cord-cutters, though you do have to put up with adverts. Hulu with Live TV — available as a $70 add on to the standard $6.99 Hulu plan — makes it a genuine cable replacement.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Peacock (U.S. only)
Peacock has a varied (or possibly slightly random) roster including a handful of originals and lots of classic TV fare (including all of The Office). That makes it well worth checking out given that it’s available at the very low price of… zero! Yes, you have ads on the free tier, but that’s acceptable. Going Premium ($4.99) gives you extra content, including live sports (Premier League soccer among them), while the $9.99 Premium Plus removes those pesky ads.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Plex
Plex is a streaming service with a difference: rather than providing you with the content, you bring your own. That’s because it’s a media server rather than a service, and a rather good one at that. The idea is that you put all of the videos you own in a folder on your computer, sync it with Plex, then watch it wherever you have the Plex app — including your Samsung smart TV. It’s free to use, but a paid version adds extra features for $4.99/month
Best Samsung smart TV apps: YouTube
YouTube needs no introduction, unless you’ve been asleep for the past decade and a half. The app works just the same on a Samsung TV as it does on your phone or computer, so you can sign in to your profile and watch endless clips of cats doing cat-type-things until it’s time for bed.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Spotify
TVs have sound too, you know, so it makes sense that Samsung smart TVs have a Spotify app. You’ll appreciate it more if you pair it with one of the best soundbars, or maybe even hook it up to a Sonos set up, but either way it’s another option for music listening around the home.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Samsung SmartThings
Best Samsung smart TV apps: SteamLink
PC gamer? Then you probably use Steam. And if you install the SteamLink app on your Samsung smart TV, you can play your favorite Steam games on the big screen with ease. The app is free, but you will need a compatible controller — and a speedy internet connection to your gaming rig.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: TuneIn
Radio, but on your TV! What kind of madness is this? It’s the madness made possible by the excellent TuneIn, that’s what. With thousands of stations covering music, sports and news, and on-demand content too, it’s like the gogglebox never got invented.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: BBC iPlayer (U.K. only)
A must if you’re based in the U.K., BBC iPlayer gives you access to all of Auntie Beeb’s best shows before the government succeed in killing it off sometime in the next few years (probably). As well as offering live TV and recently aired fare, you’ll find an extensive back-catalogue of classic shows going back decades.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: BritBox
BritBox pulls together classic TV from the BBC and ITV, so you can watch everything from Inspector Morse and Line of Duty to Fawlty Towers and Mr Bean. It’s increasingly creating its own BritBox Originals, too, but we’re yet to fall in love with any. However, as a repository of British telly through the ages, it’s essential.
Best Samsung smart TV apps: Now (U.K. only)
Sky’s Now service is the closest the U.K. gets to a HBO Max-style premium streaming service, and indeed it takes much of its entertainment content from HBO and other services. That means it’s the place to go for the likes of Succession and Mare of Easttown, plus classic box-sets such as The Wire. But the Entertainment package is just one of three options; the Cinema subscription will get you the U.K.’s best selection of recent big-screen flicks (and lots of old ones too), while Sports gives you all of Sky Sports’ offerings including the Premier League, F1, cricket and golf. It can get pricey though: £9.99 for Entertainment, £7.99 for Cinema and £33.99 for Sports.
What’s coming next for Samsung smart TV apps?
Samsung has announced that Xbox Game Pass will be available on its 2022 smart TVs starting in June 2022. We’ve gone hands on with it and it’s nearly flawless. Unfortunately, not every single Xbox Game Pass is ready for TV streaming just yet, but by time the service launches this summer, the Samsung Smart TV library should be exactly the same as what you would find streaming on Android, iOS or a Web browser. Gamers should definitely keep their eyes out for the app on their Samsung smart TVs.
