Archmage83/tvapk: an APK collection for Android TV, and what it actually ships

What tvapk is, and the problem it solves

tvapk is a GitHub repository that gathers Android TV APK files in one place. The README describes it as a collection of AndroidTV apk applications, with the stated goal of watching VIP content and foreign film and television for free, and it invites readers to contribute their own APKs. The top level of the repository is a flat directory of .apk files: BBLL_1.5.2.apk, 影视仓-6.0.2.apk, 新TVBox.apk, 当贝播放器.apk, 咪咕爱唱TV.apk, 小鸡模拟器.apk and roughly fifty more, plus a single folder named 宝宝趣学 and the usual LICENSE and README.md.

The problem it addresses is discovery. Android TV has no equivalent of a curated store for sideloaded builds, and the apps people want for karaoke, children's content, live channels or video-on-demand are scattered across forums, cloud drives and short-lived domains. tvapk answers that by keeping the binaries in one git repository, so a single clone or a single GitHub page gives you the whole set. The audience is people who already own an Android TV box or a TV running Android TV and are comfortable installing software outside the Play Store. It is not aimed at developers building on top of these apps, and it is not a library or an SDK.

How the repository is organised, and why that matters

There is no build system, no package manifest and no application code in the tree beyond the Java label GitHub assigns to the project. The repository is essentially two things side by side: binary APK files at the root, and a README that catalogues them by name and, in some cases, by version. Names encode version numbers inconsistently. Some entries carry a version, such as 蜗牛云盘 v2.0.8, 影视仓 v6.0.2, 虎牙TV v2.1.9 or 爱唱KTV 3.15.69, and the corresponding files repeat it, for example 影视仓-6.0.2.apk and 爱唱KTV_3.15.69.apk. Others have no version at all, like 当贝播放器.apk or 儿童影院.apk. Two builds of 爱唱KTV are present at once, 3.15.69 and 3.22.71, with nothing in the README stating which one supersedes the other.

That structure has a direct consequence. Because the README is the index and the files are the payload, the two can drift apart. A renamed or removed APK leaves a README entry pointing at nothing, and the README itself says that readers should file an issue when an APK stops working. The repository also carries a star history chart image at the bottom, which is presentation rather than function. For anyone trying to decide whether a given build is current, the file name is the only version signal you get, and for a large part of the list there is no signal at all.

The TVBox and source-list entries need configuration, not just installation

A subset of the catalogue is not a standalone app but a client that needs an external source URL before it shows anything. The README is explicit about 新TVBox: after opening it, the home page has no data source by default, so you go into settings, fill in the configuration address, and return to the home page to get the video interface. The address it gives is https://freed.yuanhsing.cf/TVBox/meowcf.json. 喵影视TV v3.8.0高级版 is listed with a 点播源 URL beginning http://pandown.pro/tvbox/tvbox.json, and 宝宝趣学tvbox is noted as needing a local interface imported.

The README also carries a dedicated section for live and on-demand sources, with a long list of M3U playlists and JSON endpoints. 影视仓 v6.0.2 gets its own block of interface addresses, each annotated with a name in Chinese, including http://rihou.cc:55 and https://api.hgyx.vip/hgyx.json. Several of these point at domains built from Chinese words rather than ordinary hostnames, which is a hint about how long they are likely to survive. The practical point is that installing the APK is only half the work for these entries. A TVBox client with an empty configuration address is a blank screen, and a source URL that has moved produces the same result. The README does not document how to detect a dead source or how to fall back to another one.

Installing an APK from tvapk and getting one app running

The README does not give installation steps for the repository as a whole. It links out to two sibling repositories by the same author, one for Android film and television apps and one for iOS, and it points to external official download pages for a few entries such as LocalSend and BBLL. Everything else is an APK file you obtain from the repository and install yourself, which on Android TV means sideloading.

The repository is public, so the files can be fetched directly from GitHub. The README gives no clone command, and nothing in the tree documents a build step; the APK files are already committed at the root, so what you need is the file itself rather than a compile.

For a TVBox client, the README supplies the configuration address to paste into the app's settings. This is the address it gives for 新TVBox:

https://freed.yuanhsing.cf/TVBox/meowcf.json

After the app reads that address and you return to the home page, the README says the home page becomes the video interface instead of an empty grid. For 影视仓 v6.0.2 the README supplies a separate block of interface addresses to choose from, including:

http://rihou.cc:55
https://api.hgyx.vip/hgyx.json

Those are the same source URLs the README annotates with names in Chinese. Nothing in the README explains how to install the APK onto a specific device, and it does not mention ADB, USB transfer or any particular installer app, so the transfer method is left entirely to the reader.

What you give up: no signatures, no provenance, no rollback

The repository distributes binaries with no accompanying build instructions, no source for most entries, and no checksums. You cannot verify that a given APK matches anything except its own file name. Several entries advertise unlocked or modified state in the README itself, such as 小鸡模拟器 已解锁全部功能, 绘本故事TV 登录既是会员, and 中学步课堂TV会员版. Whatever those builds do to reach that state happened before the file was committed, and the repository does not document how. That is the central trade-off of using a collection like this: you get convenience, and you give up any chain of custody.

Availability is the second failure mode. The README asks readers to file an issue when an APK stops working, which means the author expects breakage as normal rather than exceptional. Source URLs in the TVBox and live-source sections are hosted on domains that are not under the repository's control, and a single domain change breaks every client configured against it. There is no rollback path documented: if a build you install misbehaves, the README does not tell you how to return to a previous version, and for most entries no previous version is in the tree. The repository is also the wrong tool if you need a supported product. Nobody is on call for these APKs, and the last push to the repository was on 2026-08-12, so the collection is not continuously refreshed.

Alternatives, and where the approach actually differs

The closest alternative in the same territory is TVBox itself, the open source Android TV client that several of the catalogue entries are built on or configured through. The difference is one of role. TVBox is the player; tvapk is where you find the player plus dozens of unrelated apps and the source lists that feed them. If you only want one working client with a source you control, going to TVBox directly and supplying your own configuration URL skips the middleman and the unverified binaries. What you lose is the breadth: tvapk also carries karaoke apps, children's learning apps, an ebook reader, a file-transfer tool and games, none of which TVBox provides.

For the file-transfer entry specifically, the README points at LocalSend and links to its official download page, which is a different model entirely: an upstream project distributing its own signed builds. That is the pattern to prefer when it exists. For live television, the M3U playlists in the README, such as https://iptv-org.github.io/iptv/index.m3u, can be loaded into any IPTV client you already trust, which separates the source list from the APK and lets you swap one without touching the other. tvapk's value is that it puts all of this in one place; its cost is that the place is a git repository with no verification layer.

Licence, maintenance and the cost of keeping up

The repository is licensed Apache-2.0. That licence covers the repository's own contents, and it says nothing about the APK files bundled inside it, which are third-party binaries with their own terms that the repository does not restate. Treating the Apache-2.0 file as permission to redistribute or modify the apps themselves would be reading it for more than it says. This is not legal advice, and anyone redistributing these files commercially should look at the terms of each upstream app rather than the repository licence.

Maintenance cost is real but one-directional. The repository was last pushed on 2026-08-12 and is not archived. There are no releases, so there is no versioned download to pin against; the master branch is the only channel. Keeping a device working means re-checking source URLs when a client goes blank, and re-downloading an APK when the README notes a new version. The README does not describe a deprecation policy for old entries, and two versions of the same app can sit in the tree at once, as 爱唱KTV does. Upgrading is therefore a manual decision each time, made from file names rather than release notes.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt tvapk only if you already know how to sideload an APK onto Android TV and you accept that the repository is a hand-maintained list rather than a maintained product. Anyone who needs a supported app with an update channel, or who cannot verify the provenance of a third-party APK, should not use it. Before installing anything, check the file name against the README entry, confirm the APK is still present at the top level of the repository, and open an issue if the README lists a build that is no longer there.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Archmage83/tvapk on GitHub
2. Issues
3. License: Apache-2.0
4. README