VPN Russia now runs on TVs and streaming boxes with Android TV and Google TV. It is the same app from Google Play as on your phone, but on a TV it opens in a separate remote-friendly version: large cards, arrow-key focus and no tiny layouts.
Until now, watching Russian services on a big screen from abroad meant setting up a VPN on your router. Now it is enough to install the app on the box itself.
Why a VPN on your TV
Most Russian video is watched on a TV: Kinopoisk, ivi, Okko, Rutube. Abroad, their apps see a foreign IP address and either limit the catalogue or refuse to play films at all. What you need is a server inside Russia that gives you a Russian IP — and that is exactly the kind of server behind VPN Russia.
On Android TV the connection covers the whole box, not a single app. Turn the VPN on from the home screen, and traffic from every app on the TV goes through the Russian server. There is no need to set up Kinopoisk or ivi separately.
We have covered individual services in our guides to Kinopoisk abroad, ivi and Rutube.
What the TV version can do
- Remote control. Four tabs — Home, Premium, Settings and Support. Everything works with the arrow keys and the OK button.
- The same servers in Russia as in the mobile app. The list opens as a grid of cards; the selected server is marked with a check and remembered between launches.
- Connection type. If the connection is unstable, you can switch the transport in Settings: TCP, WS or XTLS-Reality.
- Alternative API address — in case the server list does not load.
- Support via QR code. The Support tab shows a code with your user ID: take a photo of it with your phone and email it to us along with your question. No need to type a long ID with the remote.
- Three languages — Russian, English and Spanish.
How to install and connect
1. Install the app from Google Play
On your TV, open Google Play and search for "VPN Russia" or "ВПН Россия". It is the same Google Play listing as for phones: the store installs the remote-friendly version on your TV by itself.
2. Subscribe or restore your subscription
On a TV only subscription servers are available — there are no free servers here, unlike the mobile version.
If you already subscribed on an Android phone or tablet, open the Premium tab and select Restore purchases. The key is to use the same Google account on the TV as on the phone. If you do not have a subscription yet, the same tab offers plans from one week to one year, paid through Google Play right on the TV.
3. Allow the VPN and connect
On the Home tab, press the big connect button. The first time, Android TV shows a system request to set up a VPN connection — confirm it with OK. It only appears once. When the status changes to Connected, open Kinopoisk or any other app.
Subscriptions: what carries over between devices
A subscription is tied to the store where you bought it:
- Google Play. One subscription works on an Android phone, tablet and TV, as long as they use the same Google account. On a new device, just select Restore purchases.
- App Store. An App Store subscription only works on Apple devices — iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV — and does not carry over to Android TV. This is a limitation of the stores themselves, not of the app.
If your TV runs Android and your phone is an iPhone, the simplest option is to subscribe right on the TV through Google Play.
Which TVs it works on
The app works on TVs and streaming boxes with Android TV and Google TV that have Google Play — for example, Xiaomi Mi Box or Chromecast with Google TV. Android 7.0 or newer is required.
Samsung and LG TVs run their own systems — Tizen and webOS — and there is no app for them. You can connect a separate streaming box to such a TV: an Android TV box, or an Apple TV — we have an app for that too.
Links to every version — for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Apple TV and Android TV — are on the download page. If something does not work, email us at support@onlyapps.org, ideally with a photo of the QR code from the Support tab.