How to Add Apps to Home Screen on Samsung TV

Adding apps to your TV's home screen can improve your user experience and make navigation easier.

With Samsung TVs, managing apps is simple, so you shouldn't have any problems, even if you've never done it before.

Note that the home screen is like a central dashboard for your apps. You access it by navigating to the TV icon in the context menu when you turn on the TV. Moving left and right in the ribbon menu on the home screen navigates through apps.

This article will walk you through how to add apps to the home screen and include helpful tips on installing and managing apps.

How to Add Apps to Home Screen on Samsung Smart TV

Adding apps to the home screen only takes a few steps. The following tutorial assumes you have already installed the apps and applies to all Samsung Smart TVs.

1. Press the home button on the remote to access the smart hub.
   
2. Navigate left using the small arrows and select the Applications menu.
   
3. Go to the top of the screen and select Settings (the little gear icon).
   
4. Move to the ribbon menu and highlight an app you want to add.
   
5. Select Add to Home from the drop-down menu.
   
6. The app is automatically added to the home ribbon menu. Use the navigation arrows to move it forward or back.

Notes: If an app is already on your home screen, you won't see Add to Home. But you can still move the app.

How do I move apps to the home screen?

All home screen apps can be moved in just three steps.

1. Go to the home screen ribbon menu and highlight the app.
2. Press the down arrow on the remote and choose Move from the drop-down menu.
3. Use the navigation arrows to position the application.

Installing Apps on a Samsung Smart TV

Here's how to install apps from the Samsung App Store.

1. Go to the home screen and navigate left to select the Applications menu.
   
2. Go to the top right of the screen and choose Search (small magnifying glass icon).
   
3. In the search bar, type the name of the application and select it.
4. Choose download from the app menu, then select Install.
   

Keep in mind that some apps may require you to log in or register.

Notes: If the app is not available on the Samsung App Store, you will not be able to install it.

Bonus Tip: Using the remote control can be tricky. To make things easier, consider a Samsung-compatible third-party Smart TV keyboard and touchpad. Some are the same size and design as your remote but with a full QWERTY keyboard.

Lock apps

Some apps may need an extra layer of protection, which is why Samsung has made it easy to lock them down.

1. Navigate left from the home screen and choose Apps.
   
2. Go to the top of the screen, select Settings and highlight the app you want to lock.
   
3. Choose Lock/Unlock from the drop-down menu.
   

Quick tutorial

0000 is the default PIN for Samsung TVs that you can use to lock or unlock apps. But if you want to change it, here's what to do.

1. Go to Settings, choose General and go to System Manager.
2. Choose Change PIN and enter the old PIN to initiate the change.
3. Type in a new PIN, confirm it, and you're done.

The new PIN will apply to all locked apps on your TV.

How to delete apps?

You can remove apps from the home screen or remove them completely.

Homepage

1. In the home screen ribbon menu, highlight the app.
   
2. Tap the down arrow for more options and choose Delete.
   
3. Select delete again to confirm, and that's it.
   

This only removes the app from the Home screen, so you can still access it from the Applications menu.

Suppression

1. Press the Home button on the remote and navigate left to access Apps.
   
2. Choose Settings at the top right of the screen and highlight the app you want to remove.
   
3. Select Delete from the drop-down menu and confirm your selection.
   

Notes: Some apps cannot be removed from the apps menu. However, you can keep these apps away from the home screen.

How to reinstall an application?

This is done via the App menu – see the necessary steps below.

1. Access the app menu by navigating left from the home screen.
2. Choose Settings at the top right of the screen and select an app to reinstall.
3. Click on the Reinstall option from the drop-down menu and wait for it to complete.

What if an app isn't working?

There are four options for getting an app working again.

Option 1 – Cold start

• Press and hold the power button on the remote until your Smart TV turns off and restarts.
• Alternative: Unplug the TV from the wall, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in.

Option 2 – Software Update

1. Select Settings from the TV's main menu, then choose Support.
2. Go to Software Update and select Update Now.

Advice: When prompted to install a new version, it's best to do so immediately. Postponing software updates can cause delays and bugs in apps.

Option 3 – Remove and Reinstall

Deleting and reinstalling an app clears up some of the bugs. This is previously described above.

Option 4 – Smart Hub Reset

1. Go to Settings in the main TV menu and choose Support.
   
2. From the Support menu, select Self-diagnosis or Device maintenance.
   
3. Choose Reset Smart Hub and enter your PIN to start the process.
   

IMPORTANT Notes: After the reset, you might need to reinstall the rogue app. If there are still issues, you may need to contact the developer.

Your own home screen

Managing apps in the Samsung Smart TV menu is a breeze. All navigation is done via the remote, so it's not like you have to take too many steps.

This article has provided you with plenty of options to streamline the TV app selection.

But have you encountered any problems with the apps? Is there anything you would like to have on the TV menu?

Share your thoughts with the rest of the Alphar community in the comments below.