It appears that LG Smart TVs are quite common in having issues connecting to Google Home, it’s worth noting that not all LG Smart TVs on the market support Google Assistant & Google Home.
Your LG Smart TV will only allow Google Home & Google assistanct integration if you’re using a Super UHD LCD TV or if the TV is running at least “WebOS 4.0”. Some of the models that this includes are the: B8, B8s, C8, E8, W8, LK64, LK54, SK80, SK90, SK95, UK62, UK63, UK65 & UK 77.
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How do I find out my WebOS / Operating System?
Follow these steps to find your LG Smart TVs operating System:
- Hold the Settings button on your LG TV remote (Gear Icon)
- This should prompt you with TV information with the operating system.
- Alternatively, you can go to Home > Settings > Advanced > General > About This TV and it will be under the TV Information.
Can I update my OS on my LG TV?
Yes and No, this depends on the model of your TV, whilst you can follow these steps to update your firmware & software.
You can also enable Automatic Updates which will prompt you for updates as they come out, this can be done by following these steps:
- Press the Home/Smart Button on the remote
- Select Settings (Top right)
- Choose all settings at the bottom
- Select General on the left hand side
- At the bottom of this list you will find “About this TV”.
- There will be a checkbox for “Allow automatic updates”, make sure this is checked.
How to connect my LG Smart TV to Google Home / Google Assistant
- Prepare Google Home – You will need to make sure Google Home is set-up prior to adding this to your LG Smart TV, if this hasn’t been done please read our beginners guide for Smart Home users
- Register your TV – On your LG Remote, press the Home Button and select “Set Up TV for Google Assistant”, this will be a specific App which requires you to fill in a form for registration.
You will either need to use a Google or Facebook account for signing in and authorising this, you can create an LG specific account from TV > Settings > General > Account Management.
Alternatively if you go onto the Google Playstore (From an Android device) you can download LG ThinQ and create an account there. - Link your TV to Google Home – Open the Google Home App on your Smart Phone, Select Menu and then search for “Home Control”, this should take you straight to the Google Assistant App.
From here, select the “+” to add a device to your network and then select LG ThinQ. You will now need to log in with your LG account.
From this point onwards, you can simply ask Google Home to control your TV, no remote necessary!
My LG TV is not connecting to WiFi
Sadly, there’s no magic fix for something like this as it does appear to be a bug on the devices which is fairly common, Thanks to MeMe on YouTube, a video guide shows the follow fix:
- Open your main menu
- Go to settings
- Go to General
- Go to Locations
- Select “LG Service Country”
- Change this from Set Automatically to another country (Not yours)
- You will then need to agree, which will restart your TV
- You can now go back to Network and this should be connected. If so, change your LG Service Country back to “Set Automatically”.
If this did not work, I highly suggest resetting your router by unplugging it for 10 minutes, this will cycle all IP addresses on your network and allow the network to reissue all localised IP addresses to devices on the network.
Alternatively, try turning off the Simplink feature, this can be done via the following:
- Press Settings on your remove
- All Settings
- General
- Simplink (HDMI-CEC) set to Off
- Restart your TV
Common Questions and Answers
How do I Download Sky Go on my LG Smart TV
As of writing this, there is no native SkyGo app in the UK or US which works on most Smart TVs (Apparently there is in Germany), you will need to use an external platform such as a game console (Ps4 or Xbox One).
As such, sky go on lg smart tv is not possible without a little bit of hackery and even then it’s not great quality and has constant issues.
How do I Get Freeview Play on my LG Smart TV
Typically speaking, Freeview Play is available on a lot of Smart TVs, however, not every model of LG TV will have this by default. You can check the list of Freeview Play models here.
If you’re still not able to get the Freeview Play app, you will need to purchase an official Freeview Play Device which can be found here.
Does my LG TV have Freeview play?
Most LG Smart TV models from 2016 onwards will include the Freeview Play app, however, if you’re not sure which models do you can check on the official Freeview Play guide here.
How do I Install Google Play store on My Smart TV
This is purely on the premise that your Smart TV uses Android, if not you will not be able to “soft-hack” and load APKs onto your Smart TV which means no native Google Play.
Some LG Smart TVs do offer Google Play, however, if you’re on WebOS this will not be natively possible.
However, you can use a device like the Amazon Firestick to boot Google Play via an external HDMI port.
How do I Install 3rd party apps on my LG TV
Your LG TV will have a restriction on the amount of on-board storage for downloading and installing apps, so whilst this is possible on Android based (Not WebOS) based TVs, this isn’t advised.
The best route to go is using a third party Android tool like the Amazon Firestick or a Kodi box.
Can I cast / screen share to my LG TV?
Yes, this is entirely possible which is great for those of us who have home offices or simply watch to broadcast a game from our PC to our TV.
- Press the Menu button on your TV
- Select Screen Sharing
- This will put you on a holding screen, from here you will need to go to your device you wish to share from (Phone, Tablet or PC)
- If you’re on an Android, go to the Google Play store / Samsung Play store and download the app “LG Screen Share”.
- Make sure your phone is on the same network as your TV (Wi-Fi for example).
- Open the app and it will automatically scan and connect to your TV
If you have an LG Phone, this is a native feature which doesn’t require an app, simply do the following:
- Make sure your phone is connected to the same network
- Open Settings on your phone, select Share & Connect
- Select Screen Share and choose either Share Screen or Mirror Screen
