TizenEase — Deploying Samsung TV Apps the Easy Way

Let’s be real: TV apps aren’t that popular with front-end developers.

They spend most of their time working on web platforms, primarily with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with trending frameworks and libraries such as React, Vue, Next.js, and Svelte. However, there is a small percentage of developers who work on TV apps using web technologies (myself included).

Android and IOS developers use native technologies to develop applications for various Android and Apple TVs. And what about Samsung, LG, Hisense, Philips, and others?

Every major TV brand runs its own operating system. Philips, for example, operates on multiple systems, such as Android TV or Saphi OS, which support different development approaches depending on the platform. One such approach is leveraging web skills to build TV apps, an approach that is unbeknownst to many web developers and one that I have been using over the past few years.

I have been focusing on Samsung TV apps, and Tizen, its operating system. Although it’s a great system to work with, it has its downsides and a particular pain point that my colleague and I managed to resolve.

If you’ve worked with Tizen then you’re familiar with Tizen Studio. If not, I’ll help you understand its essence and uses.

Tizen is an open-source operating system developed by Samsung for smart TVs, smartwatches, and certain smartphones. Its speed and light weight nature make it ideal for smart devices, and we can apply our web skills to leverage the system.

On the other hand, Tizen Studio is Samsung’s official development environment (IDE) for building, testing, and running Tizen apps. It includes its own emulator, toolchain, sample code, and documentation. You can download and run it on Windows, Ubuntu, and macOS.

When I used Tizen Studio for the first time, I encountered some issues. Downloading and installing this software on my Mac proved to be a challenge since I had to perform some unconventional workarounds to get it working.

As mentioned earlier, the software has its downsides. It consumes a lot of memory, it’s slow, and doesn’t work as expected. Sometimes, when you attempt to deploy your app on a device, it crashes, which can be quite frustrating.

The first time I deployed my app on a Samsung device was an exhilarating experience. I installed and launched the app via Tizen Studio, and I was amazed that it worked!

However, after using the software for some time, I frequently experienced multiple app crashes and a slow deployment process. Each new crash meant starting the process all over again. I tried several times to achieve one successful deployment — a process that tested my nerves, to say the least.

After a while, I discovered that I could use Tizen Studio’s CLI and commands to connect my laptop to the TV, package the app, and deploy it directly to the device. To my amazement, with just a few commands in the terminal, my app was up and running on the device.

This approach had been ongoing for a year and was integrated into our development process. Unfortunately, we faced a new issue: a couple of team members who weren’t developers, wanted to regularly check and test the app we were building.

The logical solution was thorough documentation, but our colleagues were too busy to go through the steps while remembering the commands to start the app. To simplify things, my colleague and I decided to create a desktop app that utilizes those commands. With a user-friendly and intuitive interface, it would enable users to deploy any app on any Tizen device with just a few clicks, no Tizen Studio required.

By creating this app, we aimed to assist our less technical team members in testing the app effortlessly, save the QA Team valuable time when deploying apps, and focus on important goals.

In other words, we made it possible to deploy Samsung TV apps with ease. Hence, the name — TizenEase.

Just to be clear: if you are a developer who is serious about building a TV application from scratch, Tizen Studio is essential for the process because you need to build, sign and then deploy the app on your device. However, for deployment, it simply is not the best option.

What is TizenEase?

It’s a robust desktop application designed as an alternative to Tizen Studio, offering a comprehensive feature set for deployment. TizenEase includes:

• Significantly Improved Performance
• User-Friendly Interface
• Lightweight Design
• A Faster and Simpler Deployment Process

Why did we develop this app?

We developed this app to:

• Help Our Not-So-Tech-Savvy Colleagues
• Simplify Daily Tasks
• Assist the QA Team
• Ease the App Deployment Process

What problems does the app address?

• Simple UI/UX: A straightforward and intuitive approach to design so anyone can use it.
• Memory Space: it takes up less memory space compared to Tizen Studio
• Usage: Simple installation and deployment.
• Documentation: All the instructions you’ll need are neatly organized in one place.

Features

• Validating IP Address (IPv4, IPv6)
• Selecting or dragging and dropping packages
• Scanning for Tizen devices on your WiFi network
• Installing the app on TVs
• Installing and running the app
• Debugging your app
• Real-time command execution feedback

If you’re a company building Samsung TV apps, or a developer struggling with Tizen Studio for deployment, then TizenEase is the app for you.

Check out and download the app here.