DIRECTV on a PC. There was a time that’s what we aspired to. In fact, there was an app called DIRECTV2PC that ran back in the 2000s and was finally retired about 2014. It was exactly what it said – a facsimile of the DIRECTV playlist, on a PC. The world sort of moved on from there, and starting in 2008 DIRECTV’s app for phones took on a bit of the mantle from DIRECTV2PC. It eventually gained the ability to stream, and it’s one of the best apps for that sort of thing now. You can also stream from DIRECTV.com, but there really isn’t a true DIRECTV app for PCs or Chromebooks right now.
Except there kinda is.
Both PCs and Chromebooks will run Android apps. PCs need to be running Windows 11 and be capable of virtualization, which eliminates most low-to-midrange PCs. Chromebooks on the other hand will run Android apps pretty handlily. So yes, you can use the DIRECTV app on a Chromebook. Just choose the app from the Google Play store and load it. The only limitation is that your Chromebook has to be on something like Chrome 92 or higher. If you have a Chromebook that’s currently receiving updates, that’s not a problem.
But should you?
I tried to run the DIRECTV app on a PC and on a Chromebook. I’m not really ready to talk about the PC experience because I couldn’t get the Android subsystem to load. So for me it was a total non-starter. I’m kind of curious if anyone else out there has done this, though.
As for the Chromebook, I was able to load the app and it did run in both tablet and phone mode. Which is to say, it started up, it presented a menu, that sort of thing.
All that said, it was a very, very poor experience on my low-end Chromebook. If you have this app on your phone or tablet you know that it’s silky smooth and responsive. On a Chromebook it’s laggy and slow, and it takes forever to do anything. Video playback is jerky for the first minute, but does seem to settle down after that. To be fair, I have the same experience with other video playback apps on this device. Apparently you have to spend more than $110 to get a full-featured video playback device. Who knew?
Will we see any improvements in the future?
I’m sure that on a higher-end PC or Chromebook, you can run the DIRECTV app just as nicely as you can on any phone, tablet, or streaming box. It’s likely that in a few years, even the cheaper ones will do a good job with this app. Right now it’s hard to recommend doing it this way; you’re probably better off getting an iPad if you want to do a lot of video. They’re not terribly expensive for the smaller ones anyway.
In the meantime you can get a better experience by just going to DIRECTV.com on your PC or Chromebook. You can still get a lot of channels of live TV and tens of thousands of on-demand programs. It’s the better option right now.
Get the DIRECTV accessories you need from Solid Signal
Solid Signal doesn’t sell Chromebooks, but we do sell all the accessories you need to make your DIRECTV experience exactly what you want. We offer the exact same parts that DIRECTV’s own technicians use, genuine original equipment. And it’s all at great prices. Shop at Solid Signal now for the best in DIRECTV products! If you need help or advice, call us! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you, usually within one business day.
