Description: Artkick is an Android app that’s designed to work with your Smart TV or Chromecast to give your big TV one more use case; display fine works of art. Basically, Artkick is like Spotify for works of art and the idea is that your TV is the biggest and often best display in your house, so why not use it for more than just boring reality TV? Artkick can connect to a whole host of Smart TVs from the likes of Sharp, Sony and Samsung. Alternatively, you can use Artkick with the excellent Chromecast, Fire TV or Roku box. So, let’s take a closer look at just what Artkick is and whether or not it’s for you.
How it Works: First of all, you’ll need to make sure you have a Smart TV that’s supported which you can do so here. If you have a Fire TV or Chromecast then you’re ready to go. Just go ahead and download Artkick from the Play Store and you’re all set.
You can either look at art without signing up, or just go ahead and log in. I did so with my Google account to keep things nice and simple, but you can create a new account or sign in using Facebook.
Once you’ve signed in, you can go ahead and take a look at the different categories on offer. Of which there are many, with over 250,000 images for you to choose from.
I’m a big photography fan, so I’m going to take a look at what’s on offer in the Photography section. The selection was pretty varied which is nice and I soon found something I was after.
I’ve been on a car design kick lately, and I’ve always wanted to have a car photo hung on my wall. Instead, I have a Full HD 50-inch TV and thanks to Artkick I can upload this sweet muscle car to my TV and make the most of it.
Connecting a TV is nice and simple and if you need help, you can take a look at Artkick’s guide here, using the Chromecast that I have plugged in was super-easy of course.
Opinion: Artkick is a really great idea, these days we all have three or four screens to our name; a smartphone, a tablet, maybe a laptop or PC and a TV. So, why not make better use of that TV? With Artkick, you can use a second TV in another room to display different pieces of art on a cycle or choose your favorite and leave that displaying or, if you’re entertaining guests, use Artkick with your living room TV to add a little class to your dinner parties. There are a whole host of things you can do with Artkick and perhaps the best thing about it is that it’s so easy. Sure, the 250,000 images on tap help, but it’s great that you can just hit a few buttons and bring a room alive with some great quality artwork.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – I had no issues waiting for Artkick to load, and everything appeared nice and quickly.
- Features (4/5) – With 250,000 images on hand, there’s more than enough variety with Artkick to keep you entertained and it all works with very little effort at all.
- Theme (5/5) – The selection of artwork here is excellent and there’s so much of that there’s definitely going to be a little something for everyone here.
- Overall (4/5) – A simple and easy to use application that gives the best display in your house one more use, Artkick is an excellent app that will liven up your living space and make good use of your TVs around the house.
Pros
- Works with Smart TVs as well as Chromecasts, making it easy for pretty much anyone to get access to Artkick.
- With over 250,000 different pieces of artwork available there’s more than enough for everyone with Artkick.
- Chromecast owners can bring a little more class to their TVs with very little hassle.
- Nice and easy to get to grips with thanks to an easy-to-use user interface that everyone will be able to use.
Cons
- Smart TV set up is a little more difficult than using a Chromecast dongle.
- Obviously not something for those that aren’t keen on art or something like that.
Conclusion: Artkick is a fun app that does what it says on the tin and with 250,000 pieces of artwork available for people to help liven up their living rooms or spare rooms with. There’s such a wide variety of work here that there’s no way people won’t find something they want to look at. Thanks to the high-quality artwork available here as well, it all looks excellent on TVs, turning your home into a pop-up art gallery.