Can I display a calendar on my smart TV?

Yes, if the TV has a web browser — Samsung's Tizen sets and LG's webOS sets both do. Open the browser, type the address of a calendar page, and it fills the screen. There is no app to install.

Is there a calendar app for Samsung or LG TVs?

Not a good one. Both app stores are built around streaming, and the calendar apps that exist are thin. The browser is the better route, because any web-based family calendar works in it and nothing needs installing.

Will my TV keep showing the calendar?

Not indefinitely. Most sets switch to a screensaver after about 30 minutes without input, and OLED sets do it whether you like it or not because a still image risks burning in. A TV is fine for glancing at the day; it is the wrong device for an always-on panel.

How do I type a web address with a TV remote?

Slowly. Do it once, bookmark the page, and never type it again. A Bluetooth keyboard paired to the TV, or the TV maker's phone app with its on-screen keyboard, makes the one time much less painful.

What should I use instead for an always-on calendar?

A cheap tablet or a Raspberry Pi. Both are designed to sit there showing one thing, both cost far less than a television, and both go in the kitchen, where a family calendar is actually useful.

Put a Family Calendar on Your Smart TV (Samsung, LG and the rest)

Yes, if your TV has a web browser — and Samsung's Tizen sets and LG's webOS sets both do. Open the browser, type the address, and the board fills the screen. No app, no account, no casting.

But be told the limit up front: a television is built to stop showing a still picture. That makes it a fine screen to glance at and a poor always-on panel. The honest version of both halves is below.

What you need

DinkyDash is a web page, not an app you install. So there are two parts:

Something to serve it. A Raspberry Pi or an old computer on your Wi-Fi — free, MIT licensed, and about an evening's work. Or the hosted version, which is in build.
The TV, which is the screen. It opens that address in the browser it already has.

On a 16:9 screen the board splits into two columns by itself, and sizes its own type to the display. Nothing needs configuring for a particular television.

Set it up

1. Find the browser. On Samsung, it is Internet, in the apps row on the home bar. On LG, it is Web Browser, in the launcher. On an Android TV or Google TV box there is usually no browser preinstalled — install Chrome, or use a Fire TV stick instead.

2. Type the address, once. On your own network it looks like http://192.168.1.50:5000. Typing that with a remote is the worst part of this whole page. Two ways to make it survivable:

Pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the TV for the one minute it takes.
Use the TV maker's phone app — SmartThings for Samsung, the LG ThinQ remote — which gives you a phone keyboard instead of an on-screen grid.

3. Bookmark it. Then you never type it again. Both browsers open on their bookmarks, so the board is two clicks from the home screen for good.

The honest limit

Most TVs switch to a screensaver after about 30 minutes without a button press. That is not a bug you can configure away on every set:

Samsung and LG LCD sets usually let you turn the screensaver off, or lengthen it, under the general or power settings. Look for Screen saver, Auto power off or Energy saving.
OLED sets do it deliberately, and on many of them the option is missing entirely. An OLED panel can retain a static image permanently, so the manufacturer moves or dims the picture on purpose. That is the panel protecting itself, and you should let it.

There is a second, plainer problem: a television is in the living room. A family calendar earns its keep in the kitchen or the hall, where people pass it on the way out of the door.

So the fair summary is: a smart TV is a good way to put the day on the big screen for a minute, and the wrong device to leave it on all day. If what you want is an always-on panel, an old tablet or a Raspberry Pi does that job properly and costs a fraction of a television.

What ends up on the screen

Today's events, merged from every calendar you add: Google, iCloud, Outlook and Cozi each publish a link, and each has its own page here with the steps.
A chore chart that rotates, moving on one person a day by itself.
Countdowns to birthdays, Christmas and the school holidays.
A daily line written each morning by Claude, around your family's actual day.

The board reloads itself every five minutes with a plain HTML refresh rather than JavaScript, which matters here more than anywhere: TV browsers are the oldest browsers in the house, and this one keeps working in them.

What it costs

Nothing beyond the television you already own. DinkyDash is free and MIT licensed with no subscription for the self-hosted version, and the only running cost is the daily line — a Claude API call once a day, roughly $0.13 a month, and the board works without it.

Other screens

Fire TV — if your TV has no browser, a Fire Stick gives it one
iPad — the best cheap always-on panel
Android tablet — the same, cheaper second-hand
Raspberry Pi — the tidiest permanent panel, about $100
Echo Show — the one that does not work, and why

Start here

The setup guide covers the other half: getting DinkyDash running, adding your calendars, and pointing a screen at it. The code is on GitHub under an MIT licence.

Rather skip the setup? A hosted version is in build at $39/year — join the waitlist.

Last updated 2026-09-08.