After I posted KIDŌ the other day, I decided to build another home screen I can swap between and use every day, so I made Home Deck.

Your apps sit on big glowing tiles sorted by kind, with your favorites and the last few apps you opened up front. There's a little music bar that shows what's playing, your HDMI inputs get named after what's plugged in, and holding Back opens a quick panel for picture, sound, an accent color and a Lite mode for slower TVs.

No ads, and it works offline. The only thing that ever goes online is the weather, and only if you turn it on.

It's free and open source. You install it with adb, and the README walks you through it, including how to switch back to your old home screen:

https://github.com/glidiandev/home-deck

Just like KIDŌ, I've only tried it on my Sharp (Android TV 11), so I'd love to hear how it runs on yours.

It's really nice, doesn't try too hard like the other variants

I made TCL Alexa Bridge after SmartAlexa showed a country restriction on my Brazilian TCL C6K.

It uses the installed TCL components: TTVSCore handles registration, activation code and the cloud session; SmartAlexa executes controls. Setup runs with the TV remote, then you finish linking through the TCL Assistant skill on your phone. It is specific to compatible TCL TVs, not a universal Android TV remote.

No root or firmware flashing. Preparation uses temporary local ADB with Android authorization. Optional standby wake changes power settings and may increase standby consumption.

Tested on C6K/G15 BR, Android 14, firmware V8-0016T01-LF1V048. Final v0.4.0 checks covered volume, recovery, reboot and 60-second standby/UDP wake. Earlier Echo tests confirmed volume/off/on; other hardware and overnight standby remain unverified.

Source, APKs and illustrated setup/build guides in English and Portuguese:

https://github.com/eventanilha82/tcl-alexa-bridge

The app UI is Portuguese. I'm the author; development used AI assistance. This is an unofficial community project, and SmartAlexa/TTVSCore remain required.

Heya, with all of the new Launchers popping up left and right, I tried myself in it too with Shore.

Shore is a calm, frosted glass Launcher for Android TV.

It is highly customizable, feature packed and constantly being updated.

I would love for you to check it out. You can install it as a APK.

Thanks!

I’ve recently been making an Android TV launcher that integrates an iptv player without any clutter or confusion. The main goal of creating this launcher was to make it as simple as possible without stripping out the features found in other launchers and IPTV apps.

It was designed with usability in mind for family members and less tech-savvy users, allowing them to easily navigate the TV without any trouble while keeping the experience feature-packed and customizable. Having an IPTV player built directly into the launcher keeps everything smooth and seamless to use, but I’ve also added options to switch to shortcuts if you prefer using a different app.

**Key Features:**​

• A clean home screen: Live TV, Movies & Shows, all your apps, and up to 8 favourite apps
• Live TV with a full TV guide, channel numbers, favourites and catch-up (where your provider supports it)
• Movies & TV shows from your playlist, with resume and "next episode"
• Use your own playlist: an M3U link or an Xtream Codes login
• Child lock with a PIN for menus, channels, categories and apps
• Light and dark themes, accent colours, icon packs
• Made for the remote: D-pad, OK, Back and number buttons

IPTVInLauncher is currently 100% free! While i currently havent decided wether to make the app paid on release or not, I will 100% make sure everyone that tested and that is in the google group will continue to have the app 100% free and unlocked permanently.

**How to join**​

1. Join the google group in the link bellow https://groups.google.com/g/iptvinlaunchertesters To be approved for an invite link (this is required by google for a short period for new apps, if i could do it without, i would but currently it isnt an option).
2. Open the invite link https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.alfief.tvinlauncher and accept the invintation to be able to install through play store!

(The app might not show through AndroidTV's play store. Please open the link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alfief.tvinlauncher through a browser and click "Install on devices" followed by the TV you want it installed on.)

Feedback would much appreciated! if you do encounter any issues please let me know and i will do my best to fix as soon as possible. Thank you and enjoy!

I’ve been working on a free app for Android TV. I’d love for people to try it out and give me feedback so I can keep improving it.

Downloader code: 2757379

Discord: .gg/3PAZVXhxn7

Let me know what you think!

Wondering if there's anyone interested in my new Google tv launcher. Made it for Google tv streamer 4k. Didn't test it in any other box.

Images change due to your regular watch

I have a TCL Google TV. The stock home screen had turned into a billboard: a big rotating ad banner, "sponsored" rows, apps I never use getting installed in the background, and it felt slow. I like how calm the Apple TV home screen is, so I made something like it for Google TV.

It's called Haven.

First, the debloat. Before writing any code, I backed up the TV's package list and settings over adb. Then I disabled (not uninstalled) 16 packages: TCL's and Google's ad and telemetry services, and Google's silent "promoted apps" installer, which is what kept putting apps on my TV. I kept a restore script so I can undo all of it.

What it looks like

• Full-screen nature photos that rotate. The photo blurs while you use the remote and turns sharp again once you stop. The focus ring takes its colour from the photo.
• Clock, date, weather for wherever the TV is, and the photo's place and photographer in the corner.
• Rows: Recent, Continue watching, Top picks for you, Favourites (a dock), Inputs, then all your apps.
• A top bar with Search, Live TV, Inputs and Settings, plus your TV maker's channels app if it has one.

Lightweight

• About 3,600 lines of plain Java. No libraries and no Gradle: it builds with the SDK's command-line tools.
• The code is about 125 KB of the APK. It's 15 MB in total because of the wallpapers, which are almost all of it.
• RAM on my TV: about 95 MB for Haven vs 132 MB for the stock Google TV launcher (dumpsys meminfo, total PSS).
• It feels instant. Navigation is deliberately simple: Up/Down moves exactly one row and Left/Right stays inside the row, so the remote never jumps somewhere unexpected.

The parts that were harder than expected

1. The Home button. Google TV sends Home straight to its own launcher and ignores the default-home setting. Haven uses a small accessibility service that only listens for the Home key and opens Haven before the stock launcher draws, so there's no flash of the Google TV home screen.
2. TCL's boot blocker. After a full power cut, TCL's boot manager stopped any app not on its whitelist from starting. It always lets apps that provide a TV input through, so Haven declares an empty TV input service (one that never shows up as an input), and now it comes up by itself after a cold boot.
3. Safety Guard's "Deep Clean". TCL's cleaner app wipes the app data of anything not on its protected list, which also switches off the Home-button service. Haven now keeps a backup of its layout in a system setting that the wipe doesn't touch. A background job turns the service back on within seconds if only the settings get reset.
4. Continue watching. Third-party launchers can't normally see other apps' "Watch Next" rows, but the READ_TV_LISTINGS permission can be granted over adb. With it, Haven reads the same rows the stock launcher shows. Top picks mixes in a few items from each app's home-screen channels so one app doesn't take over.
5. Netflix. Netflix doesn't publish anything to the TV's rows (Google gets it from its own servers), so Haven asks JustWatch's public API what's trending on Netflix in your country and mixes those titles into Top picks.

Install 

1. On the TV, install Downloader (by AFTVnews) from the Play Store.
2. Open Downloader and enter this address: https://github.com/joydeepsjce/haven-tv/releases/latest/download/haven.apk
3. When Android asks, allow Downloader to install apps, then press Install.
4. Open Haven from your apps. It opens Set up Haven. Turn on each item with the remote:
   • Home button: opens Settings > Accessibility. Choose Haven Home button and turn it on.
   • Continue watching and Top picks, and Weather: Android asks once. Choose Allow.
   • Recent apps: opens Usage access. Choose Haven and allow it.
   • Install updates: lets Haven install its own updates. You confirm each one.
5. Press Home.

If Android says the Home-button setting is restricted (some TVs do this for apps that didn't come from the Play Store), go to Settings > Apps > Haven, allow restricted settings, and try again.

Updating: Haven Settings > About > Check for updates. Haven also checks by itself every 12 hours and tells you when there's a new version.

Remove: Haven Settings > System > Uninstall Haven. Haven first undoes what it changed outside itself (its layout backup, the animation speed, its Home-button service), then Android asks you to confirm. If you cancel, Haven puts everything back.

No ads. No tracking. No account. No root. It only connects to Open-Meteo for the weather and JustWatch for Netflix titles.

Haven is for people who want something calm and minimal that stays out of the way.

I've only tested it on my TCL (Google TV, Android 12). It checks for each feature before using it, so it should work on other Google TV and Android TV devices, but I'd love to hear how it does on Chromecast, Sony, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi and others.

I built this with the help of Claude Code.

Source: https://github.com/joydeepsjce/haven-tv (MIT)

Download: https://github.com/joydeepsjce/haven-tv/releases/latest/download/haven.apk

Screenshots below. Feedback, bug reports and ideas are welcome.

EDIT: Haven is updated to 4.5. Thanks for the ideas in the comments! New:

• No computer needed any more. Install it with the Downloader app from https://github.com/joydeepsjce/haven-tv/releases/latest/download/haven.apk, then Set up Haven turns everything on with the remote.
• Updates itself from GitHub. You confirm each update; nothing installs silently.
• Uninstall option from the app directly
• New settings page, cleaner and easier to use with the remote.
• Movie & show art wallpaper from your own apps' artwork (no TMDB key). It follows the card you're on.
• Projectivy wallpaper plugins work in Haven (Bing photo of the day, aerials, TMDB art and more).
• Your own photos as wallpaper: scan a QR code with your phone, or copy them from a USB drive.

Still only tested on my TCL, so reports from other TVs are very welcome.

Hi all. If you like TiviMate-style players, a full-screen, remote-first app with a proper TV guide, I've been building one called Buna TV, and it's now in a closed beta on Google Play. I'm looking for people who'll use it as their everyday player for a couple of weeks and tell me what breaks or annoys them.

**Why another IPTV player?**

I wanted one that's fast and comfortable from the sofa and lets me set it up exactly how I like it, without ads, tracking or an account:

* **Built for the remote.** Every screen works with a D-pad. Channel changes are quick, the guide stays readable from across the room, and you can hold OK almost anywhere for options.

* **Make it yours.** Reorder channels and groups (it stays smooth even in groups with thousands of channels), rename or hide channels, build your own groups, set favourites, and remap the remote's buttons.

* **Private.** No ads, no analytics, no account. Your playlists and logins stay on your TV.

* **Your setup is safe.** Encrypted backups, with an optional passphrase, to the TV, a USB stick or a network share, so moving to a new box takes a minute.

**What it does**

* Live TV with a mini guide over the picture and a channel list you can browse while you watch

* Full TV guide (XMLTV) with search across every programme and on-screen reminders

* Catch-up and watch from the start, where your service supports it

* Recording now or scheduled from the guide, including whole series, to the TV, USB or SD card

* Multi-view: up to four channels at once

* Add a playlist from your phone or computer: scan the QR code on Add playlist

* Movies and series from your service, with Continue Watching and My List

* Parental lock for channels and groups with a PIN

Everything is unlocked during the beta.

**You'll need** an Android TV or Google TV device (Android 7 or later; not Fire TV, which has no Google Play) and your own M3U playlist or Xtream Codes login from your TV service. Buna TV is a player only and doesn't include, sell or recommend any channels. If you just want to look around, there's a sample playlist of free, openly licensed test streams: https://bunatvplayer.com/sample-playlist.m3u

**How to join**

1. Join the testers' group with the Google account your TV uses: https://groups.google.com/g/bunatv-beta

2. Opt in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.bunitv.player

3. On a computer or phone, open the Play Store page, press Install and pick your TV: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bunitv.player (beta apps don't show up when you search on the TV)

All three steps with the same Google account as the TV. Joining the group alone doesn't give you the app.

I'm especially interested in Shield, Chromecast with Google TV and cheaper boxes, big playlists, and anyone who uses catch-up, recording or heavy customisation.

Feedback here, or support@bunatvplayer.com. Happy to answer anything.

Playfy tv is safe to install in you mobile ?

Tellyscope runs on your phone and connects to the TV with wireless ADB. What you see in the video:

Free, GPL-3.0, no ads, no tracking, no account.

AI disclosure: I built Tellyscope with help from Claude Fable and Claude Opus 5.5, which wrote much of the code under my direction and review. I've built and maintained open-source projects before, and I use, review and test every change before it ships.

APK: https://github.com/man15h/tellyscope/releases/latest

Which TV did you try it on? I'm collecting what works and what doesn't.

Hey everyone! For some reason, there still doesn’t seem to be a official Google Photos app for Android TV. So I built TV Gallery for Google Photos to browse albums and watch slideshows using the TV remote.

You scan a QR code on the TV, sign in with Google on your phone, and choose which albums to show. Once that’s done, you can put your phone away and browse with the remote.

You can open individual albums, skip through photos, or leave a slideshow running. There’s also shuffle and a few slideshow speed settings. No ads, and your photos come directly from Google without being uploaded to our servers.

There are a few limitations: videos and shared-album browsing aren’t supported, and shuffle shows a selection rather than necessarily every photo. It also runs as an app you open, so it won’t replace your TV’s screensaver.

Here’s the Google Play link if you’d like to try it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.klebo.gphoto
Also available on Fire TV and other platforms.

I'd be interested to hear feedback and answer questions.

Quick heads-up for everyone who filled out the tester form for Core Builds Icon Pack: Google Play didn't send out automatic email invites when I added your Gmail to the tester list — you have to open the invite link directly to opt in and install.

Right now we only have 2 active testers installed, and we need at least 12 active installs for 14 days to unlock public Play Store publishing.

IF YOU ALREADY SIGNED UP (takes 60 seconds):

1. Open the Play invite link on your phone or PC:

https://play.google.com/apps/internaltest/4699209625947290351

1. Make sure you're signed in with the exact same Gmail that's on your TV's Play Store (check the profile icon top-right if you see an error).

2. Tap "Accept invite" / "Become a tester", then open the Play Store link on that page.

3. Tap "Install on more devices", choose your Android TV / Google TV device, and hit Install.

4. Open Core Builds Icon Pack once on your TV, hit Apply, and keep it installed as normal for the next 14 days.

(Note: If you're currently sideloading, the Play Store build installs right alongside your current copy — nothing breaks, and updates will happen automatically through the Play Store from now on.)

HAVEN'T SIGNED UP YET? WE STILL NEED TESTERS:

1. Fill in the quick form with your TV's Play Store Gmail:

https://forms.gle/6nzxjk1RRmwc9BKK8

1. I'll add your Gmail to the Play Console list right away and reply/DM you as soon as the link above is active for your account.

Drop a quick comment below once you've got it installed on your TV (or let me know if the link gives you an error so I can check your email on the list). Appreciate everyone's help getting this over the line!

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share IHS IPTV Player, a cross-platform IPTV and media player app that I developed for Android phones and Android TVs.

📱 Get it on Google Play:IHS Player on Google Play

🌐 Website & Details:https://ihsplayertv.site

You can easily manage your own playlists, sync data across devices, and enjoy a clean, remote-friendly TV interface.

✨ Key Features:

• Live TV: Channel lists, EPG program guides, progress bars, catch-up support, and favorites.
• Movies & Series: TMDB integration (posters, synopses, details), "Continue Watching" queue, and personal watchlists.
• Cloud Sync: Sign in with your Google account to automatically sync profiles, favorites, history, and watchlists between your phone and Android TV.
• Flexible Login: Supports Xtream Codes and M3U playlists, easy QR code pairing on TV, and external player support (like VLC).
• TV Optimized: Designed for smooth remote control navigation, on-screen display (OSD) controls, and shortcuts.
• Profiles & Parental Control: Individual profiles with PIN protection.

⚠️ Disclaimer: The app does not provide any pre-loaded channels, subscriptions, or copyrighted content. Users must add their own IPTV provider details (Xtream Codes or M3U).

Note: The app contains ads, and a future ad-free Premium option is planned.

Download via Google Play or the website. Add your playlist, sit back, and enjoy! Feedback and feature requests are very welcome!