Make your Google TV look like Apple TV with this free app

Like many other streaming platforms, Google TV is gradually getting harder to tolerate.

Finding something to watch requires wading through all kinds of ads and upsells, from the sponsored listings at the top of the home screen to multiple rows touting movies and shows for purchase. Those money-grabs detract from what used to be one of the more useful streaming TV home screens.

A new app called AT4K Launcher offers a solution, with an alternative launcher that shamelessly borrows from the Apple TV interface. With a few minutes of setup, you can remove the ads from Google TV’s home screen and get a much simpler menu for apps. If you have a Google TV smart television (from brands like TCL, Hisense, and Sony) or a Google TV streaming player (like the excellent Walmart Onn 4K Plus), this free app is at least worth a look.

How AT4K Launcher works

AT4K Launcher is an alternative home screen (also known as a launcher) for Google TV and Android TV devices. It lists all the apps you’ve installed on your smart TV or streaming device, but with a different presentation than the default home screen.

The inspiration is clear: AT4K Launcher looks nearly identical to the app grid on Apple TV streaming boxes, with five big app icons per row and a carousel of featured content at the top. You can reposition apps by long-pressing them and choosing where you want them to appear.

That top feature carousel works similarly to Apple TV as well. When you highlight an app in the top row, it’ll show a list of things to watch, seemingly based on Android TV’s recommendation rows. Clicking one of those recommendations takes you directly to the video.

If an app doesn’t support home screen recommendations (such as Netflix), AT4K Launcher’s top carousel will instead show a “Watch Next” row, with recently watched movies and shows from across different apps. You can also hide the top carousel entirely through AT4K Launcher’s settings menu.

AT4K Launcher is free to use, with an optional one-time purchase of $5 to unlock some extra features, including custom wallpapers and an option to have six apps per row instead of five. While it’s not the only replacement launcher for Google TV devices (Projectivy is a popular alternative), I appreciate its visual polish and the way it handles recommendations.

That said, the app has room for improvement. The Watch Next row could use its own dedicated app icon, along with an option to add or remove items from it. And perhaps long-pressing an icon could reveal more options for things like uninstalling and viewing the app info page. Unlike on Apple TV, there’s no folder support either. At least the developer seems responsive to suggestions and bug reports on AT4K Launcher’s subreddit.

Replacing Google TV’s default launcher

When you install AT4K Launcher from the Google Play Store, it’ll appear as an app on the standard Google TV home screen, and you’ll need to launch it manually every time.

That’s obviously not ideal. If you want to replace the regular home screen with AT4K Launcher, there are a couple of ways to approach it:

The easier way

The easiest option is to remap your remote’s home button so it opens the AT4K Launcher app. For this, I recommend a separate app called TVQuickActions, or the optional Pro version ($4). I’ve written a separate article on setting up TVQuickActions, but here’s the gist:

• Install the TVQuickActions app on your Google TV device.
• Skip over the Show Overlay and Usage Access setup screens unless you want to enable some more advanced controls, and skip the battery optimization screen as well.
• When prompted to start the accessibility service, hit “Agree.”
• In your device’s Settings menu, head to Accessibility, then scroll to the button and enable “tvQuickActions.”

• In the TVQuickActions app, head to Mappings and select “Add Button.”
• Hit your remote’s Home button.
• Set “Button action type” to “Usual action.”
• Set “Single press” to “AT4K Launcher.”
• Select “Double press” or “Long press,” then look under the “Action” tab and select “Go to home.” (This lets you return to Google’s default home screen as needed.)

Using TVQuickActions to remap your home button has a couple of downsides: The standard home screen will always appear when your TV first turns on, and you’ll need to hit the back button instead of the home button to exit Google TV’s screensaver mode. Still, I like that you can easily return to the default home screen, whose broader recommendations can sometimes come in handy.

The harder way

If you want to fully replace Google TV’s standard launcher, you must use a different app called Launcher Manager. It’s only available via sideloading and requires extra configuration to setup. Advanced users who are comfortable with sideloading can follow these instructions:

• Install Downloader by AFTVnews from the Google Play Store.
• Open the Downloader app, then enter 160445 in its address bar.

• When you see the warning about installing unknown apps, hit the “Settings” button
• Enable the toggle for Downloader.

• Hit the “Install” button when prompted.
• Open the Launcher Manager app and select “Enable Custom Launcher.”
• If you get a “Connection Failed” message, hit “Open ADB Settings.”
• In the next menu, turn on developer options and enable USB debugging.
• Return to the Launcher Manager app and select “Enable Custom Launcher” again.

Now, your Google TV device will always load AT4K Launcher at startup and when you hit the home button. If you need to access the default Google TV home screen again, just open Launcher Manager and select “Disable Custom Launcher.”

This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best media streamers.

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