# A command-center home screen for Android TV

KIDŌ swaps the ad-stuffed Android TV home screen for a seven-segment clock, kanji, and a honeycomb of apps. It has no internet permission at all.

- Category: Interface (mod)
- Device: [Sharp AQUOS 4K](https://afterware.xyz/d/sharp-aquos-4k)
- Made by: [glidiandev](https://github.com/glidiandev) on GitHub
- Original: https://github.com/glidiandev/kido
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-command-center-home-screen-for-android-tv

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Beginner
- AI-buildability: 5/5 (It's entirely a software project: a Java Android launcher drawn in code and sideloaded over adb, so AI can write nearly all of it and the reader only runs a few commands.)
- Time: A weekend
- Cost: $0
- Tools: adb, JDK 17, Android SDK (API 34)

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Build sheet

- Device: Sharp AQUOS 4K (Android TV 11)
- Method: Sideloaded APK via adb
- Language: Java
- Size: 222 KB, no internet permission

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "A command-center home screen for Android TV" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-command-center-home-screen-for-android-tv

Build an Android TV home screen launcher in Java for Android 8.0+ with a 1920x1080 layout scaled to the screen. Include a large seven-segment clock, a row of five favorite app cards with live Wi-Fi strength readouts, and a honeycomb grid of the remaining apps navigable with the D-pad. Request only ACCESS_WIFI_STATE and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE and no internet permission.
```

## Story

KIDŌ (起動, "start up") replaces the stock Android TV home screen with a command-center layout: a seven-segment clock, big Mincho kanji, five favorite apps as large cards, and the rest of your apps in a honeycomb. Each card carries a live readout of channel, Wi-Fi strength and update time. Plug in an HDMI source and an INPUT DETECTED panel drops in. The status block changes color to match whatever you're watching.

It's a sideloaded APK, installed over adb with network debugging enabled on the TV. You then point the Home button at it with one adb command. If the TV keeps sending Home to the stock launcher, you disable that launcher with pm disable-user, which removes nothing. The app is 222 KB, asks only for the two Wi-Fi state permissions, and has no internet permission, so it can't phone home. It was tested on a Sharp AQUOS 4K running Android TV 11.

Worth stealing: the whole interface is drawn in code on a 1920x1080 grid that scales to the screen, and a screensaver that slides its block every 20 seconds to protect OLED panels from burn-in. Start from the repo if you want a skin for a TV you already own.

## Resources

- [Repository](https://github.com/glidiandev/kido)
- [Browser demo](https://glidian.dev/kido/demo/)
- [cleanyourtv debloat lists](https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv)

Tags: android tv, launcher, home screen, hud, sci-fi ui, open source, seven-segment

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