# KonnectTV, a clean home screen for old Android TVs

A phone-run Android app that turns off bloat, frees memory and replaces a cluttered Android TV home screen with a glowing, minimal launcher. Works without root over wireless ADB.

- Category: Interface (mod)
- Device: [Fire TV Edition television](https://afterware.xyz/d/fire-tv-edition-television)
- Made by: [yashoncode](https://github.com/yashoncode) on GitHub
- Original: https://github.com/yashoncode/konnect-tv
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/konnecttv-a-clean-home-screen-for-old-android-tvs

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Beginner
- AI-buildability: 5/5 (It is entirely software (a Kotlin Android app using wireless ADB) on a phone and TV you already own, so AI tools can write nearly all of it.)
- Time: A weekend
- Cost: $0
- Tools: Android phone, Android Studio, JDK 17

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

## Build sheet

- Device: Android TV / Google TV
- Connection: Wireless ADB over Wi-Fi
- Language: Kotlin, Jetpack Compose
- Install: Phone APK, no root

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "KonnectTV, a clean home screen for old Android TVs" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/konnecttv-a-clean-home-screen-for-old-android-tvs

Build a minimal Android TV launcher in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose or plain views. It should show a large clock and a row of up to six user-picked apps, with a glowing focus border that cycles colours. Add a companion phone app that connects to the TV over wireless ADB, pairs with a 6-digit code, and lists installed apps with their icons. Keep the code to software changes only and never disable system apps.
```

## Story

KonnectTV is an Android app that controls an Android TV from a phone. Over the same Wi-Fi, it connects through wireless ADB, which it pairs with a code shown on the TV. From there it can turn off sponsored rows and promo apps, show free RAM and storage, clear background apps, and open a remote control with d-pad, volume and a phone keyboard for typing on the TV. Apps are disabled with pm disable-user rather than deleted, and every change can be undone.

The most visible part is Glowlauncher, a replacement home screen with a large clock and a single dock of chosen apps. The dock glow fades through colours as focus moves. It is built on plain Android views and ships inside the app, based on the home screen from TV Detox. The author reports a 1 GB Google TV going from 80 MB to 21 MB for its home screen, with some apps opening about twice as fast. The source also warns that switching home screens can freeze low-memory TVs for a minute or two.

The project is written in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose and uses libadb-android for pairing and TLS, and Haze for the frosted glass effect. The source does not say whether AI tools wrote the code.

## Resources

- [Repository](https://github.com/yashoncode/konnect-tv)
- [Latest release (APK)](https://github.com/yashoncode/konnect-tv/releases/latest)
- [TV Detox (original home screen)](https://github.com/Ansub/tv-detox)
- [libadb-android](https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/libadb-android)

Tags: android tv, launcher, home screen, adb, no-root, kotlin, jetpack compose

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