v2.3.0: 54 TVs, 12 languages

Fifty-four TVs, twelve languages, and a day of community pull requests folded in. No binaries, as before: build the launcher with launcher/build-and-install.sh (one command, see the README). Honest note: unlike 2.2, I have not yet run this build on my own TV; it builds and passes the unit tests in CI, and each contributor tested their piece on the set named in their PR.

Launcher (2.3)

• GPU-friendly focus animation and opt-in reduced_motion (#119, @occcat): the glass highlight is cached as a hardware layer and the ambient glow is a small bitmap instead of a CPU-drawn gradient, so the spring stops crawling on MediaTek sets from 2019. reduced_motion in config.xml or a theme calms the motion further for TVs whose GPU still cannot keep up.
• Settings and Wi-Fi pills fall back to Xiaomi's own settings app on China firmware (#129, @321sssrt-bit).
• Down from the top buttons returns to the dock tile you came from (#138, @AleksanderSandnes).
• App banners load at xhdpi or better on low-density TV UIs (#131, @angelwzr).
• The remote's Settings button opens Settings through the opt-in Home key service, including gear buttons Android leaves unmapped (#193, @TuanTITAN85).
• Tile labels go through the same cleaner as module-card labels, so a bidi override cannot redraw a tile's name (#117), and pressing Home while on Home returns to the top row (#118). Both found by @udhaykumarbala.
• Translations: Serbian Latin (#145, @miki995), Polish (#158, @adrbsk91), Arabic (#168, @majnioui), Turkish (#188, @cayisik); Russian completed (#141, @angelwzr). Twelve languages.

Install and tools

• The install script finds the JDK and SDK on Linux (#139, @AleksanderSandnes), stops when pm install fails before touching the stock launcher (#190, @rachit-jain), and recognises Xiaomi's com.mitv.tvhome as a stock launcher (#128, @321sssrt-bit).
• b64push.py works with pre-Nougat adbd by following the TV's announced payload size (#147, @terryli-94) and keeps chunks a multiple of 3 so the base64 stream decodes (#187, @mustafa4101996ahmed).
• disable.sh and restore.sh resolve list paths against the directory you run from, with a test (#153, @alfibi).

Debloat lists

54 TVs across 23 brands, 24 new since 2.2:
Sony BRAVIA 9 II (#127, @JegoVPN), Thomson 32HE5800 (#130, @MarioParraL), CHiQ GTVU65 (#133, @Mfolio), TCL BeyondTV EU/Nordic (#137, @AleksanderSandnes), Hitachi 65QLEDSM20 (#144, @ajurcevic), Sony KD-55X80J (#145, @miki995), Sony BRAVIA 4K GB (#154, @jcardonne), Xiaomi MiTV-ASTP1 China firmware (#128, @321sssrt-bit), Panasonic 4KTV-JUP (#142, @KimiWang2046), Redmi MiTV-ANTL0 on Android 5.1.1, debloat half only (#148, @terryli-94), TCL 40S5400A (#159, @adrbsk91), Skyworth SWTV-21AE (#161, @fakhringuyen), Xiaomi Mi Box S 2nd gen (#169, @Bahriish), Sony BRAVIA AE2 (#171, @ptrinh), Xiaomi MiTV-MOSR4 (#177, @heybyben), Philips 50PUS8517, the first TP Vision list (#178, @veikus), TCL BeyondTV2 Latin America (#179, @eddysangalli), TCL 50EP680 (#181, @jiri-cermak), Vu 4K (#182, @harshmandalgi), Sony BRAVIA BF1 (#183, @EswaramoorthyKarthikeyan), Hisense HiSmartTV A4 (#184, @prateekjaindev), Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd gen (#185, @dennisblokland), Sony KD-65X80J (#191, @rachit-jain), and the first Fire OS 6 list, Fire TV Stick 4K (#195, @IdentityDC).
Compatibility notes for the Xiaomi S Pro "freeguy" live in docs/devices/ (#160, @rowanchen-com).

Docs, showcase and the repo

• Ad-blocking Private DNS as an optional extra in the FAQ and the prompt (#157, @majnioui). How to tell an enabled accessibility helper from a bound one in docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md (#186, @maam00).
• Showcase: a Sony China fork (#126, @roninriddle), CleanMyTCL for Android TV 9 (#180, @eddysangalli), Fire TV Glass for Fire OS 8 (#196, @ivantrj). Twelve projects built on top.
• README: a numbers line, six screenshots, live badges, the contributor wall. CI now builds the launcher and validates every list on each pull request; issue forms, a PR checklist and a code of conduct; Discussions are open.

45 pull requests merged since 2.2.0. Thank you.

v2.2.0: CleanYourTV

The repo is now cleanyourtv (old tv-vibehack links redirect) and the site is live at cleanyour.tv. No binaries, as before: build the launcher with launcher/build-and-install.sh (one command, see the README). Everything below was installed and checked on a Mi TV 4A (Android TV 10) tonight.

Launcher (2.2)

• Themes: a config.json (and optional wallpaper.jpg) pushed with tools/theme.sh themes/<name> overlays config.xml, so a theme changes dock, columns, colours and wallpaper without a rebuild. Three ship in themes/.
• Module cards (#116, @udhaykumarbala): any Android TV app can declare its own tile (label, caption, glow colour). The launcher asks once on the TV with Keep hidden selected, pins the answer to the app's signing key and the card's name, and launches a card only by its own explicit component. Hold OK on Settings for the list. module_cards turns it off. Spec in docs/specs/card.md, how-to in docs/modules.md, 42 unit tests.
• Tiles refresh while Home is open when an app is installed, updated or removed (#109, @angelwzr).
• input_action for HDMI players that ignore the standard VIEW intent, and the VPN badge no longer gets cut off by long network names (#113, @zarubaf). A red "VPN off" badge when vpn_app is set and no VPN is up (#115, @zarubaf).
• Ethernet icon on the network pill when wired (#122, @sonalder-darlene).
• Hardware tuner preferred for the Live TV entry (#73, @damonearl).
• Translations: Thai (#54, @abnkei), Russian (#108, @angelwzr), French (#105, @ScaryFr92). Eight languages now.
• tools/tv.py reuses ~/.android/adbkey when it exists, so the TV stops asking "Allow USB debugging?" twice (#105, @ScaryFr92).

Install and restore

• When Home resolves to Android's launcher chooser (what you get after tools/restore.sh followed by a re-applied list), the install scripts now pick the known stock launcher among the HOME claimants instead of refusing.
• tools/theme.sh themes/aurora works from the repo root; it used to look for the folder inside tools/.

Debloat lists

30 TVs across 16 brands. New: Xiaomi MiTV-MSSP3 (#107, @samdegan2311, with the persistent Netflix observer finding), Stellamore T950S projector (#110, @aravinddass), TCL 55Q10G Pro, China (#111, @netube99, with the hidden ADB gesture and the sideload gate explained), XGIMI Horizon S Pro projector (#114, @zarubaf), plus notes on the RCA AI PONT (#38, @pranabsarma18) and Xiaomi MOOQ0 (#81, @mirhnaz).

Prompt and docs

• PROMPT.md checks that the TV accepts APKs before building a launcher (#123, @netube99) and queries the HOME claimants on Google TV.
• README rewritten: banner, shorter sections, the TV list folded. Full troubleshooting moved to docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md with new entries from tonight's test. SHOWCASE.md lists nine launchers and add-ons built on top.

Thanks to everyone who sent a list, a fix or a port this weekend: 65 pull requests merged from 36 people, 50 of them today.

v2.1.0: community round

First tagged release, so people can Watch → Custom → Releases instead of following every PR. No binaries: build the launcher with launcher/build-and-install.sh (one command, see the README).

Launcher

• Targets Android 14 with the package-visibility <queries> Android 11+ needs, so Google TV sets install it and see their apps (#34, #60).
• The install script now builds a shrunk release APK (about 240 KB instead of 1.6 MB) and precompiles it on the TV (#40).
• Safer install order for Google TV: start the new launcher, disable the stock one, set the home preference last, then check where Home resolves and roll back if it is wrong (#91, #85, #86). Stock launcher detected from the TV, only known launchers are ever disabled (#65, #85).
• Inputs pill hides itself on sticks and boxes without HDMI or tuner (#42); glass highlight follows the grid scroll (#47); D-pad stays inside a row at its ends (#55); header no longer overlaps on long network names (#60).
• Optional, off by default: VPN badge on the network pill (#69), Solar Hijri date (#70), a Default home tile where the TV has a home picker (#30), an Input-button service for Google TV remotes (#27) and a Home-key service for Xiaomi remotes that send ALL_APPS (#83), both enabled with an install flag.
• Translations: Spanish, Catalan, Simplified Chinese (#46, #35, #32). Screensaver date follows the translation (#88).

Debloat lists

21 TVs now, sorted by brand in the README: BenQ, CHiQ, Hisense, Insignia (Fire OS, debloat only), NVIDIA Shield, OnePlus, RCA, SANYO, Sony ×2, TCL ×4, Xiaomi ×7.

Docs

Troubleshooting entries for the Google TV Home takeover and crash loop (with the one-line recovery), USB power on Mi Box S, Iran time zone, and the wireless-debugging notes contributors sent in.

Thanks to everyone who sent a list, a fix or a bug report this week.