TheBoringTV for LG webOS

A Google TV-style home screen for LG webOS TVs. It's a plain HTML/CSS/JS web app with no build step.

Built and tested on an LG 55UR8040 (webOS 25, SDK 10.3, Chromium 120) at 1920x1080. Works with the arrow keys, OK and Back, the Magic Remote pointer, and the scroll wheel.

Rows with a blurred background	Details page with where to watch
Search across services	Quick settings
Settings	Profiles
Ambient mode

• Hero and rows: full-screen featured titles, "Top picks", "Popular on Netflix / JioHotstar / Prime Video" and "Trending on YouTube", using TMDB and the YouTube Data API.
• Where to watch: pressing OK on a title opens a details page with "Watch on …" buttons for the services that stream it in your country, a trailer, cast and "More like this".
• Watchlist, Continue watching: both saved on the TV. Netflix and Hotstar don't share watch history, so Continue watching lists the titles you opened from this home screen.
• Search across services: an on-screen keyboard; each result shows where it's streaming.
• Your apps: checks a list of known apps (webOS won't list installed apps to non-system apps) and opens them.
• Settings: country, recommendation languages (pick several), which services get rows, clock, and more.
• Quick settings panel: Wi-Fi, audio output, Bluetooth, volume, screensaver and inputs.
• Profiles: each has its own settings, watchlist and history, plus a kids profile.
• Ambient mode: a slideshow of artwork with the clock when the TV is idle.

1. Copy keys.example.js to keys.js and add a free TMDB API key and a YouTube Data API v3 key. keys.js is gitignored.
2. Set your region, services and apps in config.js.
3. Preview it in a browser:

   python3 -m http.server 8765

   Then open http://localhost:8765 in a 1920x1080 window. Use the arrow keys, Enter, and Esc (Esc acts as Back).

Turn on LG's Developer Mode (or use a rooted TV), install the webOS CLI, and add your TV with ares-setup-device. Then:

ares-package . -o /tmp --no-minify

ares-install --device tv /tmp/com.boring.tvhome_*.ipk

ares-launch --device tv com.boring.tvhome

Developer Mode installs expire after 50 hours unless you extend them in the Developer Mode app.

On a TV rooted with the Homebrew Channel, there are two options. To root a TV, see e.nya.je/getroot (at your own risk: it may void your warranty, and a firmware update can remove root). Both live in service/, are packaged with the app, and change no files on disk.

Replace LG's home (recommended). service/as-home.sh runs early at every boot. It copies TV Home into RAM, gives the copy LG home's app id (com.webos.app.home), bind-mounts it over LG's home, and restarts the app manager so it picks the copy up. webOS then opens TV Home wherever it would open LG's home: the Home button, Back from an app, and startup (the script also opens it at boot, so the TV no longer starts on the Live TV no-signal screen).

ares-package . service -e service -e docs -e .git -o /tmp --no-minify

ares-install --device tvroot /tmp/com.boring.tvhome_*.ipk

ssh root@<tv-ip> 'ln -sf /media/developer/apps/usr/palm/services/com.boring.tvhome.service/as-home.sh /var/lib/webosbrew/init.d/40-tvhome-as-home && reboot'

It also sets the TV's "last input" to TV Home, so boots that would open Live TV ("Not Programmed" without an antenna) open TV Home's loading screen instead (the original value is saved in /var/lib/webosbrew/tvhome-last-input.orig). It also turns off LG's Home Auto Launch, so a power cut behaves like a restart: a black screen, then TV Home's loading screen, and LG's own home never shows. The trade-off is that webOS's boot animation no longer plays (it only runs on the Home Auto Launch path, which would otherwise open LG's home before the swap).

Undo: rm /var/lib/webosbrew/init.d/40-tvhome-as-home, set the last input back to Live TV with luna-send -n 1 luna://com.webos.settingsservice/setSystemSettings '{"category":"general","settings":{"lastInputApp":"com.webos.app.livetv","physicalLastInputApp":"com.webos.app.livetv","homeAutoLaunch":"on"}}', and restart the TV. The script also hides the regular TV Home app from the app list (another RAM-only mount), so before installing an update run ssh root@<tv-ip> 'umount /media/developer/apps/usr/palm/applications/com.boring.tvhome/appinfo.json'.

After a power cut, webOS shows the last input for the first ~50 seconds until the script can run; with the setting above that's TV Home's loading screen. Turning the TV on with the remote doesn't do a cold boot when Quick Start+ is on (Settings → General → Devices → TV Management), so it comes straight back to TV Home. The running copy is TV Home as it was at the last boot, so restart after updating TV Home. TV Home running as the home app keeps its own settings and history, separate from the regular TV Home app.

Or watch the Home key. service/service.js reads the remote without grabbing it and opens TV Home after each Home press, at startup and after standby. LG's home still flashes briefly and Back from apps still goes to LG's home.

ssh root@<tv-ip> 'D=/media/developer/apps/usr/palm/services/com.boring.tvhome.service; ln -sf $D/autostart.sh /var/lib/webosbrew/init.d/50-tvhome && sh $D/autostart.sh'

Use one option, not both. HOME_CODE in service/service.js is 773 on LG Magic Remotes; raise HOME_DELAYS if LG's home still covers TV Home.

With the service running (rooted TV), it also gives TV Home what a normal app can't get. It runs as root and calls a fixed list of system methods, which the page reaches over the TV's loopback (127.0.0.1:45620):

• Your apps shows every installed app with its real icon, not the list in config.js.
• Quick settings gets picture mode, sound mode, brightness, a row of inputs (HDMI names, connected ones first) and Screen off, which keeps audio playing; any remote key turns the screen back on.

tools/tv controls the TV from your computer over SSH:

export TV_IP=192.168.1.50 TV_MAC=aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff   # your TV; the MAC is only needed for "on"
tools/tv volume 20        # or up, down, mute, unmute
tools/tv input hdmi1
tools/tv launch netflix   # tools/tv apps lists ids
tools/tv picture cinema   # backlight 0-100, sound movie, screen-off, home, off, on, status

For Home Assistant, its built-in LG webOS Smart TV integration already controls power, volume, inputs and apps over the TV's own network API, with no root needed. Use tools/tv (from a shell command) for the extras.

"Watch on …" opens the exact title, using the link format each app accepts (Prime's and JioHotstar's were captured from LG's own voice search):

Ids are cached on the TV. If a lookup finds nothing or takes too long, the app just opens normally.

• Without root it's an app, not the system launcher: the Home button opens LG's home.
• webOS still shows a short splash (TV Home's own dark one) when it has to start TV Home from scratch.
• Deep links need each service's own title id, so a title opens the app's home when no id is found.
• The app can't read LG Channels' channel list or Netflix/Hotstar watch history.

App icons in icons/, the webOS launch approach and the Home-button service in service/ come from zzeppieri/webos-custom-home (MIT licence). Title data and images come from TMDB; this product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Each feature lives in features/<name>.js + features/<name>.css and only talks to the core through window.TV (defined at the end of app.js). profiles.js loads before app.js; the others load after it.