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Android TV · Google TV · any box you own

Your launcher keeps switching back? Make it HOME. For good.

After a reboot, an update — or on Android TV 14, just because — the system switches your launcher’s accessibility service off, and the stock home screen is back with all its ads. TV Box Tools sets your launcher as the real HOME app from outside, over ADB: nothing has to stay running, and one tap puts everything back.

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Free · Open source · No account · No ads · Undo with one tap

TV Box Tools

The problem

“My launcher forgets itself.” It is not you — and not your launcher.

Projectivy, Monet, AT4K, FLauncher, Premium TV Launcher — almost every custom launcher holds the HOME button with an accessibility service, because Android TV has no default-launcher setting. The service has to stay alive, and the system keeps switching it off:

  • A reboot or a system update — and the stock home screen is back, ads and all.
  • Android TV 14 switches every accessibility service off on its own. Platform behaviour, not a bug in any launcher.
  • Any force-stop drops it — even swiping the launcher out of Recents. On Android 13+ it will not even switch on without “Allow restricted settings”.
  • A “cleaner” or memory manager from the box maker closes the launcher in the background — same result as a force-stop, and the stock home is back.
  • Google Play Protect can switch the accessibility service off on its own. Nothing is wrong with your launcher — the switch is simply off again.
  • The flicker: the stock home flashes for a second before your launcher opens — that is the service racing the system.

The fix that holds is to stop depending on a service. TV Box Tools sets your launcher as the real home app from outside, over the box’s own debugging connection, verifies the box accepted it, and stops. Nothing runs in the background — HOME stays yours after reboots, updates and Android TV 14. One tap puts the stock home back.

Which launcher do you have? Download the fix

Which launcher do you have?

The tool asks, then does the fix.

It reads the box for every app that can be a home screen. Whatever is installed is what you can pick. If you have none yet, these are the ones it knows by name — each links to its own Google Play page.

No ranking — the box decides what is on the list. Icons and names belong to their developers and identify the apps, nothing more.

How it works

Three steps. The tool walks you through each one.

1

Turn on debugging on the box

Settings → About → tap Build seven times → Developer options → Network debugging (on Android 11+ also Wireless debugging). That is the Wi‑Fi one — no cable. The tool shows the exact path for your box.

2

Connect

Over Wi‑Fi, no cable: with the app on the TV itself (Downloader code 2123033), on an Android phone, or on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Press Allow on the TV once.

3

Pick your launcher, press HOME

Not on the box yet? The tool installs it for you — for the known launchers the Downloader code is already filled in. It sets it as the home app, checks that the box agrees, and remembers what was there before. Restore is one tap, any time.

It all works over Wi‑Fi, no cable. Only the Chrome version needs one: a web page cannot reach a box over the network (browsers have no network sockets), and most boxes have no USB port that carries data.

Screenshots

See it before you install.

TV Box Tools Tasks hub: every job is one card — change launcher, speed up, screen, remote, console
The Tasks hub: every job is one card — reversible, read-only or gated.
TV Box Tools launcher picker: keep the current launcher or pick one of the most popular
The launcher picker: keep the current one, or choose. One tap back, any time.
TV Box Tools on-screen remote: arrows, OK, HOME, volume and typing on the TV
A full remote when the real one is lost — arrows, HOME, volume, typing.

See all 32 screens — phone, TV and desktop →

What it never does

Boundaries, written down.

  • Never installs what you did not pick, and never a modified copy: a launcher comes from its developer’s newest public release or from Google Play.
  • Never factory‑resets, never roots, never asks for your Google account.
  • Never changes anything without recording how to undo it.
  • Fire TV is out: Amazon does not let an app hold the home screen there, and the new Vega OS sticks run no Android apps at all.

Guides

One question, one page.

Written for the question you actually typed. Each one ends with the route that holds on Android TV 14 and the way back.

Built on the same engine

  • Hotel TV in every room For hotels, BnBs and clinics: the box becomes the property’s guest TV, managed from hoteltvapp.com.
  • For resellers & installers Provision boxes in repeatable batches and sell them ready for a property.
  • For AI agents The same engine as a CLI and an MCP server, behind the same command gate.

Download

TV Launcher Manager

One file. The tool checks its own updates from this page.

The downloads are being prepared. Check back shortly.

The Windows installer is not code‑signed yet, so SmartScreen will say “unknown publisher”. The SHA‑256 above is how you check it is really ours.

Watch the whole setup, start to finish — English subtitles. · Watch on YouTube

Or in Chrome, with a USB cable

Only for boxes with a DATA USB port (micro‑USB or USB‑C, often marked OTG) — most have none. For every other box, the download above works over Wi‑Fi. Nothing to install.

Open the web tool

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Why does my launcher keep switching back after a reboot?

Because it holds HOME through an accessibility service, and the system switched it off — a reboot, an update, a force-stop or Android TV 14 itself all do it. It is not a bug in your launcher. Set the home app from outside, over ADB, and it stays.

The full answer, with the steps for your launcher

Why does the stock home flash for a second before my launcher opens?

That flicker is the accessibility route racing the system: the stock launcher opens first and the service replaces it. With the home app set over ADB there is nothing to race — HOME opens your launcher directly, no flash.

Is disabling the stock launcher safe?

Yes, the way the tool does it: disabled for the current user only, never uninstalled, and recorded first so one tap brings it back. If anything ever looks wrong, the restore guide covers every case — including a black screen.

The restore guide

Does it work on Android TV 14?

Yes. Android TV 14 switches off accessibility services on its own, which is why the on‑box tricks stopped working. This tool sets the home app from outside, over ADB — the one method that still holds.

Do I need root?

No. Only Network or Wireless debugging (USB debugging if you use a cable), which you turn on in the box’s own settings and can turn off again at the end.

Can I undo it?

Yes, with one tap. The tool records the current home screen before changing anything, and “Restore” puts it back. The stock launcher is never uninstalled.

Does it install a launcher for me?

If you want it to. Pick a launcher that is not on the box and the tool installs it: for the known ones the Downloader code is already filled in, and it fetches the developer’s newest release. The same number works in Downloader TV and in AFTVnews’ Downloader. Or it opens the launcher’s Google Play page on the TV. Already have one? It just sets it as HOME.

What about Fire TV?

Not supported. Amazon does not let a third-party app hold the home screen on Fire TV: the older Android-based sticks still sideload an APK, but it cannot take the HOME button, and the sticks from the Fire TV Stick 4K Select (October 2025) run Vega OS instead of Android and install no Android app at all. We would rather say so than sell you a workaround that breaks.

Is it free? What do you collect?

Free, no account. The site uses cookieless analytics (self‑hosted Umami) that counts page views and download clicks — no cookies, no personal data. The tool sends one anonymous ping when it starts, and a line when something crashes: the version it is, the machine it runs on and the Android version of the box. That is how we know how many people use it and what breaks. Never what is on your box, never anything that names you.

Who makes it?

Smartago — the team behind Premium TV Launcher, Downloader TV, Button Mapper TV, TV Setup Suite and Hotel TV. Support: support@smartago.net.

pluitv.com — Premium TV Launcher

Is it open source?

Yes — Apache‑2.0. The tool, its CLI and its MCP server are one code base, published at github.com/smartago/tvboxtools. Every command the tool can run is readable in two files there (the command gate and the steps). The SHA‑256 on the download page is how you check a file is ours.

github.com/smartago/tvboxtools

I run a hotel or a BnB. Is there a different tool for me?

No — the same download. The tool asks who you are; for a property it installs Hotel TV, links the TV to the room in your hoteltvapp.com dashboard, and hands the box to the app, which owns it from then on.

The hotels page — what it does and what it costs

Ten minutes, over your own Wi‑Fi.

Download the tool, switch on debugging, pick your launcher. The TV is yours again.

Download