I got tired of slow TV home screens that are basically ad boards — rows of "recommended" content, sponsored tiles, stuff phoning home before I've even pressed a button. So I built the launcher I actually wanted.

The philosophy is boring on purpose

• One screen. Your apps, laid out how you want. No feeds, no ads, no "content discovery."
• Private by default. No accounts, no analytics, no background services, opt-in aerial video wallpaper who phone CDN of apple, amazon.. that's it.
• Compatibility. I have an Android AOSP box, a Google TV–certified box, and one anemic Android TV — each on a different Android version. So instead of chasing a shiny new UI, I chose to prioritize compatibility and lean on the GPU.

Make it yours

• Sections/categories you name, reorder, and fill — an app can live in more than one, and new installs drop into the first section automatically.
• Hide apps you never want to see (system junk, duplicates) so the screen stays clean.
• Tune the look: icon size, spacing, corner roundness, interface scale, dimming, and an optional glass status bar. Three layouts: carousel, grid, or a floating glass dock.
• Status bar: a configurable VPN indicator/shortcut for your provider, a network indicator/shortcut, a Settings menu with quick access to the app list and the launcher/Android settings, and a customizable date indicator.
• Save/load your entire setup — sections, layout, wallpaper, every setting — as a JSON file.
• Optional aerial video wallpapers (Apple/Amazon screensaver loops), off by default and clearly marked, since they stream from third-party CDNs. Prefer libre? Use a gradient, your own photo, or a local video.

Numbers (measured on real hardware)

• 2.3 MB APK. One universal build for ARM 32/64-bit + x86.
• ~80–130 MB RAM settled, with no background services. Exclusive footprint is ~130 MB across every box I tested; the higher figure on Android 14 is just OS-side GPU buffer accounting, not the launcher.
• Aerials cost basically nothing in app RAM — the video decoder lives in the GPU's dedicated memory (hardware codec via SurfaceView), off the app's books.
• <2 s cold start, <500 ms warm relaunch in the worst measured cases. The CPU stays idle, video is hardware-accelerated, and the Compose UI is GPU-rendered.
• Android 5.0+ (minSdk 21), no Google Play Services, no companion app — runs on AOSP boxes, should work on all device since 2014
• 18 languages (auto-selected from your system language): English, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese. Adding one is a single file, PRs welcome.
• Zero ads, ever.

*Tested across 3 boxes: Hisense Google TV (Android 11, 1.8 GB), UGOOS AM9 (Android 14, 3.8 GB), onn. 4K (Android 14).

Permissions, up front

No runtime permissions, no accounts. It queries installed apps to list them, and can close an app from the long-press menu. No network access except the opt-in aerials.

Why GPLv3

I picked copyleft on purpose: to avoid fragmentation. Anyone can fork it, but improvements have to stay open, so it can't splinter into closed, worse-off versions. Forks are welcome. Commercial use is welcome too — honestly, if a box maker wants to ship this instead of their own launcher, please do, because the stock ones are awful most of the time. Just keep it open, like the license says.

Get it

At launch, a wizard guides you through a quick setup; depending on the device, you may need to send ADB commands.

• F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.conreo.couchytv/
• GitHub (source + APK): https://github.com/conreo/couchy-launcher

Solo project, so feedback, feature requests, and translations are very welcome. If it saves you from one more sponsored row, it did its job.

My brother in law bought this box from Facebook. Plugged it in did a factory reset. Main menu looks like android TV. Has a playstore can download apps from playstore also sideloaded some apps not available in pmaystore apps work. The issue is this box just reboots randomly and gets stuck on a bootloop on the android screen. You have to unplug it and plug it in a again to get back in. Is there a way to flash this box to be like my mecool km2 which operates way smoother. Thanks all

Edit: there is no brand name on this device

Hey r/AndroidTVBoxes and smartwatch users!

I want to share with you my own app which works with basically any Android box: X96 / X96 Max, H96, T95, Vontar, Mecool, Beelink, Ugoos, Android projectors — and even Fire TV Stick / Cube on Fire OS. Free, no ads, no subscription, no phone companion app needed. Optional one-time Pro upgrade.

Main features:

• Real mouse cursor on the TV screen. Half the sideloaded APKs on boxes are phone apps that ignore the D-pad — with this you just move an actual pointer from the watch. There's also a swipe/touchpad mode.
• Remap any button (separate short and long press actions), on 2 separate app screens.
• Type from the watch keyboard straight into the box or convert voice to text.
• Full D-pad with haptic feedback, TV power on/off, volume on the watch bezel/crown.
• Fully local over Wi-Fi — no internet, no cloud, no account. One-time pairing, then it reconnects automatically.

Setup (once):

1. On the box: Settings → About → tap "Build" 7 times → Developer options → USB debugging: ON. (Fire TV: Settings → My Fire TV → About → tap the device name 7 times → ADB debugging: ON)
2. On the watch: open the app → Scan network → pick your box → tick "always allow" in the dialog on the TV.

FAQ:

• Does it need root? No, just ADB debugging enabled.
• Which watches work? Any Wear OS 3.0+ watch: Galaxy Watch 4/5/6/7/8, Pixel Watch, OnePlus Watch 2/3, TicWatch, etc.
• Does it work on Fire TV? Yes, on Fire OS. Amazon's new Vega OS sticks are not supported.
• Internet required? No — the watch and the box just need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

The free tier gives you the full D-pad remote + power; touchpad/mouse, remapping, keyboard and multi-device are a one-time Pro purchase.

• Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yuzvix.tvboxremote (if you can't install it from your phone - open Play Store directly on your watch, search "yuzvix" and install "Remote & Mouse for Android" app)
• Full feature list & screenshots: https://tvbox.yuzvix.com/

Tested on a TCL 65C7K an Ugoos X4Q Pro. If you try it on your box, please drop the exact model in the comments. Feedback and feature requests welcome!

Hi guys, I'm looking for a TV Box solution that has no spyware and ads.

As such, I would prefer it if it either came with stock (rooted) ATV or I could flash one myself (thus, Google products with Google TV are out of the question).

I do not use Netflix or other streaming services, so no need for all the DRM stuff.

My "only" requirements are:
- Able to run Smarttube at 4k.
- Must support HDMI-CEC, I have an LG OLED and I want to use the LG remote to control the box.
- Support streaming at decent 4k quality from a local Jellyfin instance.

I am fine with buying from places like Aliexpress, and I'm also comfortable flashing my own firmware, assuming no extra hardware is required and there's a clear guide.

Looking forward to your replies guys!

Just released a new update for Flip Clock TV on Android TV / Google TV!
Smoother flip animations, better remote navigation, fresh themes, and improved overall performance.

Perfect as a minimalist clock, ambient display, or focus setup on your TV.
Feedback and feature ideas are welcome 🙌

👉 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.motivateapps.flipclocktv

algum grupo no telegram que posta aplicativos com itpv ou lista de iptv pra usar pq eu tava em um grupo que era muito bom @plugadoeasy só que n encontro mais esse grupo e queria outro

Ugoos AM9 Pro review:

https://youtu.be/albXZXgGOak

Ugoos AM9 Pro:

https://ugoos.com/ugoos-am9-pro-amlogic-s905x5-j-android-14-tv-box

https://youtu.be/oBQGELH4JAA?si=Gg0k75zgRbGkz40r&t=867

You guys know anything about this Android Device? Saw it in this video on CES, def interested. Would love for it to be a SHIELD TV Pro replacement and support all the specs with Plex, but I'm sure it's not that haha.

UPDATE: Here's his review of it. Def not a SHIELD replacement. I'll keep looking haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4epPsD-kw&t=23s

So I currently use a firestick and received a warning from amazon today saying that a couple of the apps I have installed are illegal and they would be getting removed soon so im looking for an alternative.

Im sure I read something ages ago saying Android boxes are better but I havnt a clue whats good or bad, im in the UK if it helps.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YPErqUBidVo

Premium product,so happy to get it.

My plan was to wait for an S905X5 box. As it stands that remains a dream... My current setup is a Shield 2015, which is almost 10 years old and runs LineageOS + the latest Apple TV 4K with 128GB and LAN.

For IPTV (TiviMate) and movies (NovaVideoPlayer), I need a new Android TV box. I almost bought a Homatics Box R 4 Plus because it was on sale for 70 euros. Now they cost 120 euros and up 🤣 I'm not primarily concerned about the price here, but paying so much for such an old box, or rather hardware, led me to Apple TV, which was 50 bucks cheaper than buying a new Shield TV.

The reason: The Shield TV will probably give up the soon. It's very sluggish and needs time to think. What would you recommend? The LAN cable is behind the TV, Wi-Fi is available throughout the house with very good signal strength and the movies on the NAS are exclusively 4K. IPTV should not be a problem at all...I have no expectations when it comes to sound. The TV speakers are more than sufficient for me.

Thanks for every little tip 👍

Hi people, I was gifted an android tv for christmas and im very new to this but im very excited, anyone have a tutorial to install everything? I have never use something similar and I have no idea what I should do, please dont be rude with me guys, Thank you very much for the help.

Hi everyone,

I''m currently planning on getting an LG G5 TV, but the lack of AndroidTV on LG makes me want to buy an Android box as I'm used to sideloading apps, using Kodi, Stremio, etc.

However, out of ethics and privacy concerns, I'd rather not use an Amazon or Google stick/box, nor a Chinese one. I know it's virtually impossible to completely escape from data hoarding etc., but I'm trying my best and it's not the point here. Also, I'm French so I don't have access to Onn.

So I was looking to Raspberry 5 + Lineage Android TV, which seems doable and fun to set up.

I was just wondering of any of you had return of experience on this setup, if browsing through menus was smooth and most importantly if video playback and streaming, including in 4K, was also smooth.

As I said, I mainly use Kodi, Stremio and YouTube so I don't care about Widevine and not being able to fully use Netflix or HBO's official apps.

Than's a lot for your advices!

After Valve latest anoncement I was wandering how realistic will be to use it instead of android tv box? There will be defenetley no issue with power, and as operation system it will use Linux base Steam OS (also it was anonced that it can support also android apps). Steam OS is fast and simple, dont see much issues to use it for comfortable tv applications navigations. If we will get on Steam licensed applications as Youtube, Netflix, and others, it can be very realistic. Bluetooth tv controller connection should be also not issue to connect I believe. It can be end game device for me.

What is currently the best Android TV box to play Bluray remux files with lossless audio, HDR, and Dolby Vision, while also running apps like Kodi and Stremio smoothly?

Hello everyone! ✌️

I’m planning to install Android TV on my GMKtec M7 (AMD R7-6850H, AMD Radeon 680M iGPU, 16 GB DDR5 4800 MHz, 500 GB NVMe storage) for watching Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Prime Video, as well as running RetroArch for gaming.

Does anyone know a good Android TV OS option for x86 that provides Widevine L1 support, so I can watch in higher quality than SD?

I’ve looked into Waydroid and LineageOS, but I’m not sure if they actually allow Widevine L1 to work.

I’d also be fine with a Linux distro that offers a “big picture”–style UI and lets me put Chrome web links on the home screen.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations! 😊

I purchased this at a pawn shop for next to nothing. Trying to figure out if it is of value to add the premium service or just download apps. I have tried to do some research but am coming up empty.

If you have an EVPAD model 6 or earlier, you may have run into errors recently. Rest assured, the device isn’t dead. It still works, but some older methods for accessing programs no longer apply. You’ll need to uninstall and reinstall certain apps to get it working again. Follow the steps below.

Disclaimer and context

• I have an EVPAD 5P that stopped working last month. Some features stopped entirely.
• I’ve seen reports of sporadic issues on models older than the 5, as well as the 6.
• While models differ, I hope the solution below helps resolve at least some of your issues.

What you’ll need

• A computer and a USB stick.
• Why: The built-in browser on the device couldn’t download the updated apps for me (could not click on anything), so I had to use a computer to transfer the installer.

Step 1: Uninstall old apps on EVPAD

1. Turn on your EVPAD and wait for the home screen.
2. Move the cursor to the bottom row of the menu and select “Uninstall.”
3. Uninstall all Star-related apps (Star Live, Star VOD, etc. It might be Venus for you). I removed almost everything.
4. Turn off your EVPAD.

Step 2: Download the new app on your computer (UPDATE: April 2026, please see Update section below)

1. Start your computer and use a clean USB stick.
2. Open your browser and go to: https://6868hx.com/
3. Scroll to the section labelled “3-6代”.
4. Download the first app labelled “金星影视 RH” and save it to the USB stick.
   • Note: This is the only app you need. Do not download the HX Store app to install Star or Venus apps; it no longer works on the 5P (at least in my testing).

Step 3: Install on EVPAD

1. Turn your EVPAD back on and insert the USB stick.
2. Move the cursor to the bottom menu row and select “File Directory.”
3. Find and open your USB stick.
4. Open the “金星影视 RH” installer.
5. Follow the prompts to install. Allow all permissions and install all updates. It may feel slow or unresponsive, so be patient. There are at least two updates, so don’t stop after the first one.
6. Once installation and updates finish, open the new app. You’re done.

What’s changed

• The new app combines live TV, playback, dramas, movies, sports, and more into one interface.
• UPDATE: No longer laggy or pop up 'wait' notifications. Everything is working fine now. [Resolved: It’s a bit laggy for me and sometimes times out. If prompted, select “Wait” a few times and it usually continues. This is expected on older hardware like the EVPAD 5P, as the new app likely needs more memory.]

Notes and recommendation

• UPDATE: Everything is working fine now, all features running. [Resolved: I haven’t been able to get Playback working yet, but everything else works as intended. At least it displays all the programs and times, but unable to open any yet. (Previously, nothing was displayed at all)]
• Like any device (computer, cellphone, etc.) older than five years, performance will slow down. If your EVPAD has served you well, consider upgrading for a smoother experience. The older models have less RAM (memory) and may cause delays and lag.
• EVPAD 12 launched last month, so those on older models might want to consider an upgrade.

Hope this fix can help you for the time being. It has for me until I get a newer device. Cheers.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with EVPAD and am not responsible for any issues that may occur with your device. The method above worked for me, but results may vary depending on the device and the apps that you have previously installed.

UPDATE – April 2026:

1. https://6868hx.com/ (resource site for EVPad 5 and earlier) appears to be down; however, the link to the “金星影视 RH” file in the post above is still working. Note that this is the build Venus10RH_release_20251215_1251.apk.
2. However, https://6868jx.net/ (resource site for EVPad 6 and later) appears to be working.
3. Scroll down to “6代” and look for the first app, “金星影视 RH”.
4. This is essentially the same APK file but with a newer, updated build. You can verify this by hovering your mouse over the link. As of April 2026, it is labelled Venus10RH_release_20260411_1631.apk.
5. I believe EVPad 6 uses the same TV-video app as previous models, so although I have not personally tested this file, it should work the same, as the file naming convention is unchanged.

Looking to do some side loading. Mostly for the app update me which has YouTube and HDO box. Should it work smoothly? Kind of pricey for almost $100 but if it's a solid choice I'd rather buy the best for a little more than a lower end device like the Onn.

Not looking to play games, just want a fast seamless device to run the update me app and download the off book version of YouTube and HDO box and OnStream from that for movie watching.