rajupp/talkies

Talkies is an MIT-licensed replacement home screen for Android TV and Google TV, aimed at people who want a small, ad-free launcher rather than the TV maker's promotional interface. It only replaces the launcher; the README notes it does not remove the manufacturer's apps, ad services or tracking, and suggests running CleanYourTV first if that is also wanted CleanYourTV.

What changes on the TV

The screen combines a configurable dock of 5–10 apps with an All apps button, a For You row of trending and new titles plus Continue watching, live cricket and football scores, weather, and a Control Center for playback, sleep timer, memory, Bluetooth and inputs. Holding OK on an app opens move, hide and uninstall options; spare remote buttons can be remapped, including separate tap and hold actions. Appearance can follow sunrise and sunset, and wallpaper can come from the TV, a phone, USB or Bing's daily picture what you get.

Requirements and installation paths

It needs an Android TV or Google TV device running Android 8.0 or newer. The author states it was built and tested on a OnePlus TV with Google TV on Android 11; other TVs are expected to work but were not tried, and Samsung, LG and Roku TVs cannot run it install.

There are three documented routes:

• No computer: install the Downloader app on the TV and use its code, or open the APK from USB.
• With a computer (recommended): enable developer options and debugging, then use adb to install the APK and optionally grant WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS, which lets Talkies restore its Home service, change animation speed and turn network debugging off.
• AI coding assistant: an assistant on the same Wi-Fi can run the computer steps.

The computer and assistant paths support everything; the no-computer path lacks animation speed and self-repair, according to the README's comparison table install. A release APK is roughly 200 KB latest release.

Setup, data and keys

First-time setup requires enabling Talkies' Accessibility service for Home-button handling and Notification access for Continue watching, Now playing and update notices, plus location and Watch Next permissions. On Android 13 and newer, sideloaded apps may need Allow restricted settings or an adb appops command before those switches can be enabled first-time setup.

Trending picks need a free TMDB API key; cricket needs a free CricketData key. Without them those rows are absent, while Continue watching still works. Football scores need no key. Keys and location can be sent from a phone via a short-lived local page README.

Privacy and update caveats

There is no account, ad or analytics reporting; connections are listed and mostly limited to while the screen is on, including TMDB, weather services, ESPN, GitHub and Cloudflare speed tests privacy section. Updates are checked once daily; only APKs from the project's signed releases are accepted, and settings survive an update updates. A version built from source with another signing key cannot be updated in place without backing up and restoring settings.

To revert, uninstall Talkies and the TV's own launcher takes Home again.