tshi-dev/UrTV

If you want an Arabic Android TV home screen, a Saudi-themed screensaver, and a way to quiet telemetry and ads, UrTV targets that. Expect a laptop session with a coding agent rather than a simple APK tap.

The problem

Google TV's stock home is English-first and filled with promoted rows. A household in Saudi Arabia that wants prayer times, Hijri dates, local teams and Arabic app names must stitch together separate apps and still live with the default launcher. UrTV changes one step: instead of hunting for a launcher, a screensaver and a cleanup script, you ask an agent to run a prepared setup prompt, and the TV ends up with an Arabic home screen, a Saudi screensaver, and telemetry/ads/demos turned off.

What's different

The README does not expect manual installation. You enable USB debugging on the TV, run Codex or Claude Code on a computer on the same Wi-Fi, and paste a setup prompt that follows docs/SETUP-PROMPT.md. The agent copies the repo, installs the apps, asks for the city and teams, and handles TV-side prompts. A separate docs/RECREATE-PROMPT.md describes rebuilding a different screen, so the prompt files, not the app UI, are the real interface.

The speed-up is described as reversible: apps can be removed, disabled items restored and the stock home returned, with optimize/reset.sh as the route. The README also says AirPlay, Chromecast and voice are never touched and a five-minute safety switch restores the stock home if theirs fails. Those are author claims, not independent verification. The trade-off is dependence on an agent that can follow a multi-step setup on your network, plus a setup the README estimates at 40 minutes and several reboots.

Who should try it

It fits a household already using Android TV or Google TV, wanting an Arabic-first home and a Saudi screensaver, with a laptop and patience for agent-run setup. It also suits people who want the speed-up without tracking which packages to disable, since one reset script is documented.

It is a poor fit for anyone wanting an app-store install, uncomfortable enabling developer options and USB debugging, or needing a supported, licensed product. Claude Code is documented as needing a Claude Pro subscription; Codex is described as free with a ChatGPT account. The release page allows sideloading with adb install, but the agent route also handles configuration the APKs alone do not.

Requirements and limitations

You need an Android TV or Google TV device, a computer on the same Wi-Fi, and a coding agent: Codex or Claude Code are documented, and Gemini CLI is called free but untested. Windows users must install Git and Python first. If you only sideload the two APKs, you skip the agent's naming, extras and speed-up steps.

The project declares no license, which matters if you want to redistribute or build on it. Upkeep is real: the README documents a one-command redo after a system update locks the app out (optimize/run.sh again), a settings-preserving update path, and a screensaver refresh. Setup is not a one-time tap, and the restore and update scripts are what to read before committing.

HotRepo's take

HotRepo only began tracking this repository on 2026-10-24. The one recorded signal is a NEW-REPOSITORY board (新项目榜, Java) placement at #13 with 159 total stars on 2026-10-25. That is a dated snapshot, not daily growth, and comparable history is too thin to judge persistence. Before trying it, verify the reset and update instructions in optimize/ against your TV model.