It's finally official!

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Version 1.0 of TIVI Launcher is now available on Google Play

TIVI Launcher replaces the cluttered, ad-filled default Android TV home screen with a clean, fully customizable experience built on the native Android TV Leanback framework — giving you a fast, polished launcher that actually feels at home on a television.

🎬 Smart Content Integration

TIVI Launcher is one of the few launchers with full support for the Android TV Watch Next and App Preview Channels system. Enjoy content recommendations on your home screen without broken images, with full control to refresh and personalize your Watch Next and App Channel sections.

📐 Rows, Grids & Full Layout Control

Organize your home screen your way. TIVI Launcher features a powerful Row & Grid system for arranging apps, TV inputs, and content channels exactly where you want them. Display 3 to 7 apps per row and reorder rows freely to match your viewing habits. Whether you like compact grids or spacious rows, your layout is entirely up to you.

📂 Smart App Folders

Declutter your screen without losing quick access. Create custom app folders that visually group your applications together inside a single folder icon. When opened, an elegant overlay displays your apps—giving you a familiar, smartphone-style folder experience right on your TV.

🧠 Intelligent Sorting

Let your launcher do the heavy lifting. Toggle the “sort by most used” option to track your app usage and automatically bring your most-used apps to the front of the rows. This intelligent sorting works seamlessly for TV input shortcuts too, and even operates independently inside your custom app folders so your favorite apps are always one click away.

🎨 Deep Personalization

Make TIVI Launcher your own:

• Light, Dark, and Auto UI modes — the launcher adapts its color scheme to your preference or automatically based on your wallpaper brightness

• Custom color overrides for row titles, card labels, time & date, weather widget, and HUD icons

• Focus indicator styles — choose from animated Border Sweep, Pulse Glow, Outlined, or None, with custom colors and stroke width

• Glass card effect with optional transparent inactive cards to keep focus on what's selected

• Custom app icons — personalize individual app icons with your own images

🌤 Weather at a Glance

Stay informed without reaching for your phone. The built-in weather widget displays current conditions right on your home screen, with a 5-day forecast just a click away, powered by OpenWeather.

🖼 Stunning Background Options

Your backdrop, your rules:

• Unsplash — beautiful curated photography

• Reddit — pull wallpapers from any subreddit you choose

• Local images or video — use your own photo library or videos as live wallpapers

• SMB network folder — stream backgrounds from a NAS or shared network drive

• Aerial Views — direct integration with the popular Aerial Views screensaver

Fine-tune with brightness, image scaling (Fill, Fit, Stretch, Center), and background dimming controls

📡 TV Input & Smart TV Support

TIVI Launcher supports the Android TV Input Framework (TIF), giving you direct access and control over HDMI, AV, and other inputs on compatible Android-based Smart TVs. Switch sources without hunting through menus.

💾 Backup & Restore

Back up your customizations — row layouts, folder arrangements, wallpaper settings, and color overrides — and restore in seconds using either your device’s System File Picker (local storage) or an SMB network folder. If no compatible system file picker is available, backup and restore still work over SMB for easy migration after data reset or device switch.

📂 Modern File System Support

TIVI Launcher fully embraces Android's native Storage Access Framework (SAF), offering seamless integration with standard system file pickers for choosing individual files, selecting entire folder directories, and generating secure backup files.

🔗 TIVI Launcher File Manager (Companion App)

Because modern Android TV versions heavily restrict broad storage permissions—and many streaming devices completely lack a native system file picker—we built one! TIVI Launcher File Manager is a FREE companion app for TIVI Launcher that unlocks flawless browsing of your local files. This ensures a foolproof way to select custom video or image backgrounds, apply custom app or row icons, and reliably backup or restore your launcher settings with ease.

🔒 Parental Controls

Protect your settings with a 6-digit security PIN. Configure an auto-lock timeout, and keep your carefully arranged home screen safe from accidental (or intentional) changes.

⚙️ Set as Default Launcher with Ease

TIVI Launcher includes an optional Accessibility Service that makes overriding the stock launcher simple. No technical steps, no sideloading required — just enable and enjoy.

✨ TIVI Premium

A one-time optional upgrade unlocks the full suite of advanced features: custom image and video backgrounds, Aerial Views integration, SMB network wallpapers, Auto UI mode, full color customization, Parental Controls, and Backup & Restore. Try all the core features free — upgrade when you're ready to go further.

No ads. No tracking. No clutter. Just your TV, your way.

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File Manager (Companion App):

TIVI Launcher File Manager is the official companion app for TIVI Launcher, designed to make file and folder selection on Android TV and Google TV seamless, secure, and entirely remote-friendly.

Because modern Android TV versions heavily restrict broad storage permissions—and many devices completely lack a working native system file picker—this companion app acts as a secure, dedicated bridge. It ensures you never lose access to deep customization features like custom wallpapers, custom icons, and local configuration backups.

🎨 Perfect Companion for Customization

Effortlessly browse and select local files to personalize your TIVI Launcher experience. Choose your own images or videos for live backgrounds, pick custom artwork for individual app icons, or select a backup file to restore your entire home screen layout in seconds.

🔗 Seamless MediaBridge Integration

Engineered specifically for the TIVI ecosystem, MediaBridge technology allows TIVI Launcher to safely access the specific files and folders you choose through this companion app. No loops to jump through, no complex setups—it just works.

📐 Optimized for the Big Screen

No clunky touchscreen ports here. TIVI Launcher File Manager features a clean, native UI designed specifically for D-pad navigation. Move through your directories quickly and easily using just your standard TV remote.

🔒 Smart Storage Access & Deep Backup Support

Built to handle the unique quirks of the Android TV ecosystem, this app utilizes specialized storage permissions specifically so it can reliably scan, write, and restore your custom layout configurations (.tivibak files) across your device’s storage. Since many TV devices strip out the native system file picker, this app solves that problem completely—giving you a foolproof way to safeguard your meticulously arranged home screen layouts.

🚫 No Ads. No Tracking. No Bloat.

Just like the main launcher, this companion app respects your device and your privacy.

• 100% Ad-Free

• Zero background tracking or analytics

• Your Data Stays Local: The app only interacts with the specific folders you browse and your custom .tivibak backup files. No data is ever indexed, scanned, or uploaded.

• Lightweight footprint that won't slow down your TV

How It Works:

When you want to set a custom background, change an icon, or restore a layout inside TIVI Launcher, the launcher will automatically wake up this companion app. Simply browse to your file, select it, and you're done.

Note: This app is a dedicated utility companion and requires TIVI Launcher to be installed on your device.

Hey everyone!

I’m excited to share that version 1.0 of my Android TV launcher app has officially been submitted to Google Play for review 🎉

This has been a long journey of building, testing, and refining, and it’s finally at the stage where it’s ready (fingers crossed 🤞) to go live soon.

Alongside that, I’ve also launched the official website for the app, which includes some details about features along with a few screenhows.

I’ll share the Play Store link as soon as the app is approved, and update the website with this as well!

In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions, and thank you all for your support!