If in case you have a Google TV at house, you’ve in all probability seen how gradual it may be at even essentially the most primary capabilities. It’s the identical story for many TVs on the market, whether or not they’re from Sony, TCL, Hisense, or another model, or in the event you’re utilizing a tool similar to a Chromecast or a Google TV Streamer.
This occurs partly as a result of TV producers aren’t making the {hardware} highly effective sufficient to deal with the OS. However the interface offered by Google doesn’t actually assist both.
The primary function of the Google TV UI is group. It serves as a launcher for apps like YouTube, Netflix, and HBO Max, and in the event you seek for particular titles, you may add motion pictures and reveals to a Watchlist for later viewing. Nevertheless, I discover the interface to be cluttered and overly busy, with too many suggestions and solutions, together with from apps that aren’t even put in.
The house display screen tries to look information-rich however typically feels bloated and complicated. Adverts and algorithmic suggestions may be intrusive, generally overshadowing my very own content material discovery expertise.
Nonetheless, you’re not with out defenses. There are a number of apps that may make Google TV way more bearable. I’ve been utilizing 5 of them each day, and so they’ve genuinely made a distinction, permitting me to truly take pleasure in utilizing my good TV.
Projectivy Launcher
Projectivy Launcher is a customized house display screen alternative that primarily strips away the bloat and advertisements from Google TV’s interface. As soon as you put in Projectivy and set it as your default launcher, you’re greeted with a easy app grid as a substitute of Google’s countless content material carousels.
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It shows solely your put in apps, and that’s about it. As a result of the standard advertisements and heavy suggestions are gone, I’ve discovered Projectivy makes the TV really feel a lot snappier. Navigation between menus is smoother, and I not see that annoying delay when returning to the house display screen.
It gives extra flexibility than the official launcher. You’ll be able to reorder apps or conceal those you by no means use, create your personal customized classes, and even modify the format density. For instance, displaying extra apps on one display screen in the event you favor a denser look. There are tons of choices to tweak icon sizes, spacing, and even wallpaper.
Projectivy additionally consists of options like the power to sideload apps by getting into a URL or utilizing a companion cellphone app, plus parental controls and a particular distant button combo that works throughout set hours. It’s free to make use of, and only some beauty perks like customized icon packs and wallpapers require a one-time Professional improve.
SmartTube
SmartTube is an open-source YouTube shopper constructed for TV units that has made my viewing expertise a lot much less painful. The app blocks advertisements, which in itself is a blessing in the event you don’t have a premium subscription, however that’s not it. SmartTube even consists of SponsorBlock integration to skip these embedded sponsor messages some YouTubers embody.
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It helps as much as 4K (and even 8K and HDR in case your gadget and TV permit) and provides you extra management over playback than the inventory YouTube app does. For instance, you may manually set your most well-liked default decision or buffering conduct to optimize for restricted bandwidth, which is a lifesaver when my web is shaky or I’m on a slower connection. I additionally seen the interface gives higher accessibility choices like adjustable subtitle shapes and sizes for simpler studying, and customized house display screen layouts so you may manage content material the way in which you want.
One other facet I recognize is that SmartTube allows you to use YouTube with or with no Google account signed in. When you select to not log in, it gives a normal profile that also retains a neighborhood watch historical past and subscriptions, so you may keep a viewing historical past with out feeding the YouTube algorithm or affecting suggestions in your important account.
tvQuickActions (or Button Mapper)
Google TV’s distant and interface have some annoying limitations. For instance, there’s no fast method to view all of your apps or change between current ones with out returning to the house display screen. My TV even comes with a distant that doesn’t have a mute button (are you able to imagine it?).
tvQuickActions is an app that fixes these frustrations by letting you remap your Android or Google TV distant buttons and add a variety of fast shortcuts. I’ve used it to create a number of shortcuts, similar to setting an extended press of the Residence button to carry up my full app listing, assigning one other button to toggle a fast settings menu, and, sure, lastly including a mute button. The app helps single, double, and lengthy presses for many buttons, so one button can carry out as much as three totally different actions relying on the way you press it.
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The app is free to obtain and use for primary remapping, and a one-time Professional improve (round $4) unlocks superior options like an actual app switcher and extra customization choices.
It’s additionally price mentioning Button Mapper in its place. Button Mapper allows you to reprogram your distant buttons and works on many Android and Google TV units with out requiring root entry. When you don’t want overlay menus and simply need easy remapping, it could possibly simply do the job. The premium model unlocks superior choices similar to launching customized intents or controlling system toggles, however for most individuals, the free options are sufficient.
LocalSend
LocalSend is a implausible utility for transferring information to and out of your Google TV gadget, and I take into account it vital in my toolkit. It’s a cross-platform app obtainable on Android, iOS, Home windows, and macOS. Consider it as an AirDrop-like answer for actually native and peer-to-peer file sharing. It doesn’t want an web connection, cloud companies, or have any measurement limits apart from your gadget’s storage capability.
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The app is free, open supply, and really straightforward to make use of. I run LocalSend on my cellphone or laptop computer in addition to on my Google TV. There may be an Android TV model which you can sideload or set up if obtainable. So long as each units are on the identical Wi-Fi community, they mechanically detect one another, permitting me to ship information to my TV immediately. This has been particularly helpful for sideloading apps (APKs) that aren’t obtainable on the Play Retailer.
atvTools is sort of a Swiss Military knife for Google TV that lives in your smartphone. It’s an app you put in in your cellphone, which then connects to your Google TV gadget over Wi-Fi utilizing Android’s developer debugging options. You need to use it as a sophisticated distant management with a digital touchpad, mouse mode, and keyboard. This alone makes Google TV far more bearable, as navigation and typing grow to be far simpler than with the bodily distant.
However atvTools goes effectively past simply mimicking a distant. It allows you to handle and tweak your whole system proper out of your cellphone. The software features a built-in file supervisor and means that you can sideload apps out of your cellphone to the TV with a single faucet. You’ll be able to browse all put in apps, launch them, and even uninstall or disable those you don’t need.
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atvTools additionally has a one-tap choice to clear all app caches. What I actually like is which you can see real-time CPU, RAM, community, and storage utilization in your TV, so it’s straightforward to keep watch over efficiency. It additionally reveals you which of them apps are working and allows you to force-stop any which are appearing up, which is a lifesaver given how gradual Google TV can get generally. And in the event you wish to tinker, there’s even a terminal the place you may ship ADB shell instructions wirelessly with full developer entry.
Google TV wants work
Google TV wants work from each the manufacturers that promote the TVs and streaming sticks and Google, which builds the working system. The general expertise simply isn’t what you’d anticipate from a contemporary good TV in 2025. The apps talked about above positively make issues simpler, however they’re not an entire answer. That may solely come from Google and the producers working collectively.