HOME DECK

Android TV // Home screen // v0.1

A neon home screen for Android TV. Your apps as big glowing tiles, the art of whatever you’re on filling the background, a music bar that shows what’s actually playing, and your HDMI inputs named after what’s plugged in. No ads, no rows of recommendations, and it works offline.

A 45-second tour: favorites, Apps, moving an app, Inputs and Jump To.
HOME DECK v0.1LIVE DEMO

Click the screen to take the remote. Arrow keys move, Enter opens, hold Enter for options, Esc goes back.Open the demo full screen to play with an on-screen remote.

Open the demo full screen

DOWNLOAD v0.1SOURCE ON GITHUBFULL SCREEN DEMO
THE REMOTE
ARROWSMove around. Past the end of a row carries on to the next one.
OKOpen the app or input.
HOLD OKOptions: pin, move, info, uninstall. On inputs: switch, name, audio out.
BACKClimb back up: first row, then the tab, then Home.
HOLD BACKJump To.
// 01

WHAT'S ON SCREEN

01 // HOME

Home

Search, up to seven favorites, and Jump back in: the apps you opened last, newest first. When something on HDMI turns on, it leads that row and OK switches to it.

02 // APPS

Every app, sorted

Everything on your TV, grouped by kind: streaming, free and video, live TV and sports, music, kids, games, your media and tools. The manuals and updaters TVs come with stay out of the way.

03 // NOW PLAYING

Music bar

What’s playing, the artist and the track time, with play and pause. Long titles scroll like a car stereo.

04 // INPUTS

Inputs

Your HDMI ports, named after the device on them when it says what it is, or whatever you want to call them. A soundbar port can be marked as audio out so it never gets in the way.

05 // JUMP TO

Jump To

Hold Back anywhere for the quick panel: picture and sound settings, an accent color that tints everything, Lite mode for slower TVs, Lime mode, the away screen timer and more.

06 // MOVE

Yours to arrange

Hold OK on an app and pick Move. It lifts, the arrows slide it anywhere, OK drops it. Install or remove an app and Home Deck updates itself.

The Apps section: every app on the TV grouped by kind
APPS, GROUPED BY KIND
The Inputs section: four HDMI ports, Live TV, Network and Settings
INPUTS
Jump To, the quick panel, open over the Apps section
JUMP TO
// 02

THE TILES

43 APPS // 9 CONTROLS

Every app gets its own tile, drawn in Home Deck’s style. Apps without one get a badge made from their own icon instead.

// 03

AWAY SCREEN

Leave it alone and the screen dims to a clock that moves every 20 seconds, so nothing burns in. Pick 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes. The same screen is also a screen saver for your TV, for when you’re in another app.

// 04

INSTALL

NEEDS ADB AND A FEW MINUTES

  1. Turn on debugging

    On the TV, open Settings > Device Preferences > About and press OK on Build seven times. Then turn on USB debugging or Network debugging in Developer options.

  2. Connect

    Find the TV’s IP address in Settings > Network, then connect from a computer with adb and accept the prompt on the TV.

    adb connect 192.168.1.50:5555

  3. Install

    Download homedeck.apk from the v0.1 release and install it.

    adb install homedeck.apk

  4. Make it Home

    Point the Home button at Home Deck. Some TVs also need the stock launcher switched off; the README covers that and how to undo it.

    adb shell cmd package set-home-activity dev.glidian.homedeck/.HomeActivity

The README has the full steps, the optional music bar setup, how to switch back and how to build from source.

// 05

PRIVACY

Your favorites, app order, names and settings stay on the TV. The music bar needs notification access because that’s the only way Android shares what’s playing, but it only reads the title, artist and time, never your notifications. The internet permission is just for the weather, which is off until you turn it on.

// 06

CREDITS

ALSO BY GLIDIAN: KIDŌ A COMMAND-CENTER HOME SCREEN

Like this? I’m open to work, freelance or with a team: who’s behind this.