Database Users

Let's discuss Addons

So with the FireTV becoming quite popular and everyone modding & customizing them left and right.
Curious to see what some of you guys have done in regards to Addons for Videos etc.. I've had a Apple TV before but kept the XBMC install quite basic and basically just used 1channel and sometimes IceFilms if I was encountering errors.
Over the last couple of weeks I've setup 2 FireTVs and gone a bit further into customizing it. I've loaded on the usual IceFilms,1channel, SportsDevil, NaviX, XBMC Addon Installer. Also, loaded up XBMC Tweaks for FTV that gives me keyMap3, sleep mode on XBMC, installed time changer to reflect the right time on XBMC as FTV is not officially out yet where I am. Also, using Xposed and rbox module to auto launch XBMC.
So, what are some other addons you guys recommend? Just looking for some unique ideas!

In addition to the ones you mentioned I use mashup, xbmctorrent and p2pstreams.

Droidmote is my favorite thing that I've installed recently. For the rare times that I need a mouse to tick a checkbox or click a button, I can just use my phone as a touchpad.

..

to0 said:
Droidmote is my favorite thing that I've installed recently. For the rare times that I need a mouse to tick a checkbox or click a button, I can just use my phone as a touchpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dammit, I didn't know about this. I just bought a USB mouse to tick that checkbox.
Nice thread. Keep it going...

to0 said:
Droidmote is my favorite thing that I've installed recently. For the rare times that I need a mouse to tick a checkbox or click a button, I can just use my phone as a touchpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea thats a good one!
JJ-KwiK said:
Movies:
Yifi Movies HD
Glow Movies HD
GoMovies
TV Shows:
Ororo
GoTV
iStream
Live TV:
FTV (With the separate FTV Guide addon)
MashUp
Sports:
Sports Devil
Free PPV(offside stream)
NHL on Demand
WWE Online
Programs:
Trakt
XBMC Backup
Plex
GoMiso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This FTV I keep hearing about, what exactly is it and what do you mean LIVE TV I wasn't aware of being able to get live tv on xbmc?
LastQuark said:
Dammit, I didn't know about this. I just bought a USB mouse to tick that checkbox.
Nice thread. Keep it going...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure, you need a USB mouse for that very first checkbox.. because if you dont check it off no way to get the other APPS on there like droidmote

..

DHeffernan said:
Yea thats a good one!
This FTV I keep hearing about, what exactly is it and what do you mean LIVE TV I wasn't aware of being able to get live tv on xbmc?
Pretty sure, you need a USB mouse for that very first checkbox.. because if you dont check it off no way to get the other APPS on there like droidmote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as in everything else xbmc stream related, the live tv aspect is only as good as your connection. I've watched live HBO and other premium channels and it works great on my ATT Uverse. Lotsa info here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/

JJ-KwiK said:
It's live TV, just like cable or satellite. There are a ton of channels. The only requirement is you have decent speed. Otherwise, it will skip a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have to be in the UK to get Live TV working
I select a channel, it says 50% done then nothing

JJ-KwiK said:
It's live TV, just like cable or satellite. There are a ton of channels. The only requirement is you have decent speed. Otherwise, it will skip a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cmart4 said:
as in everything else xbmc stream related, the live tv aspect is only as good as your connection. I've watched live HBO and other premium channels and it works great on my ATT Uverse. Lotsa info here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that's pretty wicked, Ill be sure to install this addon then and check it out. Is there country restrictions because I know if you go on ABC.com or CBS etc.. they won't show you content unless your in the USA.

DHeffernan said:
Oh that's pretty wicked, Ill be sure to install this addon then and check it out. Is there country restrictions because I know if you go on ABC.com or CBS etc.. they won't show you content unless your in the USA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will dig it for sure.... check out xbmc's site as well for more Fire TV info

..

So I've installed FTV on the xbmc and not sure what the hype is but nothing seems to really work.
I've added FilmOn also, but does not appear to be compatible...

DHeffernan said:
So I've installed FTV on the xbmc and not sure what the hype is but nothing seems to really work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, none of the UK LIVE TV channels work
As far as I can tell 99% of the listed channels do not work

to0 said:
Droidmote is my favorite thing that I've installed recently. For the rare times that I need a mouse to tick a checkbox or click a button, I can just use my phone as a touchpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to check that out. I found an old wireless mouse I plugged into my Fire TV for now. I want to get something similar to the Flymote I use for the MX2 android box.

So I loaded on FTV Guide and I'm quite impressed with this addons it actually has tons of channels and most of them work.. however.
I am seeing that some channels I click on I can only choose the 'Remind' option and it doesn't actually load the channel.
Whats up with this? Can anyone let me know? Anything like SkyMoviesHD, Sky Sports, TBS etc.. just don't seem to actually do anything

I had the incompatible problem with almost EVERY addon when I recently did a fresh install of xbmc. I fixed it by doing a force refresh of the repository (use context menu on the enabled addon page and click refresh/update) . I waited about 10 mins, played some Quell and came back and then about 90% of the skins/addons are compatible now.
I tried mashup but most of the channels that loaded were SD and didn't work well. 1channel is great for movies/shows. Had almost everything I looked for it.
Anyone try Pluto.TV on the regular fire launcher? It is pretty awesome. It has about 50 channels of its own content. The guide looks very similar to something a cable company would put out and they have a good range of different genres

..

JJ-KwiK said:
Are you talking about Pluto.TV the app? - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.pluto.android&hl=en
If so, does it require a mouse, or does it work with the firetv remote?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pluto tv is on the actual amazon app store that works on the fireTV without root or anything else. Its a APP meant for it.
The App itself is alright, wish I could make the F.T.V Guide work with all channels I'd rather have that

..

[Q] nexus player testing android

i was thinking of getting this nexus player but my question is how do i test my android app on the nexus player?

Sideload it.
Install ES File Explorer from Google Play, open ES, connect / browse to network location of apk and install. See what happens.
I was able to sideload many apps so far, some work, some dont.

iamtek7 said:
Sideload it.
Install ES File Explorer from Google Play, open ES, connect / browse to network location of apk and install. See what happens.
I was able to sideload many apps so far, some work, some dont.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i thought they have developer tools install on it?

Nexus player and es file
perlsyntax said:
i thought they have developer tools install on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to go into settings to see it as it does not show up on main window on the player.
So far not impressed with nexus player. Plex ap requires you to run from desktop before you can use app. My roku 3 runs from the app only need server running.
Sorry to get off topic.
---------- Post added at 01:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------
creatingash said:
You need to go into settings to see it as it does not show up on main window on the player.
So far not impressed with nexus player. Plex ap requires you to run from desktop before you can use app. My roku 3 runs from the app only need server running.
Sorry to get off topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets see how it turns out once more people own one

Dev Tools
perlsyntax said:
i thought they have developer tools install on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been working on some stuff all day. I was able to get the Developer option to show up like any other Nexus device. Go to the About > Scroll down to build > Click the Select button repeatedly until dev options are unlocked. Reboot player by removing power. Dev options will now show up in the menu, under preferences. Select Dev Options, go down to USB Debugging, turn on. Lastly, go back to the Security & Restrictions option and turn on Unknown Sources.
From there with the Nexus player connected to your PC, 'adb install your-package-name.apk' via fastboot options.
Currently have Kodi (XMBC) 14.0 Beta 1 working on it.

Let me know how well it runs xbmc. I was thinking about getting the NP but was holding off because I wanted to make sure that it can be rooted or have apps installed that weren't meant to be on it.

jkbhso3 said:
Let me know how well it runs xbmc. I was thinking about getting the NP but was holding off because I wanted to make sure that it can be rooted or have apps installed that weren't meant to be on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IT runs everything like crap ,xbmc with addon plexbmc crashes alot , kodi runs like crap , gotham runs better. netflix works most of the time ,but only in stereo .

toe451 said:
IT runs everything like crap ,xbmc with addon plexbmc crashes alot , kodi runs like crap , gotham runs better. netflix works most of the time ,but only in stereo .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's sad to hear. I'm betting tho when the xbmc/kodi developers fine tune it it'll run better. I was hoping to replace my raspberry pi, usb hub, 2 external hard drives and 2 power supplies with the Nexus player.

toe451 said:
IT runs everything like crap ,xbmc with addon plexbmc crashes alot , kodi runs like crap , gotham runs better. netflix works most of the time ,but only in stereo .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lollipop is brand new... it'll take a while for most apps to be updated for the new APIs, just like any other major release of android. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the hardware on the Nexus Player... its simply a brand new OS that most apps haven't been updated for. The current situation is no different on the Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and any other phone updated to Lollipop.

jkbhso3 said:
Let me know how well it runs xbmc. I was thinking about getting the NP but was holding off because I wanted to make sure that it can be rooted or have apps installed that weren't meant to be on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, damn decent. I am using SMB connection for my movies and played with no errors. The 14 Beta 2 on the other hand I had some playback issues.

Fire TV/Stick: Kodi on Home Screen (No Hacks no Image Replacements) Easy!

Why did I never think of it I have honestly no idea... and it works!
From comments it appears to work on 14.1 , 15 alpha. Might work even with 14.0. Might not work with XBMC because there seems that it's not in the AppSTORE.
Here is what you should do:
1. SIdeload Kodi 14.2
Q: Why? Here is why the Amazon link has Kodi 14.2 so it might not work with earlier versions.
2. (if you are a new user) do the initial setup just give it like 15 sec for it to load up.. (returning user) you should see similar thing but it would upgrade it.
3. on YOUR PC/Mac -- NOT MOBILE devices
go to this link:
http://www.amazon.com/XBMC-Foundati...6?ie=UTF8&qid=1425670241&sr=8-6&keywords=Kodi
4. Buy it with ONE CLICK <<< important! it will show your FIRE TV is not compaptible with it.
5. Go to settings on your Fire TV and go to my account (sync content)
BAM! you have now Kodi on your recents/home screen! Make sure you first sideloaded KODI
I just tested this on Rooted FTV but will work without on both Fire TV & Stick!

Nice tip. I had this working with SPMC on the fire stick for a while. Good to hear it works for Kodi now that it is available as well.

Thanks! I have 14.1 installed and it works great! Much better than messing with cms.db like I've been working on.

Besides having Kodi on the "Recent" tab, does it also show up in the "Your App" tab ?
.

This is really cool. You an infact do this with any app that you have side loaded that is available from the Amazon App Store.

This would be cool if it worked but it doesn't on my Fire Stick.

Worked for me on ftv. Did the same thing with advanced task killer. Thinking about doing clean master also

MSUTigger said:
This would be cool if it worked but it doesn't on my Fire Stick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it should without any issues. Did you get an email from Amazon for purchasing free Kodi ?
did you also SYNC ? sometimes you have to sync few times reboot your FTV/Stick etc...
lowbee said:
Besides having Kodi on the "Recent" tab, does it also show up in the "Your App" tab ?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should since you actaully own the free app via Amazon Appstore. I am rooted so I barely look at this.

Did this a few hours ago and just got an email saying I received a $1 mp3 credit for my "purchase"

{ParanoiA} said:
Did this a few hours ago and just got an email saying I received a $1 mp3 credit for my "purchase"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you got 1$ credit for downloading Kodi? or you prob got 1$ credit for something else. Last few days there were bunch of apps that were giving 1$/credit for just downloading a free app.

No I matched up the order numbers. It was this one

I have found an easier way that puts any app on any screen, Dock4Droid.I have been using it for a couple months. I have it set up where the dock graphic is removed and it looks like the apps are floating in colored mist on the screen. The mist color can be changed to any color. I have made the icons small so that they are still big on the screen but are not distorted. Be sure to set the number of apps to appear on the dock, I think I have it set to 30 apps so that all apps opened will appear. I have hid the activation area and made the activation area 100% on the bottom right of the screen and made the activation area 0 width so that it does not interfere with apps. I have flipped it so that the last opened app is on the right side. You can also put a shortcut for any app so it is always on the dock. I have SPMC set to always appear on the dock so I can always open it from anywhere. The only downside is that any app that requires an activation area on the fire tv makes a square artifact on the top and left side edge of the screen when the cursor goes to the edge of the top and left side of the screen, but it isn't really a problem for me. The artifact happens with every app I have tried, Fancy Switcher, Sidebar etc. The dock also has App Info so that you can close apps directly from the dock. If you have an app opened, activate the dock, go to app info, the popup will appear and just force close it. To me its the fastest way I have found to multitask and force close apps on the Fire TV, cause it lets you launch any app from anywhere.

{ParanoiA} said:
Did this a few hours ago and just got an email saying I received a $1 mp3 credit for my "purchase"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, now that would be something if one gets $1 for getting Kodi. But this works fine, I did not even have to sync content. Took a few minutes and the app showed up on the home screen. I guess I can bid farewell to Llama and ClassicTV for now.

Thanks awsome trick
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Free mobile app

It worked great for v15 alpha 2. But only in the recent list. It's something.

papars said:
It worked great for v15 alpha 2. But only in the recent list. It's something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know I don't see a reason yet to use the v15 unless it's stable. Sooner or later it will happen. You can mix it now with aftvlauncher helper and home button will launch kodi without root,just set it to kodi to launch on home key press

Offtopic - v15 goes great, no problems on firetv. But you are right there is no point going in v15 since 14.x is perfect already.
Thanks for the tip for the home button.

papars said:
Offtopic - v15 goes great, no problems on firetv. But you are right there is no point going in v15 since 14.x is perfect already.
Thanks for the tip for the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NP enjoy!

patt2k said:
NP enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
weird...didn't work for me. Installed Kodi went to amazon link and logged in. clicked on get with 1 click. said app was purchased. went back to Fire TV and did the sync. but still not showing on home screen. I am on a rooted Fire TV.

Yep, for me too. At least on one of my fire-tv boxes anyway.
I've got three, all unrooted and all running the same version of Kodi (14.1). It worked on two of my boxes but not the third, I can't work out why not. I've unregistered it and reregistered even done a factory reset but it won't work on that box, weird?

Quick connect unable to find chromecast

I'm unable to find my Chromecast (2nd gen) using Quick Connect. Quick Connect does find several Sonos speakers and a neighbor's TV (which is not very helpful since I don't know the neighbor )... I've understood from several articles elsewhere on the net that Quick Connect on the S6 could connect to Chromecast. Is there some setting that I'm perhaps not seeing that I need to toggle (the S7 Edge is my first Samsung phone)? I've tried reconfiguring the Chromecast on my 2.4 and 5 ghz networks, with the phone connected to the appropriate network each time, to no avail. I'd rather be able to cast the screen quickly via Quick Connect than use the Chromecast app. Connections via the Chromecast app are also unreliable by the way.. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm also having the same problem I used to do it easily with my S6 Edge but S7 Edge andust S7 not finding my Chromecast.

Why are you using Quick Connect for Chromecast? As long as I'm on the same Wi-Fi network I can send things to my Chromecast. It just works. No need to "connect" each time I want to use it.

gtg465x said:
Why are you using Quick Connect for Chromecast? As long as I'm on the same Wi-Fi network I can send things to my Chromecast. It just works. No need to "connect" each time I want to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because casting via the Chromecast app requires extra clicks. Open Chromecast app, open hamburger menu, click Cast screen, click Connect to Chromecast. In principle, Quick Connect should allow me to swipe down, click Quick Connect, click my Chromecast. Anyway, it's supposed to work, so I'd like it to work

I cant find my chromecast as well on quick connect in my s6 edge plus (updated to android marsmallow)
---------- Post added at 06:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 AM ----------
Painter22 said:
I'm also having the same problem I used to do it easily with my S6 Edge but S7 Edge andust S7 not finding my Chromecast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same sentiments here. I updated my s6 edge plus to android marshmallow and now i cant cast my videos via quick connect to chromecast. Quick connect is not detecting my chromecast anymore.

Not working with Marshmallow
ambientlight said:
I'm unable to find my Chromecast (2nd gen) using Quick Connect. Quick Connect does find several Sonos speakers and a neighbor's TV (which is not very helpful since I don't know the neighbor )... I've understood from several articles elsewhere on the net that Quick Connect on the S6 could connect to Chromecast. Is there some setting that I'm perhaps not seeing that I need to toggle (the S7 Edge is my first Samsung phone)? I've tried reconfiguring the Chromecast on my 2.4 and 5 ghz networks, with the phone connected to the appropriate network each time, to no avail. I'd rather be able to cast the screen quickly via Quick Connect than use the Chromecast app. Connections via the Chromecast app are also unreliable by the way.. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Galaxy S6 and until yesterday it was running Android 5.1.1. Now it's running 6.0.1. Before the update Quick Connect worked with my Chromecast (2nd Generation) perfectly. Now it does not recognize it.
I assume your S7 is running 6.0.1 as well.
Was this by design? I hope not and that a patch will be created SOON!

I also hope that a patch can be written to fix this issue.
I'm used to being able to cast / stream to just about anything using my HTC phone.
I'm a first-time Samsung user and, although I love the S7 Edge, I find this a major frustration !

Fortunately, there is an easy enough alternative. ES File Explorer has a Chromecast add-on that you can choose to add the first time you attempt to cast. It works very well.

xylus_jameson said:
Fortunately, there is an easy enough alternative. ES File Explorer has a Chromecast add-on that you can choose to add the first time you attempt to cast. It works very well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking for something that allows casting from the notification shade, but thank you for the suggestion

ambientlight said:
I'm looking for something that allows casting from the notification shade, but thank you for the suggestion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likewise, I really enjoyed that option too. Honestly, the fewer apps I need to install the happier I am.

xylus_jameson said:
Likewise, I really enjoyed that option too. Honestly, the fewer apps I need to install the happier I am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know whether that functionality is something that Samsung took out or is it something that Marshmallow no longer offers? ?

ambientlight said:
Do you know whether that functionality is something that Samsung took out or is it something that Marshmallow no longer offers? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't come across any information that states one way or the other. I know it's a Samsung feature, not Google (Android), but your guess is as good as mine at this point.
Under developer options in the settings menu (turn on by going to About Phone and tapping Build Number repeatedly) there is an option for Authorizing Wireless Display Devices, but I haven't had the opportunity to see what it actually does yet. By default it's turned off.

ambientlight said:
Do you know whether that functionality is something that Samsung took out or is it something that Marshmallow no longer offers? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its something that Samsung took out.
There were some apks (ChromecastFrameworkService.apk, RemotePlayer.apk, SecEmbeddedServerService.apk) that was responsible for this functionality that was removed in marshmallow.

caravana said:
Its something that Samsung took out.
There were some apks (ChromecastFrameworkService.apk, RemotePlayer.apk, SecEmbeddedServerService.apk) that was responsible for this functionality that was removed in marshmallow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response and info
Is there any way to get the functionality back aside from installing a different rom? I've tried all kinds of launchers, but that doesn't do it.

ambientlight said:
Thanks for the response and info
Is there any way to get the functionality back aside from installing a different rom? I've tried all kinds of launchers, but that doesn't do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried to flash these APKs from the Lollipop ROM, but after that my S6 failed to boot. Didn't tried to debug to see whats going on (maybe installing manually instead of flashing resolve this, I don't know).
For those who wants to investigate, here (XtreStoLite Deodexed Aroma Add-on Package 2.4a) is a package that has these APKs. Maybe you guys are luckier than me.

caravana said:
I've tried to flash these APKs from the Lollipop ROM, but after that my S6 failed to boot. Didn't tried to debug to see whats going on (maybe installing manually instead of flashing resolve this, I don't know).
For those who wants to investigate, here (XtreStoLite Deodexed Aroma Add-on Package 2.4a) is a package that has these APKs. Maybe you guys are luckier than me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I wouldn't know even the first thing about debugging, there's little chance of me figuring anything out except that it appears I won't be able to get this functionality back anytime soon
Hopefully there will be someone out there who wants to investigate (and find a solution) :laugh:
I love the S7 Edge, but I really do miss HTC connect and it's ability to connect to anything.
Samsung's Quick Connect is really a step backward and Smart View is useless as well..

xylus_jameson said:
Fortunately, there is an easy enough alternative. ES File Explorer has a Chromecast add-on that you can choose to add the first time you attempt to cast. It works very well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does one that is not technologically minded do this?

If anyone of you here still need some guidance on how to enable and use chromecast here it is.
Go to the playstore and download the chromecast app which can be found here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.chromecast.app
You can add the chromecast app as a shortcut to your home screen or to the "App Edge" feature.
And or you can also download the Google Chrome browser at the playstore which can be found here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome
When you see the chromecast icon on top of the chrome browser's title bar click it to start chromecasting.
Quick Connect has nothing to do with chromecast and will not connect to the chromecast dongle.
Good luck,
Have a great day!

S7 with 6.0.1 Chromecast fail
Same issue here.
S5 with 5.0.1 works with Chromecast.
S7 with 6.0.1 doens't.
Same Chromecast device, same Wi-Fi network.
App updated.
Google play services all enabled.

GooSimongle said:
Same issue here.
S5 with 5.0.1 works with Chromecast.
S7 with 6.0.1 doens't.
Same Chromecast device, same Wi-Fi network.
App updated.
Google play services all enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I've understood that the problem is that Samsung has crippled this functionality in their 6.0.1 version of Touchwiz. I haven't found a way to get the functionality back despite posts in several different forums. The Google Cast app does allow you to connect to Chromecast, but the process is more cumbersome than casting via the quick settings menu. I hope someone finds a solution for this problem.

FTVLaunchX: custom launcher, no root (replacement for LauncherHijack)

Welcome to FTVLaunchX – a simple helper application to allow custom launchers on Amazon Fire TV devices – no root required!
It is inspired by the famous LauncherHijack of @BaronKiko and tries to overcome several issues relating to it:
- Reliably intercepts any & all presses of the home button
- Starts the selected launcher on boot
- Starts the selected launcher when waking up from sleep
- Fixes the ominous missing-cursor bug in Silk
- etc.
Please find a thorough description, installation instructions as well as the source code over here:
https://github.com/codefaktor/FTVLaunchX
Get the APK: FTVLaunchX-1.0.1
EDIT: uploaded new release 1.0.1!
If you want to say Thank You or fund further development, then feel free to drop me buck or two, see https://github.com/codefaktor/FTVLaunchX#Donations
Please report back if you did test on your devices (so far tested on Fire TV Stick 2nd Gen & Fire TV Stick 4K) – I will watch this thread for any issues and/or feature requests.

Thanks for this. Works with no issues and really well on my Fires TV Stick 4K.
When I press home it opens my launcher quickly (TV Launcher 3).
When I wake the device from sleep I do see the amazon launcher for a split second (literally a quick flash).
When I reboot it takes 20-30 seconds to automatically start my launcher.
This could be because it is giving way to IP Vanish which is set to launch on startup.
As soon as IP Vanish launches, I press the back key or the home key and my launcher immediately loads.
Love your work.
Also there is another way of returning to the default Amazon Launcher. Maybe you already know it
Use the Alexa Remote (Voice) and say "Home" or "Settings".
Thanks again.

Flakie said:
When I press home it opens my launcher quickly (TV Launcher 3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it should be a tiny bit quicker and what's more important: way more reliable! Except for the split-second when coming out of sleep I never see the Amazon launcher anymore (I also use TVLauncher 3).
Flakie said:
When I wake the device from sleep I do see the amazon launcher for a split second (literally a quick flash).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, this is to be expected but should really just be a fraction of a second.
Flakie said:
When I reboot it takes 20-30 seconds to automatically start my launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, I know - it's because I let the system decide on when to launch it. As you said, there may be other things also being launched and so it has not the top priority. Maybe I'll experiment with raising the priority of FTVLaunchX but I wanted to stay on the safe side for the 1.0 release.
Flakie said:
As soon as IP Vanish launches, I press the back key or the home key and my launcher immediately loads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can also press the home key as soon as the Amazon launcher comes up and it should work - it's just the auto-start method which takes its time...
Flakie said:
Also there is another way of returning to the default Amazon Launcher. Maybe you already know it Use the Alexa Remote (Voice) and say "Home" or "Settings".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, I totally forgot about that one – I'll add this to the docs, thank you!
Oh, and just to clarify: do you think that we should also try to catch that and start the custom launcher when hearing "Home"? This may not be possible and IMHO it's way better to leave that as a valid exit method to get back to the original Amazon launcher...
Oh, and a big thank you for testing and replying!

Thank you so much! I finally have my cursor back in the Silk Browser because of this!

JUSTINMARMER said:
Thank you so much! I finally have my cursor back in the Silk Browser because of this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad that it works for you and you like it The main reason why I was creating it was this pesty cursor bug...
Oh, on what kind of device are you using it? Am looking for someone to test it on a Fire TV Cube with Fire OS 7 / Android 9...

Got any images we can use for an article?

MishaalRahman said:
Got any images we can use for an article?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is an icon and a banner:
https://github.com/codefaktor/FTVLa...p/src/main/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi/ic_launcher.png
https://github.com/codefaktor/FTVLaunchX/blob/develop/app/src/main/res/drawable/banner.png
Can render them at any size if you need larger variants;
Or if you need a screenshot then voila: https://imgur.com/a/UethyYm

TheRealQubix said:
Glad that it works for you and you like it The main reason why I was creating it was this pesty cursor bug...
Oh, on what kind of device are you using it? Am looking for someone to test it on a Fire TV Cube with Fire OS 7 / Android 9...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish I could help. I'm running several Fire Sticks. All v2 and 4k. No cubes.

TheRealQubix said:
Oh, and just to clarify: do you think that we should also try to catch that and start the custom launcher when hearing "Home"? This may not be possible and IMHO it's way better to leave that as a valid exit method to get back to the original Amazon launcher...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I prefer it going back to the Amazon Launcher.
I have done a few installs of these and for the users it is the easiest way they can get there. The less complexity for them, the better

Flakie said:
Personally, I prefer it going back to the Amazon Launcher.
I have done a few installs of these and for the users it is the easiest way they can get there. The less complexity for them, the better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my thought too!

TheRealQubix said:
Glad that it works for you and you like it The main reason why I was creating it was this pesty cursor bug...
Oh, on what kind of device are you using it? Am looking for someone to test it on a Fire TV Cube with Fire OS 7 / Android 9...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it on my Nvidia Shield 2017 model and it works great. The only thing I see wrong if you want to call it wrong is, When booting it boots to the android tv screen for about 5-10 seconds but then goes to my Halauncher. Home button works great everytime. If you don't mind I will post it on the Shield tv section or you can. It would be easier for some people that don't understand adb. Great job!!!!

brick00444 said:
I just tried it on my Nvidia Shield 2017 model and it works great. The only thing I see wrong if you want to call it wrong is, When booting it boots to the android tv screen for about 5-10 seconds but then goes to my Halauncher. Home button works great everytime. If you don't mind I will post it on the Shield tv section or you can. It would be easier for some people that don't understand adb. Great job!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know that it works on that device too – feel free to post it over there! (Since I don't have any experience with the Shields it's probably better since you can include some relevant instructions...)
Oh, and regarding the "bug": this is more or less by design but as I said in another reply above: I might try to experiment to make this a bit faster by raising the boot priority; something for the next release

TheRealQubix said:
Good to know that it works on that device too – feel free to post it over there! (Since I don't have any experience with the Shields it's probably better since you can include some relevant instructions...)
Oh, and regarding the "bug": this is more or less by design but as I said in another reply above: I might try to experiment to make this a bit faster by raising the boot priority; something for the next release
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again, great job.

brick00444 said:
The only thing I see wrong if you want to call it wrong is, When booting it boots to the android tv screen for about 5-10 seconds but then goes to my Halauncher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I've raised the boot priority to the maximum... find the 1.0.1-dev APK as an attachment.
Let me know if that reacts any faster for you on boots (though a couple seconds will probably be normal, I guess; it all depends on what other things are installed etc.).
Ping to @Flakie too.

I'm getting voiceover on official Hulu app on my v2 stick.

What launcher are available for TV stick? Any Android TV launcher?

JUSTINMARMER said:
I'm getting voiceover on official Hulu app on my v2 stick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's because Hulu (and some other apps) added some weird code in one of their releases, please try the following:
Settings > Accessibility and make sure that VoiceView AND Screen Magnifier are turned off, the latter one being really important!
You can also hold Back+Menu (toggles voice view) and Back+FastForward (toggles screen magnifier) for two seconds.
If that doesn't work then head into Hulu and turn off app sounds under your profile settings.
If it is still on then go to your apps list in Settings, find the Hulu app, clear its cache AND data, force stop it and then relaunch the app. You will have to sign in again but that should really do the trick.
Please report back!

MrKaon said:
What launcher are available for TV stick? Any Android TV launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find some links on the GitHub page of FTVLaunchX but there are quite a few others like AppStarter, HALauncher, ATV Launcher Pro or even Kodi itself...
My favourite is TVLauncher 3 but everybody will have a different taste... you can find some of them on Aptoide, but most need to be downloaded somewhere else.

thanks for this ive got it on my 4k stick using ATV launcher and looks mighty fine !

From the description looks good. Immediately uninstalled Hijack and installed FTVLauncherX. First tried adb install -g, but adb said -g is an unknown option, so installed it directly from a dir on the stick, granted the permission via adb. Now when my Firestick 2nd starts it does start with the native Amazon Home Launcher and stays there. It switches to my launcher only when pushing the home button. I use ATV Launcher Pro.