I basically gave up on finding a custom ROM for this TV so I’m looking for alternative TV apps to at least change the default app. Do you know if there is an app like this exist? It should work with satellite, I’m not looking for IPTV or streaming services, just something that supports plain satellite TV.
Edit: Currently experimenting with KODI, no luck yet though. If you also have suggestions regarding to it, I’m all ears.
Edit 2: KODI (and so Jellyfin, Plex etc.) needs a backend server for Live TV so add-ons alone won’t work. According to KODI Wiki, currently there are no backends that work on Android. I also tried Google’s older app called Live Channels but Google doesn’t let you to run it because it’s old more useful.
Edit 3: I at least blocked all many of those ad streaming domains on pi-hole. Here is the regex I added to my blacklist. Maybe it will be useful for another poor soul who bought TCL TV.
^(.*\.)?(leiniao\.com|kedo-tclrestream\.b-cdn\.net|now\.amagi\.tv|huan\.tv|rttv\.com|kaltura\.com|plex\.tv|otteravision\.com|ads\.ottera\.tv|sofast\.tv|jwplayer\.com|fuelmedia\.io|molotov\.tv|mcncdndigital\.com|evrideo\.tv|aniview\.com|partytymestreaming\.com|playmoviesdfe-pa\.googleapis\.com|ov-static\.ottera\.tv|ottera\.tv)$
There are also some cloudfront domains however they use hash, so it’s not possible to block the future hashes by now and they will appear again.
Edit 4: After some hiatus, I have one more update to add here. I decided to go uninstalling apps via adb, since it’s always possible to factory reset. However it didn’t go as planned at first.
After enabling developer options on TV, I connected to it with adb connect 192.168.X.XX. You’ll need android-platform-tools package on your PC to do this (it basically provides adb and fasboot). Anyway, after connected to it, I deleted apps with adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 app.name.here. I went medieval at first and deleted everything that has TCL in it. And that broke everything. I couldn’t even factory reset. Apparently TCL swapped some system apps with theirs. After some adrenaline, I realized that I can create another user, so that would bring all the apps I deleted.
I created user via adb with:
adb shell
pm create-user "NewUser"
and switched to that user via
am switch-user userID. To see users command pm list users. In my case the user ID was 10. After this, I was able to factory reset.
These are the apps I deleted to remove bloatware:
com.netflix.ninja
com.tcl.tv.tclhome_passive
com.tcl.dashboard
com.tcl.partnercustomizer
com.tcl.t_solo
au.com.stan.and
tv.wuaki.apptv
com.tcl.suspension
com.amazon.amazonvideo.livingroom
com.tcl.ui_mediaCenter
com.tcl.MultiScreenInteraction_TV
com.tcl.hotelmenu
com.tcl.guard
com.tcl.channelplus
com.tcl.miracast
com.tcl.inputmethod.international
com.tcl.waterfall.overseas
com.tcl.ttvs
com.tcl.useragreement
com.tcl.keyhelp
And these are the one I didn’t delete:
com.tcl.initsetup
com.tcl.factory.view
com.tcl.system.server
com.tvos
com.tcl.providers.config
com.tcl.autopair
com.tcl.android.webview
Since there is no Google account login this time, I had to install some apps via adb as well.
I did it with this command: adb install app_name.apk
I installed Projectivity Launcher for a better default launcher experience.
I also played with Shizuku and Canta and it’s great to be able to use those too.
Added an update.
I’m not aware of an alternative TV App for android tv. On my android TV live tv is also wrapped within the android interface but other sources like HDMI inputs are not.
If you can switch to HDMI sources outside the android apps then maybe the best thing to do is get a separate basic satellite tuner device?
It seems shitty that google are effectively hiding your inbuilt tv tuner behind an app with all their advertising and other crap.
Yeah it sucks. I believe it shouldn’t be hard to replace the default TV app but I couldn’t find any alternative so maybe it is.
It is technically possible to use a separate tuner but my mother got this TV because she didn’t want a separate box laying around in the first place. So I don’t think she would want that. Personally I’m a home server guy but I don’t want my mother to use her TV with Google’s bullshit either.
I don’t have traditional TV service so I’m unfamiliar with what “shit” Google is pushing through the TV app. However, if it’s what I suspect (ads), a possible option would be using a local DNS server (like pi-hole or Unbound) to block Google domains on your TV.
It’s worse. They add “personalized” ad TVs between the normal ones so these clutter the whole list. While it’s technically possible to just use the satellite list, it’s not a default behaviour and always revert to it when you switch to something else. While adding the domain on Pi-hole would solve the streaming part, it wouldn’t solve the cluttering part sadly.
Projectivy launcher.
By “default app” I assume you mean the launcher. Just google for “android tv launcher”.
If by “plain satellite TV” mean using one of the input sources on the TV (like HDMI, component, RF etc.)… this is unrelated to the launcher and would still work regardless of which one you used.
No, I’m not looking for a launcher. For example this is FLauncher but it doesn’t change the default TV app, it just changes the UI.
This is a built-in TV app along with the other apps where Google pushes things I don’t want to see.
What “TV app” is this exactly? I’ve never seen or heard of that before, and none of my google/android TVs or dongles have anything like that.
Also what make and model TV is this?
They basically hid the satellite tuner behind this with an app and it’s plagued with Google stuff. Now I have checked the app details and it says
com.tcl.tv. It didn’t occur to me before since I don’t know any other Android TV, so thanks for this. That’s nice to know. So what is the default TV app on standard Android TVs?The TV is TCL P635 by the way.
By satellite do you mean like a dish physically plugged in with a cable? I wasn’t aware of any “app” used for that on any TV… I just switch the input with the remote to like HDMI/component/RF/etc. and the normal android tv interface goes away completely.
Exactly. The DVB-S tuner is included in the TV. There is indeed input switch that includes HDMI 1,2,3 and AV and yet they made the TV input only accessible through an app.
Sounds like this might be specific to your brand of TV. I have a Sony and there’s a bunch of Sony junk on there that I disabled a long time ago. But my TV app doesn’t have any ads in it yet. I’m guessing your manufacturer added ads to their TV app and made a deal with Google to use them as the ad provider. Unfortunately, those apps are relatively proprietary since they are supposed to be primarily just a simple UI for the tuners and so mostly hardware specific. Not saying there aren’t replacements, but likely that would require someone to reverse engineer some of of the hardware firmware’s APIs rather than web APIs that most apps interface with and aren’t guaranteed to be the same across models. Those are only available if you own an actual TV, so it’s less likely to exist.
Anyway, my point is that your searching probably needs to focus on the TV rather than the Android/Google TV platform as a whole. Look on forums devoted to the TV brand. You may have more luck.
The other alternative might be to block the ads on your router, but that may or may not work or cause some unintended inconveniences. For example I have Google’s DNS blocked and my wifi constantly drops and reconnects even when I only want to watch locally hosted content because the TV thinks it’s offline and needs to fix the connection.
I actually checked XDA but there seems to be no ROMs currently. Maybe it’s possible to unlock the bootloader, I saw an OEM unlocking option while wandering developer options. But without a ROM it’s useless. Maybe someone will make a ROM but no idea.
I’m guessing your manufacturer added ads to their TV app and made a deal with Google to use them as the ad provider.
Yeah, it’s most likely this. And that’s why vendor locked it as well it seems.
The other alternative might be to block the ads on your router
Heh, I actually did this and will edit the main post for what I did.
Not sure about that launcher as I use Projectivy launcher, but I have the ability to hide certain apps. On it, my home screen only has the apps I use, nothing else no ads no “suggestions”
Launcher is not the problem here. The built-in TV app is the problem, as you cannot watch satellite without it and I couldn’t find alternatives for it. So it’s not possible to remove those “suggestions” from the whole TV list.
With my android tv I put the main menu in “Apps Only” mode to cut down on the ads… There is still the main screen ad you cannot avoid but thats it.
Then i sideloaded SmartTube, which is youtube but it skips the ads for you.
I also have a Plex server i stream from.and update by torrenting shows to the server separately when theyre interesting enough. This takes more time and effort but is definitely worth it to have control over your media.
There are no ads in the UI (thanks to launcher) but the problem is not the ads. There are ad TVs in between the TV channels list, which you can switch to satellite list to lose them but it’s not a default behaviour so every time you had to do this, which is not convenient. I also sideloaded SmartTube but was hoping to find an alternative to default TV app as well.
Oh sorry for misunderstanding. Its difficult to fathom watching scheduled programs anymore, but old habits do die hard. Best of luck to you.
Yeah they do. :) Personally I don’t watch TV at all when I’m alone but this is my mother’s TV. Also no problem! And thanks!
Think I use FLauncher, gets rid of ads on the home screen, and Smarttube for youtube. Instead of Netflix etc, I host my own plex server on my gaming pc for whenever I wanna watch some linux ISOs
I wish I could get those Linux ISOs through satellite tuner.
I think you need a different hardware solution entirely. If your goal is satellite, get a dedicated satellite box and feed it directly to you air gapped TV, and switch HDMI like the olden days.
No android box that supports streaming (with associated DRM and therefore bullshit) will offer true privacy. If you don’t care about streaming and want to integrate satellite into your own selfhosted content, try mini PC with an openELEC variant that supports multiple input, or use an AVR to feed multiple sources into it.
Well, technically it’s my mother’s TV and I’m trying to find a solution for the useless and infuriating parts of it. I installed SmartTubeNext for Youtube for example. But this default TV app is plagued with Google’s bullshit. The older TV had a satellite box and at least it didn’t have these problems. I suggested a custom Android box previously where I was gonna install a custom ROM but she didn’t want it, so I have to improvise.
- Invest in an Nvidia Shield
- Install LineageOS Android TV
I have two of these in the household, one of the best tech investments I made. No more homescreen ads.
I would install LineageOS if it was possible, there are no ROMs. I’m not even sure if the bootloader is unlockable.
This is why I recommended a Shield for which there is an actively maintained LineageOS. Yes, it’s an investment, but well worth it nowadays.
Not sure when we’ll fed up but I’ll keep this in mind, barely 2 years passed with this TV.
Maybe I don’t know enough of this, but would it be possible to install Kodi and use that and it’s plugins for satellite? Plex also had this, and maybe Jellyfin is a good option?
In that way, you can show your satellite channels but in their interface.
Maybe that can do the trick?
Actually I was hoping to use KODI but apprently it needs a backend server to reach Live TV which doesn’t work on Android. Needs a self-hosted solution. Same thing with Jellyfin or Plex.
Stremio
Smarttube
It’s great and already installed.
I’ve never used the tuner/TV part of my sony x900f, only HDMI inputs and apps. Is google pushing ads to live tv now?
Not exactly like that but there are 20K+ ad TVs in the same list with the satellite ones which has only 400 channels. It is possible to switch to satellite only list but it always reverts so you have to do this every time. So I need either a separate app or the modified version of this current one. However it’s possible that TV producers most likely don’t open their SDKs so no one can create an app without reverse engineering.
Oh wow, that sounds highly inconvenient. I wish it was as easy to re-flash android TVs as it is to re-flash android phones. Best of luck, and keep us updated if you find a solution!
Yeah, it is. To be honest, I lost hope for all-in-one solution. Currently the cheapest option seems to be get an HDMI satellite tuner and plug it in one the of the HDMI ports and use that as a TV source instead of the built-in one.
Thank you! If I find an app solution instead of this, I’ll edit my post. I can also try installing a backend for DVB-S on the network and connect the TV and use KODI but apparently that also requires a separate tuner, so the previous one seems easier.
Nintendo switch (w/ dock) with android installed buggy but daily drivable, you can get it with or without gapps. (You need to homebrew the switch first)
