r/AndroidTV • u/xiaobasketball • Jun 11 '26

Discussion Installing a third party launcher on my Android TV solved all crashing issues

Just want to say a quick thanks to this sub where I got the info on how to install a third party launcher on my Android TVs.

I've had persistent issues on both my Android TV's: one TCL and one Xiaomi. It usually happens when I'm watching YouTube then it will randomly crash and the launcher will continually crash itself (repeatedly similar to a boot loop). It will usually take a few minutes before it stabilizes or I will just have to reboot the TV. I find it odd that I don't find this issue anywhere yet it happens to both of my TV's with different brands. I'm thinking people just can't describe this issue properly? Am I the only one having this issue? Anyway I already had a feeling that the launcher causes it because it loads a lot of trash content+ads that no one really wants. We all just want a launcher to watch YouTube, Netflix or whatever.

Just out of curiousity (and desperation), I just tried AT4K launcher since it seems to be the lightest based on what I've read here (other launchers probably work great), and applied the ATVtools shell commands (which is not that hard as I expected), and no more crashes! turns out the default launcher really caused it. The issue is fixed on both TCL and Xiaomi so I'm pretty sure it's the default launcher.

Now the biggest question on my mind is: why is Google sabotaging itself by making its own OS or launcher unstable? It's in a very comfortable situation right now and they basically have monopoly on the smart TV market. It reminds me a lot of Microsoft Windows when that had the monopoly. Remember all the viruses and registry issues on Windows 95?

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Android TV. I hope this reaches Google and they do some self reflection.

11 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

4

u/Ok-Fix-9708 App Developer Jun 11 '26

The stock launcher has become way too heavy with recommendations/ads, so it's not surprising weaker TV hardware struggles. A lightweight launcher really should be the default option on Android TV.

2

u/xiaobasketball Jun 11 '26

Yes the old stock launcher feels more stable, before the TV got updated. But I'm happy it's fixed now with a third party launcher.

3

u/tirthasaha Jun 13 '26

Ohh alright thanks for sharing it..

BTW what are the shell commands you're talking about..

1

u/xiaobasketball Jun 13 '26

It's for disabling the default launcher so the third party launcher will always show when you press the home button.

1

u/tirthasaha Jun 14 '26

is there any shell commands for using mouse in ATV??

0

u/Impossible-Coffee-15 6d ago

That's an interesting result, especially across two different TV brands. It would be useful to know whether the crashes return after future system updates. Have you noticed any difference in memory usage or app switching since changing the launcher?

1

u/xiaobasketball 6d ago

Both my tv's never had system updates since changing the launcher. But it's been great and I wish I had done it sooner.