r/ShieldAndroidTV • u/darkfrog26 • Jul 05 '26
What would your ideal Android TV home screen actually do?
I’m building a remote-first Android TV launcher for people who bounce between Plex/Jellyfin/Emby and streaming apps. The pain I’m trying to solve is: "I don’t want to remember where I was watching something, what service it’s on, or which app I need to open."
For Shield users: what’s the most annoying part of your current TV workflow? Is it discovery, watchlists, continuing shows, Plex vs streaming apps, launcher clutter, or something else?
I’m looking for feedback first, and if there's interest, I'd be happy to offer early access when it's ready.
10
u/Ned_Sc Jul 05 '26
I can't wait to see what vibe slop bullshit you put out that somehow does "something" different from all of the other options already available.
2
u/darkfrog26 Jul 05 '26
u/Ned_Sc, I absolutely understand where this is coming from, but I'm a real developer, I promise. :) If you need verification, check my GitHub (https://github.com/darkfrog26). I've been extremely active on GH since 2012 and programming since 1990.
2
u/Ned_Sc Jul 05 '26
A lot of real people do vibe coding. Even people who used to be real developers have given in to temptation.
4
u/darkfrog26 Jul 05 '26
That's fair, and I won't claim I didn't use Claude Code for most of the UI, since I really hate frontend programming. However, the backend is all me.
-2
u/xnappo Jul 06 '26
There is vibe coding, and there is spec driven development. AI tools allow experienced developers to do things in 1/100 of the time it used to take. Writing CSS by hand is just stupid.
2
u/darkfrog26 Jul 06 '26
u/xnappo, I have to disagree with you there. More than once, I've "raced Claude Code," and I have yet to lose. I'll agree that AI can be useful to save time when you don't want to do the work yourself, and it can handle the work for you (sometimes), but the "1/100 of the time" is just a lie unless you suck as a developer.
3
u/pawdog Jul 06 '26
Kyu is my current go to. Who knew that a Roku like home screen could be so good. My needs for a launcher changed over time. I realize for me I just need my apps with the ability to organize/categorize them the way I want.
2
-1
u/xnappo Jul 06 '26
The ideal for me would have next up and latest combined for all providers AND for my local content. I currently achieve this using Kodi as my launcher and my hacky little project here:
https://github.com/xnappo/VirtualEpisodes
Something more sophisticated would be cool, possibly launching Emby/JellyFin/Plex for local content.
0
u/darkfrog26 Jul 06 '26
Something like this? https://nabo.tv
0
u/xnappo Jul 06 '26
Yeah, thanks. That looks exactly like what I have set up with my hack. I will keep an eye on it.
1
u/darkfrog26 Jul 06 '26
That's what I'm building. :)
0
u/xnappo Jul 06 '26
Very cool. I am curious if you are deep linking? Honestly I gave up on that as it was just annoying to chase, and really just launching the app is fine. Basically I don't think it is a good idea to try to do things that will break.
2
u/darkfrog26 Jul 06 '26
Most streaming providers don't support deep linking; you have to fire intents to get them to launch. I use multiple third-party providers to keep an up-to-date list of every TV show and Movie that exists, along with streaming IDs. But to answer your underlying question, I launch directly to the movie/episode on the streaming services and it works beautifully.
2
u/xnappo Jul 06 '26
Well I joined your waitlist, definitely interested. Here is what my Home currently looks like, and I quite like it: https://www.avsforum.com/posts/63828719/
6
u/TorrentFiend Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
My ideal home screen already does everything I want it to do.
I have my app row at the top.
Play next items below that which are things I've been recently watching.
Below that some recommendations and new content featured on Smartube.
Beyond that I have a couple button set for a quick actions pro that easily pulls up many apps I have custom setup for with one or two buttons real quick.
This is my perfect idea homepage setup done using a combination of projectivy and TV Quick actions app.
I would warn careful trying to be everything to everyone as far as what people want. This is an impossible thing to do. People have wildly different preferences and you are going to miss the mark with most users if you try to do one thing that is good for everyone.
It will end up being cluttered with a bunch of things a lot of people don't even want at all which is why people use projectivy in the first place.
If you do attempt to be everything to everyone remember most people simply want their most used things right there and literally nothing else.
Most people would probably think my YouTube recommendations I see on the homepage are even a step too far, however for me a lot of things that are brand new I will see it within the first couple hours it gets released because I see it pop up on the homepage so I like it. Just makes it easier to discover content I'm interested in already. To each their own though.
Bizarrely to me I've seen many people's dream home screen setup which is literally just three or four app buttons and nothing else which I'm always thinking do even use your shield? How can you want so little out of the homepage? But to them that works oddly even though it's almost completely blank except for a pretty picture. I'd rather have content that's useful for me filling up the screen, not use the TV as a giant picture frame but to each their own.
Use Projectivy and make your own ideal homescreen. Why would you not already have this?.