this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2025
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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.

(page 2) 22 comments
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Idk if this helps, but I recently learned Plasma BigScreen is a thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sounds nice but does it work on Android, especially without a backend?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)

It won't work on Android, but you could probably replace Android or attach a mini PC.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

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)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

Projectivy launcher.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

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?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Satellite TV is transmitted as DVB-S. Normally the TV itself does not decode it, but an external box.

How is the Satellite signal getting to your TV?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, the older TV had a separate box for it but that's included in this one. Just plugged into the cable that connects to satellite dish.

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