# aerial-tv: A Clean tvOS-Style Launcher for Android TV This repository profile is provided by osrepos.com, an open source repository discovery platform. Source: osrepos.com Repository profile: https://osrepos.com/repo/pengchujin-aerial-tv Generated for open source discovery and AI-assisted research. Aerial is a Kotlin launcher for Android TV, designed for Xiaomi, TCL and other China-market TVs. It replaces ad-heavy home screens with apps, wallpapers and aerial-video screensavers, and can be configured to take over at startup. GitHub: https://github.com/pengchujin/aerial-tv OSRepos URL: https://osrepos.com/repo/pengchujin-aerial-tv ## Summary Aerial is a Kotlin launcher for Android TV, designed for Xiaomi, TCL and other China-market TVs. It replaces ad-heavy home screens with apps, wallpapers and aerial-video screensavers, and can be configured to take over at startup. ## Topics - android - desktop-app - kotlin - tv-launcher - android-tv - tvos-style-launcher - television-customization ## Repository Information Last analyzed by OSRepos: Wed Oct 28 2026 00:00:30 GMT+0000 (Western European Standard Time) Detail views: 0 GitHub clicks: 0 ## Safety Notice OSRepos shares public repositories for knowledge and discovery only. Review source code, dependencies, licenses, and security implications before running or installing anything. ## Content ## Overview Aerial is a Kotlin launcher for Android TV, styled after Apple TV’s tvOS interface. It targets Xiaomi, TCL and other China-market televisions, as well as TV boxes and projectors, where the built-in home screen may be crowded with ads and recommendations. Aerial provides a cleaner place to launch apps, with wallpapers and aerial-video screensavers. It can be selected as the default home app on standard Android TV devices. On many China-market TVs, setup also uses ADB and Aerial’s accessibility and notification-listener services to return to the launcher if the manufacturer’s home screen takes over or the app is cleared. It does not replace the original system apps or remove firmware startup ads. ## Key Features - A home screen with a pinned app row and a grid of installed apps, including some hidden system apps. - App organization with folders, rearranging, hiding and uninstall shortcuts. - A phone-based configuration page for sorting apps, changing names and icons, and managing folders. - A control center for inputs, network, settings, volume, brightness and personalization. - Screensavers with Apple TV aerial videos, photos, clocks or videos added from a phone. - Wallpapers including built-in images, Bing’s daily selection, phone-uploaded photos and aerial video. - Layout and appearance options for app rows, clocks, focus styling, labels and key sounds. ## Use Cases - TV owners who want to replace a recommendation-heavy manufacturer home screen with a simpler app launcher. - Xiaomi or TCL users who want Aerial to open on startup and can complete the required ADB setup. - People who want to organize a TV’s apps from a phone rather than with the remote alone. - Owners of older Android 4.0–4.4 TVs or boxes who want to try the separate Aerial Lite build, with its documented limitations. ## Our Take Aerial is a focused option for Android TV owners who want a more restrained, customizable home screen, but its recent launch and reliance on one main contributor make device-specific compatibility worth checking before adoption. **Good fit if:** - Your device runs Android TV and you want an app- and wallpaper-centered home screen without an ad or recommendation feed. - You can use ADB when needed and are prepared to follow the device-specific setup guidance. - You value active development: the project is changing quickly, with recent releases and issue and pull-request activity. **Look elsewhere if:** - Your television runs webOS, Tizen or HarmonyOS, or it is an Android 4.x device that needs reliable launcher takeover. Lite is experimental, and some older devices cannot hand over the home key. - You cannot use ADB and your TV does not expose the settings needed to make Aerial the home screen. - You need a mature project with work distributed across its contributors. Most of the code comes from one person, despite a broader contributor base. ## Project Health | Signal | Value | |---|---| | Status | **New**: less than six months old and changing fast | | Last commit | 2026-10-27 (today) | | Commits, last 90 days | 100+ | | Releases, last 12 months | 55 (latest v1.62, 2026-10-27) | | Contributors | 29 (top contributor: 85% of commits) | | Issues closed, last 90 days | 84+ (typically closed in 1 day) | | Pull requests merged, last 90 days | 49 (typically merged in 0 days) | | Project age | 7 days | Checked on 2026-10-28 with the GitHub API. ## Project Facts - Language: Kotlin - License: MIT - Stars: 6.7k - Forks: 556 - Website: https://aerial.qust.me - Archived: no ## What You Need Detected in the repository: - Java (JVM) (from Gradle) ## Getting Started On macOS or Linux, connect the TV and computer to the same network, enable ADB debugging on the TV, and run: ```bash curl -fsSL https://aerial.qust.me/install.sh | KEEP_ADB=1 TV=192.168.1.20 bash ``` Replace the example address with your TV’s IP. The repository README covers pairing for Android 11 and later, manual installation, Windows setup, device compatibility and restoring the original launcher. ## License in Plain Words **MIT** (permissive). - Commercial use: yes - Modify and redistribute: yes - You must keep: the copyright and license notice - Share your changes: no A summary, not legal advice: the LICENSE file is what applies. ## Considerations - The project is very new and changing quickly. Frequent recent releases and active issue handling are encouraging, but device behavior still varies by manufacturer and firmware. - Development is concentrated in one contributor, which may affect continuity and response capacity. - The README documents devices that can only use Aerial with restrictions, as well as models where it cannot take over the home key. Check the compatibility notes for your exact device. - Taking over the home screen on many China-market TVs requires ADB permissions and Aerial’s accessibility and notification-listener services. A USB-installed APK alone may not configure those behaviors. - Aerial Lite for Android 4.0–4.4 is explicitly a test release, has fewer features than the main app and has not been tested on real 4.x televisions. - The project does not remove firmware-level startup ads. Its MIT license applies to the project; the README separately identifies third-party assets and data with their own terms.