Plume Launcher

Light as a feather. A minimal, ad-free home screen for Android TV and Google TV.

Forest Mist · Dark theme · Frosted glass

Alpine Dawn · Light theme · Frosted glass

Moonlit Ridge · Dark theme · Clear glass

Plume replaces the cluttered stock home screen with the two things you actually use: your apps and what you were watching. No ads, no sponsored rows, no account and no tracking.

Highlights

• Glass design. Tiles, cards and settings in Clear or Frosted glass, or solid. The selected tile rises out of its row and its edge catches the light. Text and icons change colour to stay readable on any wallpaper.

  

• Live wallpapers and Aerial Views, built in. 250+ Apple, Amazon and NASA scenes as your wallpaper or screensaver, or your own MP4. Each scene downloads once, only when you pick it.

• Wallpapers your way. Built-in photos, an optional 4K pack, Bing's photo of the day, pictures of your shows, a photo folder or USB drive, or photos sent from your phone by QR code. The Wallpaper theme picks light or dark from the picture.

• Continue Watching from Android TV's Watch Next list and from apps with their own channel, such as Stremio and Nuvio.

• Clean apps row. Monochrome logos, colour logos or banners in three sizes. Rearrange, hide, or sort by most used. A PIN keeps the layout safe from small hands.

• Home button on Google TV, even where the stock launcher can't be replaced. Holding Home still opens the Google TV dashboard.

• Remote keys and Sources. Remap the TV, Netflix or Settings button, with a separate action on hold. Switch HDMI inputs from the top bar.

• Tiny and fast. A 0.4 MB APK with no third-party libraries and no background services. It updates itself from GitHub.

How it compares

Measured on a Hisense Google TV (Android 12, 1.8 GB RAM):

	Plume	Projectivy Launcher	Google TV launcher
APK size	0.4 MB	~10–14 MB	~25 MB
RAM while running	~50–70 MB	~65–70 MB	~93 MB, plus a ~22 MB helper process
Extra background services	None	2	1 always-on helper
Return to home from an app	~95 ms	–	–

Install

You need Android TV or Google TV on Android 8.0 or newer.

1. Install the latest APK from Releases:
   • Downloader app: enter code 2125356. It always points to the latest release.
   • USB drive: copy the APK over and open it with a file manager.
   • adb: adb install Plume-<version>.apk
2. Open Plume from your apps. Plume settings opens and shows a Finish setup card.
3. Allow the TV listings permission when asked. Continue Watching needs it.
4. Make the Home button open Plume. Find your TV below.

Make Home open Plume

Your TV	What to do
Google TV / Android TV	Plume settings → Home & remote → Home opens Plume, then turn on Plume: Home button in Accessibility. Or choose Plume as the Home app.
Android 13+, switch greyed out	Unlock it once over adb. See Android 13 and newer.
Fire TV	The Home button service covers Amazon's home with Plume. See Fire TV.
Any TV, from a computer	Run tools/plume-install.sh. See Set up over adb.
Other tools	A launcher app such as Launcher Manager, or adb shell pm disable-user on the stock launcher.

Warning

Do not disable the stock launcher. On many TVs this breaks setup screens, input switching or the boot itself, and some TVs then need a factory reset. Use the Home button service instead. plume-install.sh --disable-stock-launcher is the only safe path, works on Fire TV only, and can undo itself.

Android 13 and newer

Android 13 and newer

Android 13+ greys out the Accessibility switch for sideloaded apps, and most Google TV builds hide Allow restricted settings. If your TV shows that menu, use it: Settings → Apps → Plume → ⋮ → Allow restricted settings. If not, unlock it once from a computer or a phone adb app on the same network:

1. Settings → System → About: press Android TV OS build seven times.

2. Settings → System → Developer options: turn on Network debugging (USB debugging on some TVs).

3. Run, with the address Plume shows:

   adb connect <tv-address>:5555
   adb shell pm grant dev.plume android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

4. Accept the prompt on the TV, then choose Try again in Plume. Plume turns the service on by itself.

The same grant also lets Plume set the Gallery screensaver and turn its Home service back on after a force-stop. Everything else works without it.

Fire TV

Fire TV

Fire OS never gives the Home key to apps. The Home button service watches for Amazon's home and covers it with Plume. Limits:

• On Fire OS 7, Plume shows about 5 seconds after Home. Android holds back app starts for 5 seconds after Home. See #153.
• Amazon's Network status screen opens with no highlighted button while the service is on. Press Down until Advanced is highlighted, or turn the service off for a moment.
• Remote keys can't be set. Fire OS doesn't pass the keys to Plume.

If Home doesn't reach Plume, run tools/plume-firetv-probe.sh and post the result in #153.

Set up over adb

Set up over adb

Turn on adb debugging on the TV, then from a computer on the same network:

./plume-install.sh 192.168.1.20      # add -a plume.apk to install Plume first; -n shows the plan only

The script detects the TV (Fire OS version, Google TV or Android TV), shows what it will change and asks first. It grants WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS, turns on the Home button service and checks each change on the TV. It writes each change to a recovery record (/data/local/tmp/plume-install.state) before it makes it. ./plume-install.sh --undo reverts only what the script changed; it does not uninstall Plume.

Tests run against a fake adb, no TV needed: sh tools/plume-install-test/run.sh.

Volume and the accessibility warning

• Holding Volume moves one step? Many TVs act on the volume keys before an accessibility service sees them. Turn on Plume settings → Home & remote → Smooth volume. In exchange, Home shows Google TV for about a second first. Smooth volume stays off while any Remote keys are set.
• Android shows the same generic warning for every accessibility service. Plume's service listens for the Home key, your Remote keys and the stock launcher appearing. It cannot read screen content.

Using Plume

To	Do this
Rearrange apps	Hold OK on an app, or Plume settings → Apps row → Rearrange apps
Remove an app from the row	Hold OK on it, then Remove from row. It stays in All apps.
Pin an app from All apps	Open All apps and hold OK on the app
Hide a Continue Watching card	Hold OK on it, then Remove from Continue Watching
Change glass, theme or wallpaper	Plume settings → Style
Change app size, icon style or names	Plume settings → Apps row → Size, Icon style or App names
Choose apps for Continue Watching	Plume settings → Shows row → From apps
Change the clock	Plume settings → Clock & weather → Clock style or Clock size
Move, hide or add a top-bar icon	Hold OK on the icon, then Move, Hide or Add icon
Remap a remote key	Plume settings → Home & remote → Remote keys → Add a key, then press it
Lock the layout	Plume settings → PIN lock. Forgot the PIN? Android Settings → Apps → Plume → Clear data.
Update Plume	Plume settings → Updates
Open the Google TV dashboard	Hold Home

Largest app size

Remote keys can open an app or input, send a media key, or open Back, Recent apps, Notifications, Quick settings, the Power menu or Android settings. Back, OK, the arrows, Home, Power and volume can't be changed, so you can't lock yourself out. The PIN lock keeps the layout safe; it is not parental control.

Wallpapers and screensavers

• Live wallpapers: Plume settings → Style → Wallpaper → Live wallpapers. Browse Apple Aerial (139), Amazon Fire TV (112) and NASA (4) scenes, or Surprise me. Add your video from phone… takes an H.264 or HEVC MP4 up to 1080p and 350 MB. Videos play muted and stop when you leave Home.

• Your photos: Add from phone… shows a QR code. Scan it on the same Wi-Fi and upload. Or pick Choose a folder on this TV… for a folder or USB drive that rotates on a timer. Or copy files over adb:

  adb push my-wallpaper.jpg /sdcard/Android/data/dev.plume/files/wallpapers/

• Aerial Views screensaver: Plume settings → Screensaver → Screensaver → Aerial Views. It uses the scenes you downloaded for the wallpaper, so nothing downloads twice. Press ◀ or ▶ to skip.

• Gallery screensaver: public-domain landscape paintings (4.7 MB), downloaded only while you use it.

Plume shows every wallpaper as it is, with no dark fades on top.

Privacy

Plume has no analytics, no ads and no account. It only connects to the internet to:

• load poster images for your Continue Watching items
• check this repository's GitHub releases for a new version, once a day, and download it when you choose to update
• download the Gallery paintings from this repository, only if you choose that screensaver
• check this repository for wallpapers when you open Built-in. Plume updates photos you already downloaded. New photos download only when you select them.
• get the Bing picture of the day (about 300 KB), only if you choose it as your wallpaper. Plume sends a request to bing.com when the home screen opens: once a day, or once an hour until the picture has changed that day. Bing sees the TV's IP address and its language and country. Plume keeps one picture and deletes it when you choose another wallpaper.
• download one NASA Earth video from svs.gsfc.nasa.gov, only when you select that scene. NASA sees the TV's IP address.
• download an Apple Aerial video from sylvan.apple.com or an Amazon Fire TV video from Amazon's Fire TV CDN, only when you select that scene. The source sees the TV's IP address.
• fetch the weather, only if you turn it on. It looks up your approximate location from your IP address via ipwho.is, then gets the forecast from Open-Meteo. The Auto theme uses the same location for sunrise and sunset, with no extra request. Clearing Plume's data removes it.

Add from phone… runs a small upload page on the TV itself, reachable only on your home network and only while that screen is open. Photos and videos go straight from your phone to the TV and nowhere else.

Troubleshooting

The Home button still opens the old home screen

Check that Plume settings → Home & remote → Home opens Plume shows On. If the app was force-stopped, Android turns its accessibility service off; open Plume once (or grant the optional adb permission above) to restore it.

Continue Watching is empty

Make sure the TV listings permission is allowed (Settings → Apps → Plume → Permissions), and that the app you watch publishes to Android TV's Watch Next list. Check Plume settings → Shows row → From apps too.

The screensaver option says it needs an adb permission

Google TV hides third-party screensavers from its own settings, so Plume needs the one-time WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS grant shown above to switch it for you.

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/aradhyas8/Plume_Launcher.git
cd Plume_Launcher
./gradlew assembleRelease

The APK is written to app/build/outputs/apk/release/. Without a keystore.properties file, release builds are signed with your local debug key, which is fine for installing your own build.

Contributing

Bug reports, design ideas, translations and pull requests are welcome. Plume stays small on purpose, so please read CONTRIBUTING.md first: it lists what's in and out of scope and how to send a change. Open an issue before starting on a feature.

Credits

• Screensaver paintings (public domain, scans via Wikimedia Commons; files in screensaver/):
  • Frederic Edwin Church: The Heart of the Andes, The Icebergs, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi
  • Ivan Shishkin: Rye
  • Jasper Francis Cropsey: Autumn on the Hudson River
  • Martin Johnson Heade: Thunder Storm on Narragansett Bay
• Wallpaper pack: ten 3840 × 2160 WebP images in wallpapers/, available as an optional 14.9 MB download: Alpine Dawn, Forest Mist, Coastal Dusk, Autumn Canopy, Arctic Aurora, Sand Dunes, Aerial River, Ocean Reef, Cherry Blossom, and Moonlit Ridge.
• Aerial Views: the Apple Aerial scene list comes from the Aerial Views project (GPL-3.0). Plume's Aerial Views screensaver is not part of that app. NASA scenes: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio and Earth Observatory.
• App logos: Simple Icons (CC0). All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
• HDMI input and settings icons: Material Symbols by Google (Apache 2.0)

License

Copyright (C) 2026 aradhyas8

Plume Launcher is free software, released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. You may use, modify and redistribute it, but any distributed version, modified or not, must also be released under the GPL-3.0 with its full source code.