Time for Launcher UI refresh. (Or at least an update)(with customization)

by PNGwolffman

On my Shield and Nexus I have so many apps installed that it takes forever to scroll to the right and open less used apps. Adding more rows would alleviate this problem.

But it made me think of all the other little nit picks I have with the Leanback Launcher. There's no customization, no way of hiding apps you don't want showing up (but may not want to disable). Most of us hate the OEM custom rows (Shield Hub, Xiaomi Recommends), it would be awesome to disable them and make our own custom rows. How About adding widget, bookmark, and shortcut functionality into the mix.

Android TV is heading in the right direction in terms of market penetration. But now Google needs to respond with more love to the platform. Bringing more features and improvements is a solid way of doing that.

What are your suggestions for improvements to Android TV UI and features?

whiprush

It'd be nice if the recommendations row worked more like Plex's On Deck than the seemingly random things it picks sometimes. It feels like the right idea the implementation just needs to be tweaked. Apps seem to either not support it (Netflix), or spam it with crap (YouTube).

So put the next episode of whatever series I am watching up there and maybe mix it up a little bit with the occasional new content to discover, but if something is sitting in there for a long time and I don't click of it then rotate it out.

getcashmoney

You can easily remove the Xiaomi row. Just go to settings, then apps, then scroll all the way to the right and disable the Xiaomi Custom Launcher or whatever it's called.

RockItGuyDC

Like you already mentioned, I'd like to see widgets. I don't need video recommendations, so let me get rid of them and put up a weather widget and a news ticker. Hiding apps on the home screen is also necessary. I'd also love to see Nova do a launcher, because I like how they keep a stock look and feel while adding great features.

chrissurra

Try Hal launcher you can do all those things you want

serpentxx

With how hackable android is, im suprised people on XDA or something havent created a toolkit or app to customise android tv rows, change wallpapers etc

wgn_luv

If you're finding it hard to find and launch apps, use the voice search to open 'em.