I ran into this last week on my nvidia shield. Here's a summary of the workaround I found (apologies for not having the specific package names offhand):
1. Install a new launcher from play store (I found one called "Basic Launcher" that matches the aesthetics of the default one). This doesn't solve the problem though, because Google disabled changing the default launcher for some user hostile reason, until you delete the existing launcher.
2. Enable development mode by tapping on the build number in settings
3. Connect an adb shell to your device
4. Remove the built in launcher
5. Reboot, select basic launcher when prompted
I own a few android TV devices, have recommended them to people in the past, and won't be purchasing another. I think what happened here should be illegal and shame on whoever worked on this.
Should find yourself in the launcher you installed
Note, I also stopped the google launcher (cleared data/reset defaults)/tested the new launcher in the middle. So if these steps don't seem to work, before doing step 5 try doing those and then retry.
This has been infuriating. It's even more pushy now that I do not log into a Google Account on the Nvidia Shield because it requires giving Nvidia full account access.
I have a Google notification that I cannot dismiss and 3 buttons on my App menu that all take me to the Play Store that I cannot remove. I'm livid.
This should be illegal and I'm frankly worried about Google's future if this is the kind of shit that they need to pull to continue to profit. Some of the brightest sw eng's around yet they do this shit rather than innovate. Lazy
>I manged to remove them...you go to All apps..scroll down to "Show system apps"...Android TV Home...Force stop... Uninstall updates => You will have old Home Screen
The big issue with major OS updates for me is that the security updates are bundled with the feature updates. That's why updating Android on my old phone stopped being feasable, when the increased performance requirements caused it to remain persistently hot and unresponsive.
Not just the security updates, but also things like APIs that prevent some applications from being compatible. Still, I have to wonder how much of a tradeoff would be possible when all the code is managed together, and the security and feature updates would be interwoven in the same repo. There is only so much manpower available to keep maintaining every version of each update.
> iOS now offers a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates until you’re ready to upgrade to the next major version.
To be clear Android the operating system offers targeted security updates. The device manufactures prefers to package them with feature updates. I guess it doesn’t matter for users.
Aren't many core components now taken care of by the Google Play Services library that's updated separately to avoid carriers and manufacturers from delaying critical security updates because they need to package and test these with all their bloatware crap?
So many updates these days have nothing to do with security, just with "feautes" nobody asked for apart from random product manager who needs his paycheck.
At first, I thought nVidia had done this, and I was cursing their name. After some searching, I discovered this is actually the stock launcher from Google instead.
nVidia should absolutely get ahead of this to preserve their own reputation.
That's Nvidia's choice to use default launcher. It's not like Google does not allow their partners to adapt OS. I agree about blaming Google first, but it's device from Nvidia, customer will not research where each particular application or part came from. If battery will blow up, nobody will blame some nameless chinese factory.
I absolutely blame Nvidia for this. I fully expect ads on my $25 Fire Stick. It's part of the bargain with Amazon. There is no way there should be ads on a $150-200 device, especially when they have been added in well after purchase.
Regardless of where they choose to lay blame, if Nvidia doesn't fix this I am done with their devices when it's time to replace them.
My $2000 top of the line Samsung tv is filled with ads. I assume LGs running android tv also got hit. Those TVs go up $3700 for their largest consumer OlED panel.
There have been complaints about these Google Launcher ads with Sony TVs for months. It's the reason why I didn't update to Android 9 and disabled all automatic updates.
Sony's "smart" TVs all come with Android TV (now called Google TV). Their top of the line OLED TV Sony Z9J starts at $8,000 in 75" and costs $10,000 in 85".
You mean, they should put in their own adds as well ? ;-)
(I mean, their reputation in some circless is AFAIK quite bad - 500+ MB drivers requiring registration on windows, lack of cooperation on Linux drivers, nerfing of some of their GPUs for shady reasons, attempts to buy ARM, etc.)
Do you know of any Android TV / smart tv box which has a USB port?
I am currently building a magic mirror like smart map. Basically, the goal is to have a big touchscreen with Google maps or Google earth running.
For touch screen support I bought a cheap USB infrared frame. I have tested it with the USB C port of my Android phone and it works well, but I have sadly not found any Android TV box which has an USB port.
I used to put Xibo on crappy boxes like this one here for work. They never had the same internals, even if I used the same supplier. They usually thought they were a phone when you dug into their software.
The very first one, ADT-1, does have a USB port. I have one, but it's a prototype kind of thing and Google never really sold these to the general public. I got mine at Google I/O. That said, you could probably find them on ebay.
Unfortunately I don't think Android is officially available for the Raspberry Pi.. But what I did to test my frame was installing Android x86 on a NUC. The reason why I want Android is because the Google Maps and Google Earth apps there already provide the touch experience I want.
I was really disappointed to find the same problems with tvOS having moved from a pair of Shields.
The ads hadn’t rolled out yet on Shield when I moved over but for some reason I just assumed Apple wouldn’t be shilling ads at me constantly for services I don’t have, or trying to sell me content I already have access to.
More fool me. Fire TV is worse, but I’ve heard Roku is much the same.
They’re probably talking about the Apple TV App on tvOS, which searches services you don’t necessarily have. You can get rid of it though, so I don’t know what the big deal is.
1. Install a new launcher from play store (I found one called "Basic Launcher" that matches the aesthetics of the default one). This doesn't solve the problem though, because Google disabled changing the default launcher for some user hostile reason, until you delete the existing launcher.
2. Enable development mode by tapping on the build number in settings
3. Connect an adb shell to your device
4. Remove the built in launcher
5. Reboot, select basic launcher when prompted
I own a few android TV devices, have recommended them to people in the past, and won't be purchasing another. I think what happened here should be illegal and shame on whoever worked on this.