When shopping for a new TV recently, I wanted something inexpensive but not full of ads. Enter one of the greatest features of the modern era, "basic tv mode" on Google TV platform:
- https://9to5google.com/2021/02/24/google-tv-basic-tv-mode/
- https://support.google.com/googletv/answer/10408998
I purchased a TCL QM7, but presumably all Google TVs are similar: it prompts to configure "Google TV" or "Basic TV" mode on startup. After confirming that Google TV mode resembles the interface from Idiocracy, I factory reset and chose basic mode. The result is a streamlined Android interface with a few preinstalled apps (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) that aren't much of a bother if you just want to select HDMI inputs and call it a day.
Note that basic mode still forces you to agree to some terms before using the TV, just not as many as Google TV mode. The TV also has a microphone, but it can be disabled via a toggle switch on the bottom.
UPDATE: Apparently Google TV still shows ads on top of the home screen in basic mode. Blocking "androidtvlauncherxfe-pa.googleapis.com" in my router's DNS seems effective for now, but I'm not happy about this.
However, I was curious whether I could sideload APKs in basic mode. There are various guides suggesting that I use TCL's "Safety Guard" app, but on my QM7 this just launches Google Play and prompts me to sign in and activate Google TV. I also tried copying F-Droid.apk to a flash drive, but it was not visible in the file browser.
Here is the solution:
- System > About > Android TV OS build > tap several times to enable developer mode
- Enable USB debugging # TV should start listening on TCP port 5555
- Connect to WiFi and note the IP address
- From a PC on the network with adb installed:
$ adb connect ip_address_of_tv $ adb devices $ adb -s ip_address_of_tv:5555 install F-Droid.apk - Settings > Apps > See all apps > F-Droid > Open
F-Droid has poor support for TV remote input, so I had to plug in a USB mouse to download additional apps. An alternative is to run am start -a android.intent.action.SEARCH -n org.fdroid.fdroid/.views.main.MainActivity --es query "" from adb shell. Jellyfin for Android TV installs cleanly with an icon on the home screen, and works well with the TV remote.
This is all bog-standard Android stuff, so hopefully it should continue working on all Google TV products, assuming the manufacturers don't figure out how to lock out developer mode.