If you look in the official (built-in) Kodi repo there's an Android installer add-on (by Lunatixz) which allows you to do updates from within Kodi itself. That should perhaps be a viable alternative?
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=322783
[APP] AppStarter v4.0 | AppDrawer and Kodi / SPMC Updater for Amazon FireTV
- Thread starter sphinx02
- Start date
If you look in the official (built-in) Kodi repo there's an Android installer add-on (by Lunatixz) which allows you to do updates from within Kodi itself. That should perhaps be a viable alternative?
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=322783
Latest release v4.0 i have seen is old... can someone revive this product and update this ! can someone customize this to show leanback icons instead of simple icons ???
https://i.imgur.com/zGeMPuS.png
https://i.imgur.com/zGeMPuS.png
Okay guys, here's the deal:
I still haven't heard back from @sphinx02 yet, I'm sure he's busy with other things. I decided to post the patched APK for users with a few caveats:
- This is an unofficial test build. It worked for myself and a few others
- I changed the version number to a previous version, and auto-update worked and installed the official build of 3.2.3 alongside the patched version. This means that when @sphinx02 releases a new official build, this build will install his. You will need to manually remove this version through Settings -> Applications -> Manage Installed Applications.
- Previous settings will not be preserved because the package name is different from the official release.
- All changes are posted to github in my fork here: https://github.com/jkchr1s/FireStarter
- Fallback home press detection does NOT work. You must use the ADB method in settings. This means, if you install this apk over adb, you must disconnect adb then go in to settings, system, developer options, and disable adb then re-enable adb. After this has completed, you should be able to launch FireStarter and untick and retick the box for ADB detection.
- This build will only work on FireOS 5. I had to change the minimum sdk to build it on my machine, so I'm not sure it will run on older versions of FireOS.
- I intentionally left the version number the same so that the in-app updater will not try to install the official Amazon blocked version 3.2.3.
- Home button double-press is now overridden by FireOS. If you figure out a workaround, please share it!
- Make sure to thank @sphinx02 for this awesome app! I've been using it for a long time on a daily basis, and very much appreciate his work!
So, since the built-in updater successfully installs official versions, attached is the working build to get you by until @sphinx02 can release a proper update.
Enjoy.
can someone customize this to show leanback icons instead of simple icons ???
Hi guys!
- brand new stick
- FireStarter, Kodi 17.6 and Build installed
Qs:
How am I able to ...
a) ... get Kodi to TV-sticks mainpage (to avoid the step to start FireStarter first)
b) ... get Kodi-Build-logo to TV-sticks mainpage
c) ... get Kodi-Build startend while booting TV-Stick
d) ... get that Homebutton-thing working again (2x Build and 1x regulär Stick-Menü [or vise versa])
Thx
- brand new stick
- FireStarter, Kodi 17.6 and Build installed
Qs:
How am I able to ...
a) ... get Kodi to TV-sticks mainpage (to avoid the step to start FireStarter first)
b) ... get Kodi-Build-logo to TV-sticks mainpage
c) ... get Kodi-Build startend while booting TV-Stick
d) ... get that Homebutton-thing working again (2x Build and 1x regulär Stick-Menü [or vise versa])
Thx
a and b; I have found launcher the app from amazons launcher gets the Kodi app into recents (long press home button, scroll to kodi)
c and d; here is a link how to install alternate launchers with home button mods.
https://xdaforums.com/fire-tv/development/app-leanback-launcher-fire-tv-t3750451
---------- Post added at 09:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 AM ----------
Launcher hijack;
https://xdaforums.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026
G
GuestK00326
Guest
Can you even change icon packs on this launcher?
and can i disable ADB after i have installed it?
and can i disable ADB after i have installed it?
Last edited:
Lost side menu 
/
**Solved - found you just go to any app icon in the left column and then click left again**
I have switched off the side menu, but also hidden the AppStarter app.....how do I now get into the AppStarter settings?
Any ideas?
Thanks
/**Solved - found you just go to any app icon in the left column and then click left again**
I have switched off the side menu, but also hidden the AppStarter app.....how do I now get into the AppStarter settings?
Any ideas?
Thanks
Last edited:
Dear sir, i find very good AppStart 4.0 on Basic Fire Tv Stick (Italy), but now how can I do to use "duplicate screen"? i cant use long press home botton, it doesnt work yet. Thank you in advance.
Did you look into the settings? unless i am missing your question...
AppStarter settings - Select Show system apps... then hide all the other stuff you don't want
AppStarter Settings - Wallpaper / Background image.. Select the image....
First of all THANK YOU for your amazing launcher!
I have only one question about AppStarter, is it possible to change color of selected icon box from yellow to neutral grey/white and maybe give that box little bit more rounded corners?
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AppStarter
AppStarter: An AppDrawer and Kodi / SPMC Updater for Amazon FireTV:
This App is Open-Source, visit AppStarter on GitHub: https://github.com/sphinx02/AppStarter
- Lists all user-installed apps including sideloaded / adb installed apps.
- Apps can be easily sorted / ordered by settings-button or click-drag-and-drop (long-click to start drag-and-drop).
- Apps can be hidden from app drawer (see settings).
- Kodi and SPMC can be installed and updated directly out of AppStarter (see Updates section).
- Possibility to change the time of no action the FireTV waits to go to sleep.
- Possibility to import / export settings.
- Show system and device informations like Android-Version, Build-Version, Hostname, WiFi- / WLAN Name (SSID), IP Adress and Uptime.
- Automatic update mechanism.
- __No root required!__
Reviews / Articles:
- Just google for "AppStarter FireTV"
Install AppStarter:
Easy installation in less than 5 minutes with only the FireTV
https://github.com/sphinx02/AppStarter/wiki/Install-AppStarter-and-Kodi-(only-FireTV-needed)
Standard installation via ADB
- If you don't know how to sideload/install apps via ADB, read a tutorial (e.g. this one)
- Download latest AppStarter APK and sideload/install with adb:
- adb install -r AppStarter_v4.0.apk
- Enjoy..
- TO UPDATE APP: Simply use the integrated updater mechanism.
Why using it:
- AppStarter provides a nice possiblity to show all user installed Apps.
- AppStarter provides an Updater for Kodi and SMPC which allows to keep these two Apps up to date in a very convinient way.
Changelog:
v4.0
- Renamed App to AppStarter
- Renamed package to de.belu.appstarter
- Removed home button observation as not needed anymore
v3.2.3
- Added SPMC updater (possibility to install and update SPMC).
- Added simplified chinese translation (thx lostindark).
v3.2.2
- Fixed wrong app start of apps using the leanback-lib (e.g. MagineTV)
- Updated translations
v3.2.1
- Fixed "parse packet error" for Kodi updates
- Added setting to decide which Kodi version is installed / updated (stable, beta / rc, nightly)
v3.2
- Added possiblity to install / update Kodi (see Updates section). Thank you very much attilaszasz for your contribution!
- Made "Background for App Names" a bit brighter. Thanks semitop7 for your contribution!
- Added semi-transparent background for system, updates and settings section if the "Background for App Names" setting is enabled. Thanks semitop7 for your contribution!
v3.1.1
- Fixed flashing screen / start app problems (disabled JumpbackWatchdog for FireOS5).
- Updated translations
v3.1
- Added setting to show background for app names in the app drawer (helps to read app names when wallpaper is used).
- Added setting to hide left selection bar when on the main screen (app drawer).
- Fixed backup (export/import) settings feature for FireOS5.
- Updated russian and ukranian translations (thanks sem_top7 and Kramar111).
v3.0
- Optimized ADB connection mechansims for FireOS5. Should now work without disable + enable ADB after reboots. Still no parallel ADB connections possible.
- Added shortcut to ADB settings in AppStarter settings.
- Added first try of completely new detecting home-button clicks without adb (which is also used as Fallback after 3 failed ADB connects). The new non-ADB observation of the home-button works only if you are on the original Amazon FireTV Home screen. This means if you are in any other App like Kodi, you have to click the home button once to get to the Amazon FireTV Home screen and then you can single or double click the home-button to perform the action desired. In practice that means, you can also add one home button click if you are in another app. If you are for example in Kodi, you can do a double-click to the home-button to perform the single click operation and according to this you can do a triple click to perform the double click action. Sorry for this strange behaviour but due to technical limitations of Android, there is no other possibility without ADB at the moment.
- Removed restart-option and replaced it with notification how to restart with the remote.
- Better handling of the jumback-detection -> fixes some unnessecary jumpbacks especially when the click-action is "- No Action -" or "FireTV Home". You can again safely use the jumpback detection (e.g. with default of 5000ms)!
- Option to start click-action apps with FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK -> Previous instances of the App are cleared before start (e.g. AppStarter then starts always on the first icon which is useful for some people with programmable remote's).
- Everything only tested with FireOS4 on FireTV and with FireOS5 Developer Preview on FireTV-Stick. I am not yet able to test on a FireTV2 with the real FireOS5.
v2.7.2
- Show device uptime and boot time in system tab
- Back button returns to main app view if on another tab
- Removed Go-To-Sleep functionality, as it is anyway possible via long-press home-button. The existing implementation was not reliable enough and made some problems under specific circumstances.
v2.7.1
- Added russian and ukranian translations (any other language contributions are welcome). Thx to XDA user sem_top7 for the translations!
- Fixed bug in file selector (no image files found in root-folder)
- Fixed (hopefully) bug in manual language selection which sometimes lead to a mixed language
v2.7
- Little redesign of the GUI
- Added date & time information at top
- Made the app-icons a little bit smaller (5 apps per row and still big enough)
- Added customizable icon-size in settings
- Added possibility to export / import settings
- Added more informations to the system-tab
- Added possibility to modify the time of no action till the FireTV goes to sleep
- Added possibility to go directly to sleep from AppStarter (little hack, setting the time-to-sleep to a very short value and set it back after wake-up)
- NOTES:
- Be carefull with the go-to-sleep feature, only tested it on FireTV not on FireTV-Stick. Advanced users give me feedback if it works please .
- The setting of the general time of no action till FireTV goes to sleep is safe to use. It is a default Android-Setting which can be edited by apps (I don't understand why Amazon isn't giving us this feature..).
v2.6
- Custom wallpaper via settings (JPG / PNG cropped to fit screen)
- Renamed "All Apps" to "Apps" and "Infos" to "System"
- Added WiFi name to System-Tab
- Added possibility to reboot FireTV to System-Tab
- Added FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK and FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK to startup-action (perhaps helps some people reporting weird colors when starting Kodi as startup-action)
- NOTES:
- Tried to add sleep-button to bring FireTV to sleep-mode but it seems as this is not possible without root, if anyone knows anything else, please report...
- Settings ex-/import and more themeable GUI are still on my TODO.
- Check out settings-button: Added menu for apps to move app (same than long-click) or to open app-specific settings
- Items in the left selection bar are now also clickable with a mouse
- Added german translation and manual setting of the current language
- Spelling corrections
- Apps are not started with FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK which lets app resume their last activity.
- Replaced some icons / made some visual optimizations
- For timing settings, now the correct inputtype is used (number only keyboard is displayed).
- Adjusted default-timings (only for fresh installations).
- Minor fixes.
- Implemented jumpback prevention watchdog which prevents amazon home from coming to the foreground after click-actions (configurable in settings). Thanks XDA user harlekinrains for this idea.
- Removed now unnessecary action-delay setting.
- Added FireTV settings application to apps-list. Thanks XDA user fsi09 for this idea.
- Some code cleanup / optimization.
- Fixed ugly bug in settings (kind of endless loop), which caused huge cpu-load and weird behaviour of settings storage.
- Fixed bug when sysapp were set visible and apps were reordered, sysapps were not hided again on settings change.
- Allow greater double-click interval and action delay (up to 1000ms).
- Added adjustable double-click interval and action-delay
- Reordered settings
- When going to app-drawer, first icon is automatically focused (configurable in settings)
- Update service (able to update itself)
- Fixed problems on FireTV-Stick (which by default has multiple local adb-devices), thanks to harlekinrains for logcat-infos
- Added AppStarter version to info view
- Real Home-Button detection, even double-home-button-clicks are captured
- Completely new GUI with settings and additional Infos
- Completely configurable actions
- Hide-App feature
Screenshots:
.55Okay guys, here's the deal:
I still haven't heard back from @sphinx02 yet, I'm sure he's busy with other things. I decided to post the patched APK for users with a few caveats:
- This is an unofficial test build. It worked for myself and a few others
- I changed the version number to a previous version, and auto-update worked and installed the official build of 3.2.3 alongside the patched version. This means that when @sphinx02 releases a new official build, this build will install his. You will need to manually remove this version through Settings -> Applications -> Manage Installed Applications.
- Previous settings will not be preserved because the package name is different from the official release.
- All changes are posted to github in my fork here: https://github.com/jkchr1s/FireStarter
- Fallback home press detection does NOT work. You must use the ADB method in settings. This means, if you install this apk over adb, you must disconnect adb then go in to settings, system, developer options, and disable adb then re-enable adb. After this has completed, you should be able to launch FireStarter and untick and retick the box for ADB detection.
- This build will only work on FireOS 5. I had to change the minimum sdk to build it on my machine, so I'm not sure it will run on older versions of FireOS.
- I intentionally left the version number the same so that the in-app updater will not try to install the official Amazon blocked version 3.2.3.
- Home button double-press is now overridden by FireOS. If you figure out a workaround, please share it!
- Make sure to thank @sphinx02 for this awesome app! I've been using it for a long time on a daily basis, and very much appreciate his work!
So, since the built-in updater successfully installs official versions, attached is the working build to get you by until @sphinx02 can release a proper update.
Enjoy.23v3
Big update. I have still no own FireTV2 with the real FireOS5 but there is one on the way to me. For now I tried to work with the Develooper Preview of FireOS5 on my FireTV-Stick. I optimized the ADB-Observation and created as an alternative a completely new non-ADB home-button detection with some disadvantages. Please read the changelog carefully and let me know if the features are working as described on your FireTVs, FireTV-Sticks and FireTV2s
v3
- Optimized ADB connection mechansims for FireOS5. Should now work without disable + enable ADB after reboots. Still no parallel ADB connections possible.
- Added shortcut to ADB settings in settings.
- Added first try of completely new detecting home-button clicks without adb (which is also used as Fallback after 3 failed ADB connects). The new non-ADB observation of the home-button works only if you are on the original Amazon FireTV Home screen. This means if you are in any other App like Kodi, you have to click the home button once to get to the Amazon FireTV Home screen and then you can single or double click the home-button to perform the action desired. In practice that means, you can also add one home button click if you are in another app. If you are for example in Kodi, you can do a double-click to the home-button to perform the single click operation and according to this you can do a triple click to perform the double click action. Sorry for this strange behaviour but due to technical limitations of Android, there is no other possibility without ADB at the moment.
- Removed restart-option and replaced it with notification how to restart with the remote.
- Better handling of the jumback-detection -> fixes some unnessecary jumpbacks especially when the click-action is "- No Action -" or "FireTV Home". You can again safely use the jumpback detection (e.g. with default of 5000ms)!
- Option to start click-action apps with FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK -> Previous instances of the App are cleared before start (e.g. the App then starts always on the first icon which is useful for some people with programmable remote's).
- Everything only tested with FireOS4 on FireTV and with FireOS5 Developer Preview on FireTV-Stick. I am not yet able to test on a FireTV2 with the real FireOS5.
21AppStarter
Dear Community,
a lot of time has passed now since my last update and I guess many of you are already on any other Fork. I really like they way jkchr1s and some others are helping to keep the open source project alive. After Amazon changed a lot since the first days of the Amazon FireTV, I decided to change the App also. As it is now possible to start any sideloaded Apps from the recents menu and to open an App overview with a double click to the home button, the whole home button observation is not needed anymore.
I decided to put the still useful things of the App into the focus and to start clean with a new name: AppStarter is an AppDrawer and Kodi / SPMC installer and updater. I hope you can understand my decision and I also hope that you follow me with AppStarter like you did it previously. Please let me know if there is anything that can make AppStarter more useful!
Best regards
Lukas aka sphinx02
AppStarter v4.0
- Renamed App to AppStarter
- Renamed package to de.belu.appstarter
- Removed home button observation as not needed anymore
19v3.1
Again an update which fixes the settings export on FireOS5 and adds two new features. Thank you all for your feedback and help!
v3.1
- Added setting to show background for app names in the app drawer (helps to read app names when wallpaper is used).
- Added setting to hide left selection bar when on the main screen (app drawer).
- Fixed backup (export/import) settings feature for FireOS5.
- Updated russian and ukranian translations (thanks sem_top7 and Kramar111).
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