Install Action Center

Will it work on my TV?

The release APK is for ARM (arm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a), which covers these devices. More on devices and apps in Does it work with…?

The easy way: no computer

Everything happens on the TV, with the remote.

1. Install Downloader (free) from the TV's Play Store.
2. Let Downloader install apps. Allow it when it asks, or use TV Settings › Apps › Security & restrictions › Unknown sources. The menu's name varies by TV.
3. Download Action Center. In Downloader, type the latest release's link and install it:

   https://github.com/phonoodlesramen/action-center-tv/releases/latest/download/app-release.apk

4. Open Action Center from the TV's apps, then go to Settings › Setup. It's a checklist with one row per step (Home button, Continue in your apps, Your pictures, Apps row by habit, and Plex), and each step is one button. A “Finish setup” chip in the top bar brings you back until it's done.
5. Press Home: Action Center opens.

Android 13 and later: some TVs grey out accessibility for apps installed this way (“restricted settings”). Where TV Settings › Apps › Action Center has ⋮ › Allow restricted settings, that unlocks it. Otherwise, install with a computer: an adb install isn't restricted.

The full way: with a computer

You need adb (Android SDK Platform-Tools). The helper scripts are optional and need PowerShell 7 on Windows, macOS or Linux, plus a clone of the repository. Every step also has its plain adb command in the full install guide.

1. Prepare the TV

1. Reserve the TV's IP address in your router, so it doesn't change.
2. Turn on developer options. On a SHIELD: Settings › Device Preferences › About, and press Build seven times. On Google TV: Settings › System › About, and press Android TV OS build seven times.
3. Turn on network debugging in Developer options (on a SHIELD, Network debugging).

Keep network debugging on if you can: it's how you'd undo a broken Home from your computer, and many TVs have no usable USB port. The trade-off.

2. Connect, install, make it Home

./scripts/connect.ps1 -Ip 192.168.1.50   # your TV's reserved IP; the TV asks you to allow it
./scripts/install.ps1 -FromRelease       # downloads the latest release and checks its SHA-256
./scripts/set-default-home.ps1           # SHIELD and stock Android TV only
./scripts/grant-permissions.ps1          # usage stats, TV listings, your wallpapers

Each script that changes the TV shows the command and its undo, and asks before it runs.

• set-default-home.ps1 saves what Home is now, then turns off the stock launcher (com.google.android.tvlauncher), whose Home priority beats any sideloaded one. If other launchers are installed, it makes Action Center the saved Home, and offers to turn off their accessibility “Home watchers”, which would take Home back. Other launchers stay installed.
• The permissions are optional. Usage stats order the Apps row by what you open, TV listings fill Continue in your apps, and storage lets you use your own wallpapers and app banners. -Revoke undoes all three, and Settings › Setup on the TV does the same with the remote.

./scripts/accessibility-fallback.ps1 -Enable

First run

1. Plex: the home shows a code. On your phone or computer, go to plex.tv/link, enter it, then pick your server. The first library sync can take a few minutes on a big library, and the Plex Guide makes its first channels once it's done.
2. Weather: Settings › Weather, then type your city.
3. Profiles: Settings › Profiles. Add kids with their birthdays; each can have their own Plex Home user.
4. Optional: the guide station for a house with more than one TV; AI blurbs (Settings › AI blurbs, with your own Anthropic API key, sent from your phone); and the NFL (Settings › NFL › Show the NFL).

Updating

From the TV: Settings › About › Updates. Action Center checks for a new release once a day, or only when you press Check for updates, and shows it there and in the top bar. With Install automatically, it downloads it by itself, and Android 12 and later install it when the TV is idle; on Android 11 the top bar says Update ready for one press. Install downloads it, checks it's the release's file and signed with the same key, and hands it to Android. On Android 11 Android asks once more; on 12 and later it just installs. The first time, allow Install unknown apps for Action Center: Settings › Setup › Updates from the app opens it.

Or the way you installed it: Downloader with the same link, or ./scripts/install.ps1 -FromRelease. Your settings, sign-ins and guide stay.

A SHIELD update, or an update to the stock launcher, can turn the stock launcher back on. Action Center then shows a banner. ./scripts/verify-home.ps1 checks without changing anything, and ./scripts/set-default-home.ps1 fixes it.

Undo everything

./scripts/rollback-home.ps1        # puts your previous Home back, and any watcher it turned off
adb uninstall com.phonoodlesramen.actioncenter

Rollback works over network ADB without touching the TV, even if Action Center keeps crashing. Without a computer: turn HomeWatch off in Settings › System › Accessibility, then uninstall Action Center from the TV's Settings › Apps.

Troubleshooting

More in the full install guide.