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Luma TV home screen

The creator: @0xProbabillityOriginal post

Swap your TV's ad-filled home screen for a calm, open-source one

Full build guide

By @0xProbabillity

Posted
GitHub stars
224 (GitHub)
Likes on X
4.5K (X post)
Video by @0xProbabillity

What you need

Difficulty
Beginner · Our suggestion
License
MIT

Parts

  • Android TV or Google TV device on Android 8.0 or newer (creator uses a Xiaomi TV Stick), Mac or Linux computer with ADB, on the same network
AI model or service
Claude Code (creator says it built the launcher), Claude Code or Codex for setup, via the creator's copy-paste prompts

Source-listed parts

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Steps

Difficulty
Beginner
  1. Turn on USB / network debugging on the TV (Settings → Device Preferences → About: press Build 7 times).
  2. adb connect <TV IP>:5555 from a Mac or Linux computer on the same network.
  3. Install luma-tv.apk from Releases, or ./luma.sh install to build and install.
  4. ./luma.sh home to make Luma the home screen; ./luma.sh restore to undo.

Full instructions: View original

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Overview

Luma is an open-source, MIT-licensed home screen for Android TV and Google TV by @0xProbabillity: "Your favourite apps over living wallpapers, with no ads, no sponsored rows and no tracking." The creator says it was built with Claude Code, and the creator's setup guide has copy-paste prompts so Claude Code or Codex can install it over ADB. With the creator's separate House Control TV app it also adds smart-home scene buttons and a 3D model of the home.

What it does

  • “A calm, tvOS-inspired home screen for Android TV and Google TV. Your favourite apps over living wallpapers, with no ads, no sponsored rows and no tracking.”
  • “Gave Claude Code the model number. It found the TV on Wi-Fi, removed 25 Xiaomi packages and built this launcher.”
  • Home widgets: “Up Next”, “Weather”, “Now Playing”, “Inputs” (consoles recognised over HDMI-CEC) and “Control”.
  • “Luma works on its own: it needs no smart home, account or other app.” With House Control TV installed it adds “five round scene buttons and a live 3D model of your home”.
  • “You don't need to know anything about Android: an AI coding agent does the setup. Below are copy-paste prompts for Claude Code or Codex.”

Use-case ideas

  • Replace an ad-heavy stock launcher on a cheap TV stick
  • Movie night with smart lights: “press Cozy on the home screen and the real lamps come on. Press Movie and the lights go down, then Netflix opens.” (needs House Control TV)

How it works

Luma is a plain-Java Android TV launcher with no third-party libraries. You turn on debugging on the TV, connect from a Mac or Linux computer with ADB, install the APK, then `./luma.sh home` makes it the default home screen (switching the stock launcher off with `pm disable-user` if needed); `./luma.sh restore` undoes it. The AI part is the build and setup: the creator says Claude Code built the launcher, and the creator's guide hands the install to an AI coding agent. Nothing AI runs on the TV.

LayerComponentRuns on
DeviceAndroid TV / Google TV, Android 8.0+ TV or TV stick
LauncherLuma (plain Java, no third-party libraries) TV
InstallADB + luma.sh Mac or Linux computer
Build and setup agentClaude Code or Codex Computer
Smart home (optional)House Control TV (MIT): Smart Life, Home Assistant, Philips Hue TV

Setup effort

Limits and caveats

  • Needs Android 8.0 or newer: “Android 6 isn’t compatible.”
  • Fire TV: “Not officially supported yet… setting it as the default home screen is harder - Amazon locks the launcher more tightly than normal Android TV.”
  • Install needs a Mac or Linux computer with ADB (README requirements).
  • No AI runs on the TV; AI is used to build and install it.

Hardware

  • Android TV or Google TV device on Android 8.0 or newer (creator uses a Xiaomi TV Stick)
  • Mac or Linux computer with ADB, on the same network

Credits and links

Sources

  1. github.com/0xProbabillity/luma-tv
  2. x.com/0xProbabillity/status/2111593016767270980
  3. x.com/0xProbabillity/status/2112177721245659590
  4. x.com/0xProbabillity/status/2114393126890811828
  5. github.com/0xProbabillity/house-control-tv
  6. x.com/0xProbabillity/status/2113732295056298079
  7. x.com/0xProbabillity/status/2113587979700613286

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