I've released Couchkit, a free desktop app that gives you a graphical interface for the things most people do with adb on an Android TV or Google TV. It runs on Windows and Linux (beta) and talks to the TV over your local network.
Features
- Remote: keyboard control and text entry
- Apps: install by dragging in an .apk (with a confirmation step), open, stop, disable, uninstall
- Files: transfer files to and from the TV
- Capture: screenshots and screen recording
- Tune-ups: animation speed, text size, Private DNS and similar settings, each reversible
- Cleanup, backup and restore of apps, launcher selection, restart, permissions viewer
Safety
- No accounts, no telemetry; the app only talks to your TV
- adb is downloaded from Google when you choose to, and verified against Google's published checksum
- System apps are flagged high risk, and critical ones are locked
- Settings that could cause problems revert automatically after 15 seconds unless confirmed
Download
- Windows: installer, portable .exe or zip
- Linux: .deb or AppImage (beta)
https://github.com/vistrocity/couchkit/releases/latest
Source (Apache 2.0): https://github.com/vistrocity/couchkit
Notes
- I'm not a developer. The app was built with Claude and tested on my own TV (Skyworth, Android TV 11). The source and automated tests are public, but it is a young project and I expect to find bugs.
- The Windows build isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen will show "unknown publisher".
- There is no Mac build at the moment.
Feedback and bug reports are welcome, particularly from Linux users and on other TV brands.
Source: r/AndroidTVApps · by /u/vistrocity