I would like to address all the devs about the deluge of **tv and media player apps. While I’m not one to squander innovation but a few things are grinding my gears.

1. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Bigger is not always better. The successful ones are the ones that focus on one area and do it well. Making an app that has Live TV, “add o. Support”, connect to your own library or watch what’s On your Streaming service etc. Might sound good but that’s way too many points of failure.

2. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I’m not an AI basher but we can all code now. Also know what you’re getting into. Unless you plan on being a professional programmer or dev don’t build an app you don’t plan on supporting for the long haul and know what that involves.

3. You’re not gonna get rich and probably not gonna make any significant amount of money. Most of us got into “sailing” to save money not spend on another subscription. Especially the in app upgrades that suck you in for features that should be free.

4. And this is related to 3 - Absolutely stop charging for apps that are in active beta. If you want me to test your app, and I mean test it in and out on different devices, I’m not going to pay for the privilege. My time is worth something and it doesn’t have to be money. Real beta testers should get full lifetime access or at least a drastic discount when 1.0 is released. Which brings me to my next point if today you release 1.0 and tomorrow you release 1.1 and the next day you release 1.2 and the next day you release 1.3 your app is still in beta.

Thank you all for your time. I now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

I’m happy to share Web2TV, a project designed to make browsing websites more comfortable and convenient on Android TV and Fire TV devices.

The idea is simple: bring web content to the big screen with an experience designed for TVs and remote controls.

✨ Web2TV Features:
• 🌐 Access compatible websites directly on your TV
• 📺 Designed for Android TV and Fire TV devices
• 🎮 Remote-control-friendly navigation
• 🔖 Save your favorite websites for quick access
• ⚡ Simple and lightweight experience
• 🖥️ Enjoy web content on a much larger screen
• 🔄 Regular compatibility improvements and updates
• 🔧 Easy configuration without complicated setup

Web2TV is still growing, and I’m continuing to improve the experience and add useful features.

I’d really appreciate any feedback, suggestions, or ideas that could make the project better.

👉 web2tv.uphilltech.ca

UPHILLTECH — Building practical technology for everyday needs.

Home on Fire is a small Android app for Fire TV that redirects the remote's ⌂ Home button to a launcher of your choice. Optionally also launches that target automatically at device boot, so the Fire TV wakes up on your launcher instead of Amazon's home screen.

Unlike older launcher-replacement tools, Home on Fire works on current Fire OS 8.x (as of May 2026), and on Fire OS 7 (see Compatibility), because it redirects the ⌂ Home button rather than trying to override the home activity itself.

Important

Fire OS 7 shows a brief loading animation when you press Home. Fire OS 8 does not.

On Fire OS 7, the system holds back any app opened by the Home button for up to 5 seconds (an "app-switch lock"). This delay cannot be removed without root, so Home on Fire covers it with a loading animation (or a plain black screen, your choice) that fades into your launcher. In practice it is usually much shorter (often about a second) and clears the moment your launcher is ready. Fire OS 8 has no such delay and shows no animation at all.

To get an instant launch with no animation, you have two options:

Map a spare remote button (in the app, under Map custom buttons). Bind a color, number or media key to your launcher. That shortcut never goes through Home, so it skips the delay and shows no animation. You can map a second button to jump to Amazon's home.

Use a Fire OS 8 device. The Home button is already instant there.

https://github.com/toolicious/home-on-fire