{"id":12181,"date":"2026-01-28T22:29:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advisorator.com\/members\/?p=12181"},"modified":"2026-10-21T20:38:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T20:38:31","slug":"hate-google-tvs-home-screen-ads-this-free-app-hides-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisorator.com\/members\/2026\/01\/28\/hate-google-tvs-home-screen-ads-this-free-app-hides-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Google TV look like Apple TV with this free app"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AT4K Launcher gives you a beautiful streaming home screen with no ads.<\/h4>\n\n\n
Jared Newman<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>January 28, 2026<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
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Like many other streaming platforms, Google TV is gradually getting harder to tolerate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding something to watch requires wading through all kinds of ads and upsells, from the sponsored listings at the top of the home screen to multiple rows touting movies and shows for purchase. Those money-grabs detract from what used to be one of the more useful streaming TV home screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new app called AT4K Launcher<\/a> offers a solution, with an alternative launcher that shamelessly borrows from the Apple TV interface. With a few minutes of setup, you can remove the ads from Google TV’s home screen and get a much simpler menu for apps. If you have a Google TV smart television (from brands like TCL, Hisense, and Sony) or a Google TV streaming player (like the excellent Walmart Onn 4K Plus<\/a>), this free app is at least worth a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How AT4K Launcher works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

AT4K Launcher is an alternative home screen (also known as a launcher) for Google TV and Android TV devices. It lists all the apps you’ve installed on your smart TV or streaming device, but with a different presentation than the default home screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Google TV’s standard home screen (left) vs. AT4K Launcher (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The inspiration is clear: AT4K Launcher looks nearly identical to the app grid on Apple TV streaming boxes<\/a>, with five big app icons per row and a carousel of featured content at the top. You can reposition apps by long-pressing them and choosing where you want them to appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That top feature carousel works similarly to Apple TV as well. When you highlight an app in the top row, it’ll show a list of things to watch, seemingly based on Android TV’s recommendation rows. Clicking one of those recommendations takes you directly to the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can view Hulu’s recommendations by highlighting the app in the top row.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If an app doesn’t support home screen recommendations (like Netflix<\/a>), AT4K Launcher’s top carousel will instead show a “Watch Next” row, with recently-watched movies and shows from across different apps. You can also hide the top carousel entirely through AT4K Launcher’s settings menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AT4K Launcher is free to use, with an optional $5 one-time purchase to unlock some extra features, including custom wallpapers and an option to have six apps per row instead of five. While it’s not the only replacement launcher for Google TV devices (Projectivy<\/a> is a popular alternative), I appreciate its visual polish and the way it handles recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AT4K Launcher’s settings menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That said, the app has room for improvement. The Watch Next row could use its own dedicated app icon and an option to add or remove items from it. And perhaps long-pressing an icon could reveal more options for things like uninstalling and viewing the app info page. Unlike on Apple TV, there’s no folder support either. At least the developer seems responsive to suggestions and bug reports on AT4K Launcher’s subreddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing Google TV’s default launcher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you install AT4K Launcher<\/a> from the Google Play Store, it’ll appear as an app on the standard Google TV home screen, and you’ll have to launch it manually every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s obviously not ideal. If you want to replace the regular home screen with AT4K Launcher, there are a couple of ways to approach it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easier way<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The easiest option is to remap your remote’s home button so it opens the AT4K Launcher app. For this, I recommend a separate app called TVQuickActions<\/a>, or the optional $4 Pro version<\/a>. I’ve written a separate article on setting up TVQuickActions<\/a>, but here’s the gist:<\/p>\n\n\n\n