The TV shows a black screen or no home screen after the command

Nothing is lost. Over the same ADB connection run pm enable com.google.android.tvlauncher (or com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx on Google TV) to bring the stock launcher back, or start the launcher directly with am start -n com.premium.tv.launcher.ui/.LauncherActivity. TV Launcher Manager's Restore does the same with one tap. Keep the ADB app installed until you are sure.

Does this work on Fire TV?

No. Amazon does not let a third-party app hold the HOME button on Fire TV, and the sticks from the Fire TV Stick 4K Select (October 2025) run Vega OS, which installs no Android apps at all. The commands on this page are for Android TV and Google TV.

Is it safe to leave debugging on?

Switch it off again from the TV's own Settings > Developer options when you are done — never over ADB itself, which would cut the connection you are using. The home-app setting stays; only the debugging switch goes off.

Guide · For experts · Updated October 2026

HOME over ADB, by hand

Q: Which command does TV Launcher Manager run?

cmd package set-home-activity PACKAGE/ACTIVITY, after recording the current home app and listing every HOME-capable app with cmd package query-activities --components -a android.intent.action.MAIN -c android.intent.category.HOME. It verifies the result with cmd package resolve-activity --brief for the HOME intent. For Premium TV Launcher UI the component is com.premium.tv.launcher.ui/.LauncherActivity.

Everything TV Launcher Manager does, as commands you type yourself. Two methods, the package names per device, the verification, and the way back. If you would rather not type, the guide for everyone has three routes without a single command.

Before you start · An ADB shell

Get a shell on the TV

Both methods below run as plain shell commands over the TV's own debugging connection. No root, nothing flashed, and the switch goes off again when you are done.

Enable Developer options

Settings › Device Preferences (or System) › About › press Build number seven times. "You are now a developer!"

Turn on debugging

Developer options › USB debugging › On. On Android 11 and newer there is also Wireless debugging, which needs a one-time pairing (step 4).

Pick your shell

Remote ADB Shell from Google Play on your phone (easiest) or on the TV itself — or a computer with adb from the Android platform-tools.

Connect

adb connect <TV IP>:5555 — or 127.0.0.1 from an app on the TV. On the TV screen choose Always allow. Wireless debugging on Android 11+: first adb pair <IP>:<pairing port> with the six-digit code the TV shows, then connect to the port it lists.

Every command below is the shell part only. From a computer prefix it with adb shell; inside an ADB app on the phone or TV, paste it as is.

Method 1 · The one that stays

Set the Home app directly

This writes the same setting the TV's own home-app picker would write, if the manufacturer had left it in. It is the command TV Launcher Manager runs: nothing is disabled, nothing keeps running afterwards, and it holds through reboots, updates and Android TV 14. Undocumented in AOSP but present since Android 7, and the box verifies it for you.

Set Premium TV Launcher as Home

cmd package set-home-activity com.premium.tv.launcher.ui/.LauncherActivity

Silent on success. "Error" or "Unknown command" means the box is older than Android 7 or the manufacturer removed the command — use Method 2.

Verify — the box must answer with the same component

cmd package resolve-activity --brief -a android.intent.action.MAIN -c android.intent.category.HOME

Every app on the box that can be a home screen

cmd package query-activities --components -a android.intent.action.MAIN -c android.intent.category.HOME

One package/.Activity per line — that is what the tool shows you as a list. Run it first and note the current home: that line is your undo.

Going back: run cmd package set-home-activity again with the stock launcher's component from the list above — or, where the TV still has Settings › Apps › Default apps › Home app, pick it there. The stock launcher was never touched.

Method 2 · The classic

Disable the stock launcher, let Android ask

The stock launcher is switched off for the current user only — not uninstalled — so Android has to ask which home app to use the next time you press HOME. Fully reversible with one command. Use it when Method 1 is refused, or when you want the picker to appear so you can choose.

Your device

pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.tvlauncher

Standard Android TV boxes and TVs (Nvidia Shield, Sony, Xiaomi, Philips…) — the classic Android TV launcher.

Need to go back? Undo

pm enable com.google.android.tvlauncher

Run the command

Pick your device above and paste the line. Expected answer: new state: disabled. It affects only user 0 and installs nothing.

Choose your home

Press HOME. Choose Premium TV Launcher.UI, then Always. To skip the picker for good, follow with Method 1.

Know what you are doing: with the stock launcher disabled and PLUI uninstalled, the TV has no home screen until you run the undo command. Keep the ADB app installed until you are sure.

Reference · Package names

Who is who on the box

What	Package / component	Devices
Premium TV Launcher UI — Home activity	`com.premium.tv.launcher.ui/.LauncherActivity`	Play build and full sideload build alike
Android TV stock launcher	`com.google.android.tvlauncher`	Nvidia Shield, Sony (older), Xiaomi Mi Box, Philips, most boxes
Google TV launcher	`com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx`	Chromecast with Google TV, newer Sony, TCL, Hisense
Fire TV	—	Not possible: Amazon does not let a third-party app hold HOME, and the Vega OS sticks (from the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, October 2025) install no Android apps

A manufacturer launcher with another name? The list command in Method 1 prints every HOME-capable component on your box — that is the name to use in both methods.

If something goes wrong

Black screen, no home, wrong app

Bring the stock launcher back

pm enable com.google.android.tvlauncher — or com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx on Google TV. The connection survives a black screen; only the home screen is missing.

Start PLUI directly

am start -n com.premium.tv.launcher.ui/.LauncherActivity opens the launcher now, whatever the home setting says. From there you can fix the rest on screen.

Or let the tool do it

TV Launcher Manager › Restore records the home screen before any change and puts it back with one tap — it covers every case on this page, including the black screen.

Switch debugging off — from the TV

Settings › Developer options › USB debugging › Off, when you are done. Never over ADB itself: that cuts the connection you are using. The home-app setting stays.

Two commands, once.
Then HOME brings you home.

Back to the guide Or let TV Launcher Manager type it