Portal

A home screen for your TV

Portal replaces the stock launcher on Android TV and Google TV with a quiet, good-looking home screen: live video backgrounds, your apps, the weather, and a profile for everyone in the house.

Download the latest release How to install
  • No ads
  • No tracking
  • No account

Unlike most stock TV launchers. Free for personal use · Android 14 or newer

Portal's home screen: a fireplace video plays behind the time and weather, a profile chip, and a list of apps.

What you get

Everything runs on the TV. Set it up with your remote.

Live video backgrounds

Fireplaces, space, aquariums and more behind your apps, or an animated color shader. Pick one, or let Portal choose a new video each day.

Holidays and birthdays

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's videos play on the right days. Add holidays of your own, give each as many videos as you like, and set a video for birthdays.

Profiles for everyone

Each person gets their own apps, background and settings, and can sign in with their Google account using a QR code.

Kid profiles

Only the apps a parent allows, a daily time limit and a bedtime, a countdown for the last minute, and a parent PIN to leave the profile.

Weather and radar

Current conditions, 12 hours and 7 days, sunrise and sunset, air quality and the moon, with a looping radar map. In the US, severe weather alerts show right on the home screen.

A screen saver that moves

Your videos fade through while the time and weather bounce around the screen like the logo on an old DVD player. It can dim or go dark at night.

Search with your own AI

Find apps as you type or by voice. Connect any OpenAI-compatible server, a hosted one or one on your own network, and ask it questions, have it open apps or manage your reminders for you.

Reminders

Set a reminder for a show, a call or a chore, in Settings or by asking the AI, which can also list, change and delete them. When it's due, a card with the name and picture of whoever set it shows over whatever is playing. Pick a tone for each one, let the card go by itself or wait for you, and add a Snooze button. One that came due while the TV was off can show later or be skipped.

Updates from the TV

Portal looks for a new version once a day. Select the Update button to see what's new, then download and install it from the couch. Nothing installs without you.

A look around

Screenshots of Portal running on Android TV.

The weather page: 49 degrees and overcast, with humidity, wind, high and low, and the next 12 hours.
Current conditions, the next 12 hours and the week ahead, with radar and alerts.
The Who's watching screen on a starry background, with three profiles (Portal, Guest and a kid's profile called Kids) and an Add New button.
Choose who's watching. Hold OK on a profile to rename it, change its avatar, set a code or delete it.
Settings, Videos: a Random tile, the video in use and a Select button, with Search/Manage Videos and Holidays buttons below.
Pick a video, or a new one each day, and set up holiday videos. Add more from NASA or Pixabay.
A window titled Choose a video with a grid of six video thumbnails, a check on the one in use and a speaker on the two that have sound.
Browse every video on the TV. A speaker marks the ones with sound.
A window titled Background shader with eleven animated styles shown in blue, fifteen color swatches, and a color cycling switch.
Prefer color to video? Pick an animated shader and see every style move in the color you choose.
Settings, Apps: choose icon and title, icon only or list, and whether to group frequently used apps. Each settings category has an icon.
Show apps as tiles, icons or a list, and group the ones you use most.
Portal's home screen with a card across the top: a sun avatar, KEN and REMINDER, and the text The baking show premiere is starting.
A reminder shows over whatever you're watching, with the name and picture of whoever set it.
Settings, Reminders: three reminders with their dates (one repeating every week), an Add reminder button, and a choice for reminders that came due while the TV was off.
Set reminders in Settings, or ask the AI to set one. You confirm it before it's saved.

No ads. No tracking.

Many stock TV launchers fill the home screen with sponsored rows and recommendations, and keep track of what you watch. Portal does neither. Your TV is in your living room, and Portal treats it that way.

  • No ads. No sponsored rows, no promoted apps, no banners. Not now, not later.
  • No tracking. There are no analytics and no Portal account.
  • Your data stays on the TV. Profiles, settings and watch history are saved on the device, and API keys are stored encrypted.
  • You choose what it talks to. Portal reaches out only for features you use, such as weather, video downloads, or the AI server you set up. It also asks GitHub once a day whether a new version is out; you can turn that off.
  • Read the code. The whole app is on GitHub.

Install it

Portal needs Android 14 or newer on an Android TV or Google TV. It installs like any app you load yourself.

  1. Get the APKDownload portal-*-release.apk from the latest release.
  2. Put it on the TVInstall it with adb from a computer, or with a file manager app on the TV.
  3. Open PortalThe first-run setup walks you through making Portal your home screen, right from the TV.

Prefer a script? The install guide has a one-step script for macOS, Linux and Windows, plus the manual steps, and how to put your TV's own home screen back.

Questions

Short answers to what people ask first.

Does Portal work on Google TV?

Yes. Portal runs on Android TV and Google TV, on Android 14 or newer. It has been tested on a TCL Google TV, including one set up as a Basic TV.

What does Portal cost?

Nothing. Portal is free for personal and other noncommercial use under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Using it in a business or on products needs a commercial license, which you can ask for at license@getportaltv.net.

Is Portal open source?

It is source-available, not open source. You can read, build and change the code for noncommercial use, and the whole app is on GitHub.

Does Portal show ads or track me?

No. Portal has no ads, no analytics and no account of its own. Your profiles, settings and watch history stay on the TV. It contacts a service only for features you use, such as weather, video downloads, or an AI server you set up. It also asks GitHub once a day whether a newer version is out, which you can turn off.

How do I install Portal?

Download the APK from the latest GitHub release and install it on the TV with adb from a computer, or with a file manager app on the TV. Open Portal, and its first-run setup walks you through making it your home screen. There is also a one-step install script for macOS, Linux and Windows. After that, Portal can update itself from Settings, System, Updates.

How do I go back to my TV's own home screen?

Open Portal's Settings, then System, then Restore the TV's own home screen. That undoes the launcher and screen saver changes Portal made.

Does Portal have parental controls?

Yes. A kid profile shows only the apps a parent allows, and has a daily time limit, a bedtime and a parent PIN to leave the profile. The limits count apps opened from Portal, so opening an app by voice through the TV's assistant can bypass them.

Which AI does Portal use?

None is built in. Search can talk to any OpenAI-compatible chat server that you set up, either a hosted service or one on your own network, such as llama.cpp, Ollama or LM Studio. With no server set, search only finds your apps.

Free to use, open to read

Portal is source-available under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. It is free for personal and other noncommercial use. It is not open source.

Want to use Portal in a business or ship it on products? Write to license@getportaltv.net for a commercial license.

Found a bug or want a feature? Open an issue. If Portal is useful to you, you can buy me a coffee.