For as popular as third-party home screen launcher applications are on the mobile version of Android, they’ve never surpassed niche status on the big screen. For as long as I can remember, in fact, launchers have been quite cumbersome on Android TV and Google TV thanks to the lack of a built-in default home screen picker within the platform’s Settings app.
This is quite unfortunate, as there are actually several excellent home screen replacement options available to choose from when it comes to Android-based smart TVs. I’ve tested a number of them over the years, including Projectivity Launcher, FLauncher, ATV Launcher Pro, and AT4K Launcher. Far and away, however, my favorite TV launcher of them all is a decidedly new kid on the block called Arc Launcher, which is both free and open-source (FOSS).
For detailed instructions on how to set up third-party launcher applications on Android TV / Google TV, check out my guide on the subject right here on Pocket-lint.
A fresh, ad-free home screen experience
Apple’s user interface polish meets Android’s platform flexibility
Arc Launcher differentiates itself by looking and feeling less like a typical Android TV launcher, and more like Apple’s tvOS which powers the Apple TV set-top box. I’ve long felt that tvOS provides the most streamlined, fluid, and efficient flat-panel home screen experience of them all, and it’s one of the only smart TV platforms out there that hasn’t succumbed to pesky advertisements and algorithmically generated content suggestions.
Arc Launcher takes the Apple TV’s ethos and absolutely runs with it. It features a familiar (and re-arrangeable) grid of oval-shaped icons that resemble Wii Channels from 2006, in addition to a main ‘dock’ quick access strip at the top of the grid for placing favorite apps and services onto. The time is displayed in the top right-hand corner, and a simple settings cog and Wi-Fi status indicator are located in the top left-hand corner — nice and simple.
The result is a simple, minimalistic, ad-free home screen environment that lets you focus on opening and closing applications without the need to constantly context-switch. The best part of Arc Launcher is that it successfully emulates tvOS while also benefiting from Android’s open nature. When installed, my Google TV Streamer operates smoothly like an Apple TV, but with the added ability to sideload applications, bind keys to my liking, and more.
Arc Launcher’s simplicity and streamlined interface don’t come at the expense of functionality, either.
Arc Launcher’s simplicity and streamlined interface don’t come at the expense of functionality, either. The home screen app features a useful Wi-Fi data usage widget, a built-in screensaver with burn-in protection, quick presets, time-based wallpapers, accent color support, a variety of app sorting options, and more. In other words, for a FOSS application, Arc certainly gets the job done and then some.
While TV launchers on Android TV and Google TV still aren’t quite mainstream, I reckon an app like Arc could help tip the scales of popularity if more people were to know about it. Plus, tech products are only getting more expensive by the day, and the Apple TV itself is far more expensive than the Google TV Streamer, to say nothing of even more affordable Android-based streaming sticks. As an Android-based alternative to the Apple TV, Arc running on a Chromecast or other Google TV device is an enticing proposition.
No, Arc won’t bridge the Apple ecosystem gap to any discernable degree, but it might just be enough to persuade iPhone users to jump into the world of Android, especially since it’s a free app, and, like the Apple TV, it’s streamlined and totally devoid of any and all ads. Arc is the rare sort of Android app that I plan on continuing to use on a daily basis, both now and well into the future.
