Guide · Updated September 2026

Why does Android TV keep turning off my accessibility service?

Because the platform treats a long-running accessibility service as something to shut down, not something to protect. Android TV 14 switches every accessibility service off by itself; on Android 13 and newer a sideloaded app is blocked until you allow restricted settings; and any force-stop drops the grant. If the service belonged to your launcher, there is a fix that removes the dependency entirely: set the home app from outside, over ADB. If it belonged to a remapper, there are settings that help — and one platform behaviour nothing gets around.

The four things that switch it off

Android TV 14 switches off every accessibility service on its own after a full restart. It is platform behaviour, documented across launchers and remappers alike — not a bug in any one app.
Android 13 and newer: a sideloaded app's accessibility switch will not hold until you grant Apps › [the app] › ⋮ › Allow restricted settings.
Any force-stop drops the grant — including swiping the app out of Recents, and on phones the system's own swipe can count as one.
Users also report aggressive memory managers on some TCL, Hisense and Xiaomi models killing the service overnight. We have not reproduced this on our own boxes, so we list it as reported, not confirmed.

If the service belonged to your launcher

Launchers use an accessibility service for one thing: catching the HOME key. You can remove that dependency instead of fighting it — set your launcher as the real home app from outside the TV, over the box's own debugging connection. Nothing then has to stay running: HOME stays yours after reboots, updates and Android TV 14. The free TV Launcher Manager does it and records the undo; each guide below also shows the one-command ADB route.

If it belonged to a button remapper or another tool

For a remapper — ours is Button Mapper TV — the accessibility service is not a trick, it is the function itself: remapping keys is what the service does, so ADB cannot replace it. What helps: grant Allow restricted settings on Android 13+, never force-stop the app, and know that after a full restart on Android TV 14 the switch may need to be turned on again — that part is the platform, and no app gets around it.

Questions

Is this a bug in the app whose service keeps dying?

No. The same thing happens to every third-party accessibility service on the same TV. The platform decides when services are switched off; the app only asks to be one.

Does “Allow restricted settings” fix Android TV 14?

No. It only removes the Android 13+ block on sideloaded apps so the switch can be turned on at all. Android TV 14 switching services off after a restart happens regardless.

Why does the ADB route survive when accessibility does not?

Because it leaves nothing running on the TV. The home app is a setting, written once and verified — not a service the system can kill. That is what TV Launcher Manager writes for you.

Stop depending on the service

Free · No account · Undo with one tap

Download TV Launcher Manager

or on the TV, with the Downloader app — code2123033