Guide · Updated September 2026

What did Android TV 14 change for custom launchers?

One thing, with big consequences: Android TV 14 switches third-party accessibility services off by itself. Most custom launchers held the HOME button through exactly such a service, so on updated TVs they "forget themselves" — the stock home screen returns and the launcher looks broken. It is not. The route that still works does not involve accessibility at all: the launcher is set as the real home app from outside, over the TV's debugging connection, once. That is what the free TV Launcher Manager does.

The change, precisely

• Android TV 14 switches accessibility services off on its own — notably after a full restart. Every third-party service on the TV is affected the same way; it is platform behaviour, not a bug in any one app.
• Android 13 had already put sideloaded apps behind “Allow restricted settings” before their accessibility switch would hold at all.
• The home-app setting itself did not change: set over ADB, it works on Android TV 14 the same as before.

What to do, by situation

• My launcher keeps switching back — the symptom and the fix
• The full accessibility story — launchers and remappers
• Set any launcher as HOME, step by step