Guide · Updated September 2026

Launcher Manager doesn't work any more — what now?

Launcher Manager is a third-party tool by sweenwolf on XDA. It writes Android's real Home app setting from the TV itself, after you grant it one permission over ADB. It still does that on many Android TV boxes; it no longer holds on Fire TV, where Amazon closed the custom-launcher route in October 2025, and a system update can silently take the grant away. The method that survives is the same setting written from outside the TV — which is what TV Launcher Manager does, with no permission grant and no app that has to stay alive.

What it is, without the forum noise

Two builds: Launcher Manager (package com.wolf.tn) for Android TV and Fire TV, and Launch Manager for Google TV (com.wolf.google.lm). Neither is on Google Play; the developer publishes them in his XDA thread, and we do not host them. After one command from a computer or a phone — adb shell pm grant com.wolf.tn android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS — the app lists every launcher on the box and lets you set one as the Home app, or switch the stock launcher off. No accessibility service is involved, which is why it kept working when the accessibility trick stopped.

Why people say it stopped

  • Fire TV: Amazon closed the custom-launcher route in Fire OS in October 2025. No tool gets around that, and the newest sticks cannot sideload at all.
  • System updates: a firmware update can revoke the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS grant. The app looks the same, but its button does nothing until you run the adb command again.
  • On some boxes ADB or network debugging has to stay switched on for it to keep working.
  • The download: it lives in an XDA thread, not a store. Links move, mirrors go stale, and copies on random sites are not the developer's.

None of this is a criticism. It is someone else's tool, it did a job the platform refused to do, and it still does on plenty of boxes. It is just not a thing you can build on.

What to use now

The same Home setting, written from outside the TV over ADB. That needs no permission on the box, no app that has to stay installed, and it cannot be revoked by an update because there is nothing on the TV to revoke. The free TV Launcher Manager does it from a Windows PC, an Android phone or Chrome with a USB cable: it lists the launchers the box reports, sets the one you pick, verifies, and records the previous home so Restore is one tap.

  1. Turn on debugging on the boxSettings › About › Build number ×7 › Developer options › USB or Network debugging.
  2. Connect from TV Launcher ManagerSame Wi‑Fi, or a USB cable in Chrome. Press Allow on the TV once.
  3. Pick your launcher, press HOMENothing else to keep alive. Restore any time.

Download TV Launcher Manager

Free · No account · Undo with one tap

Download

or on the TV, with the Downloader app — code2123033Downloader by AFTVnewsDownloader TV

If you still have Launcher Manager installed

  • Nothing to undo before using the tool: both write the same setting, and the tool records whatever the current home is.
  • If you also disabled the stock launcher from inside Launcher Manager, that is fine too — Restore re-enables it.
  • Uninstalling Launcher Manager takes its permission grant with it and changes nothing else.

Questions

Is TV Launcher Manager the same as Launcher Manager?

No. Launcher Manager is sweenwolf's app that runs on the TV. TV Launcher Manager is ours, from Smartago, and runs on a computer, a phone or in Chrome; it never needs a permission grant on the box. The names are similar because both describe the job.

Where do I download Launcher Manager?

Only from the developer's own XDA thread. We do not host it, there is no Downloader code for it, and copies elsewhere are not his.

Will it ever work on Fire TV again?

Not through any route we know. Amazon changed the platform, not the app.

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