[Fire TV General] rainman74:
The following steps activate the Google Voice Search with Google Assistant so that it can be used in a current Kodi 18 Nightly Build on a Fire TV.

The tutorial assumes that an alternative launcher, e.g. AppStarter, is used because Amazon Alexa voice search is completely replaced by Google Assistant. Xposed edge and HDXPosed must also be installed and activated. Before installing it is recommended to make a backup of the system and data partition via TWRP if you have connected an external sdcard. Many thanks to [MENTION=7767738]SimLynks[/MENTION] for some tips from his PlayFire modification.

If you want to use the complete Leanback Launcher with integrated Chromecast, then have a look at my more comprehensive guide: Link

This manual is only possible with a rooted device!

Tested on a Fire TV 4k box

Firmware 5.2.6.2

Instructions:

Unpack all zip files and copy all apk in the appendix to C:\adb\

1. Disabling unnecessary and Google Voice Recognition blocking Amazon apps

adb shell su -c pm disable com.amazon.advertisingidsettings
adb shell su -c pm disable com.amazon.device.sale.service
adb shell su -c pm disable com.amazon.tv.legal.notices
adb shell su -c pm disable com.amazon.tv.nimh
adb shell su -c pm disable com.amazon.tv.settings/com.amazon.tv.settings.tv.AppDisableService
adb shell su -c pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.amazon.vizzini

(Notice: Disable com.amazon.vizzini works too, but I noticed that the app reactivates itself from time to time.)

2. Customize build.prop

View attachment 4481935

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,rw /system

adb push C:\adb\mod-build.prop.sh /sdcard/
adb shell su -c sh /sdcard/mod-build.prop.sh
adb shell su -c rm /sdcard/mod-build.prop.sh

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,ro /system

3. Adjust permissions for voice recognition

View attachment 4481936

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,rw /system

adb push C:\adb\tv_core_hardware.xml /sdcard/
adb shell su -c cp /sdcard/tv_core_hardware.xml /system/etc/permissions/tv_core_hardware.xml
adb shell su -c chmod 644 /system/etc/permissions/tv_core_hardware.xml
adb shell su -c chown root:root /system/etc/permissions/tv_core_hardware.xml
adb shell su -c rm /sdcard/tv_core_hardware.xml

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,ro /system

4. Install Open Google apps for Android TV

(If you already have the Google Apps installed, you can skip this and the next section.)

Download the matching zip file and copy it to the sdcard.

Open GApps for ARM (Fire TV sticks)

Open GApps for ARM64 (Fire TV boxes)

Copy the customized gapps-config.txt to the same directory as the GApps on the sdcard.

View attachment 4481950

Then install the GApps zip via TWRP and restart the device. Please don't sign up for Google Play Store yet!

5. Allow Google registration (NoTouchAuthDelegate)

View attachment 4481943

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,rw /system

adb push C:\adb\Tv-NoTouchGsf.apk /sdcard/
adb shell su -c chmod 755 /system/app/NoTouchAuthDelegate/
adb shell su -c rm /system/app/NoTouchAuthDelegate/NoTouchAuthDelegate.apk
adb shell su -c cp /sdcard/Tv-NoTouchGsf.apk /system/app/NoTouchAuthDelegate/NoTouchAuthDelegate.apk
adb shell su -c chmod 644 /system/app/NoTouchAuthDelegate/NoTouchAuthDelegate.apk
adb shell su -c chown root:root /system/app/NoTouchAuthDelegate/NoTouchAuthDelegate.apk
adb shell su -c rm /sdcard/Tv-NoTouchGsf.apk

adb shell su -c mount -o remount,ro /system

6. Install Google app to enable voice recognition (com.google.android.katniss)

Now restart the device and then sign in to Google Play Store. Attention, the Google Play Store is a system app and therefore only appears in the AppStarter if the display of system apps is activated. Alternatively you can use my modified conFIREator.

Then search for and install the "Google" app on the Play Store. It'll take a while.

(Notice: The search does not work with the search button on the remote!)

7. Adjust the Xposed edge key configuration for the search button of the Fire TV remote

Activate the "Keys" in the Xposed edge and add the new KEYCODE_SEARCH key (simply press the search key on the Fire Remote for recognition).

Use "Single Click" with the activity "com.google.android.katniss\.search.SearchActivity" and leave "Long press" empty. This is the standard function, you first have to click and release the microphone, wait until the input is ready ("Speak Now" appears), and then press and hold the microphone and speak again.

(Notice: Alternatively you also can only link the action "Long press" with the activity "com.google.android.katniss\.search.SearchActivity". Then you have everything at the touch of a button: activate and speak. You should try it the way you like it best.)

Reboot for the last time.

That's all and now you can start the voice search by pressing and holding the search button in Kodi.

Google Assistant also now finds hits in Kodi (movies, tv shows, music), along with other sources such as YouTube, if Kodi already is running.

Once you have installed the PlayFire TV settings, you can choose which apps the Google Assistant is allowed to search for hits.

(Notice: The activation of the detection can take up to 5 seconds in individual cases, but usually it is very fast. Just hold down the search button and wait. But this is also the case on an Android TV.)

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