yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
The YouTube and site coverage likely sped things up, but there was no doubt LM would get blacklisted. The last app Amazon blacklisted did exactly the same thing as LM, which is to take over the Home button by reading logs. It sucks but there is nothing that Amazon defends more than the Home button, so anything that remaps it will eventually get blocked or blacklisted or both.

When blacklisted, the app isn't uninstalled. It's just not allowed to launch. Back in the day this was done using a package name list on the device in an sqlite DB file. Then Amazon added a NIMH system app that seemed to handle the gatekeeping. Now it seems to just be handled by Vizzini, the appstore app, but I'm not positive about that as I haven't dug into it in a long time.

My guess is that changing the package name will make LM work again but I'm sure Amazon is also going to modify the log output so that LM or any app can't detect the Home button being pressed. That change just takes longer to push out so the package blacklist is used as a temporary block while they work on the real block.
[Fire TV General] Finnzz:
IDK LM has been hijacking the home button for 2.5 years, and there were other apps in the last few years that did the same, but they were never blacklisted. Tasker can be used to read logs and do the same remapping and isn't experiencing the blacklisting as far as I know.

I think Amazon pays more attention to AFTVnews than TuKDR and Troy. Your suggestion that Amazon might blacklist LM and then a blacklisting a week later seems a bit coincidental. No way of knowing if they took inspiration from your post. Either way I'm sure you were right, a block of some type was likely to come soon.

What I don't understand is that in the past you have said that you intentionally never posted about LM because it would make Amazon more likely to counter it.
[Fire TV General] MulderX33:
Yesterday I bought and test the new TDUK app to close apps.

It is very useful but very "dangerous" without a "white list" of apps.

I forgot that that app also closed the app that I use as a firewall (NetGuard).

In NetGuard I have all the useless apps from Amazon and updates blocked so they can't access the network.

At night new junk updates came from Amazon and this morning LM was gone and couldn't run (again).
[Fire TV General] xnappo:
For the love of God - please do not do an AFTVnews post about Tasker. I use it for tons of stuff :(
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
I don't think Amazon takes blacklisting things lightly. It looks really bad for them to reach into a device and take an app away. That's probably why they haven't done it in years, that I'm aware of. My guess is they would much rather patch the exploit/vulnerability that is being abused, even if it takes much longer to do, than to just dish out blacklists over and over. LM originally worked for so long probably because it just took that long to patch the method it used. This time it was a different method that used log reading so my guess is Amazon already blacklisted for that reason in the past so since it's a line they already crossed they immediately did it again. Maybe they have no intention on cleaning up the log so they just blacklist when that method is used, but like you said no way of knowing for sure. I tend not to write about launcher/home button methods because I know they'll be blocked without a doubt, so I don't like to lead people on only for them to lose the functionality in no time. The only reason I covered it this time is because of the app button remapping in LM because a lot of people who used my remapping app before it got blocked keep bugging me for a replacement. As for Tasker, my guess is it flies under the radar because it's a do-everything app and is complicated to use compared to a purpose-built app like LM that specifically targets Amazon. All that said, if LM is updated to work again or the package name is changed, I won't be writing about it in case my covering is the trigger for Amazon.
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
I won't.
[Fire TV General] JUSTINMARMER:
Well I cloned it. Changed package name by one character. Clone opens but when you select enable custom launcher I get an error that says the shell is busy. I uninstalled the original, rebooted and tried again. No joy, same error shell is busy. I turned ADB off and rebooted then turned ADB back on and try it again. No joy same error. The original app still works fine after uninstall and reinstall many times.
[Fire TV General] alex78ita:
someone has this remote? there are 2 customizable buttons

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RX4HKTD
[Fire TV General] xnappo:
Yes, but they are limited as to what they can launch. You can use Tasker to make them do anything though... Basically use the same logcat method as the home button. A few caveats, I can expand on this if you are interested.

This post is old, but gives you the general idea. I use adb wifi in tasker now instead of the Termux stuff.
[Fire TV General] Timbo303:
Is launcher manager open source by any chance maybe we can fix the app since app cloner clearly won't clone the app properly?
[Fire TV General] SweenWolf:
Since the original package is now flagged, I've changed the package name from "com.wolf.lm" to "com.wolf.lm1"

I'll try to change some static codes of lm so app cloner will work, if lm survives these blocks.

Amazon can do many things to stop LM from working, and most of them cannot be stopped, but i would not like to give someone some idea.
[Fire TV General] Timbo303:
Not only that

Not only that I managed to disable adepfos app which handles blacklisting according to the notifications i got whenever it gets removed from my device. Im not sure if rebooting is the reason it gets removed by this app but I'll see if it lasts for 1 day. adb shell pm disable-user com.amazon.adep
[Fire TV General] eXtremeDevil:
I guess this version is not including the black overlay before launching, right?
[Fire TV General] safetyp1:
No issues to report here, but I had blocked updates via my DNS (pihole), as soon as I got it working (couple weeks back).
[Fire TV General] JUSTINMARMER:
Yeah the original still works just fine after reinstall. It's just really strange that they did a remote uninstall but didn't fully blacklist it like they did fire starter and others. Probably coming soon.
[Fire TV General] Intenti0n:
soon.
[Fire TV General] homelessstoner:
So since they are blocking the package name I am aware you released a copy with a new package name but was hoping I would be able to change the package name to one of my choosing but whenever I make any changes I get the app to launch fine but whenever I try to do anything that runs adb I get a "shell is busy" error ....I tried several different ways.. such as only changing the package name in the minimal locations and also changing every mention of com.wolf.lm in the dex and resource files but after about 3 hours I have temporarily thrown in the towel haha

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated 🙏 🙂
[Fire TV General] alex78ita:
same error, have you fixed?
[Fire TV General] SweenWolf:
Any changes to it will result in shell not working, use the apk provided below linked post.

https://xdaforums.com/t/app-firetv-...e-launcher-without-root.4176349/post-88350327

I will upload a version which allows you to clone, but for now you have to use it, i really don't have some spare time, if i do I'll fix it.
[Fire TV General] alex78ita:
i was trying to clone the original 1.1.8 version because with this version i don't see the amzn home neither for a while. with fixed and renamed versions i see the amzn home even if i change the triggers
[Fire TV General] janflapjes:
Hi Sweenwolf, Thank you for the updates. I have blocked updates on my Fire TV, so everyting still in working order.

My remote has a TV button, It launches the Live TV app, I would rather have it launch tivimate, which I use for IP TV. Could you add an option to redirect the TV button as well?

I also have a bug to report: The launch button app selection dialog doesn't list the "NLZiet" app. It is a free app available from the standard fire TV store.

Thanks!
[Fire TV General] CMBoii:
Hello. I've successfully installed the latest APK of the launcher manager but I haven't been able to find the official release of wolf launcher.

Could anyone tell me where I can download it?
[Fire TV General] Finnzz:
It was last posted here
[Fire TV General] cdub74:
I have had a report on my YouTube channel that the new version of LM with the new package name has been removed 12 hours after installing, has anyone else noticed their new version being removed?
[Fire TV General] Gantori:
Hello, after manually configuring my APK to be the ACTIVE main activity via your com.wolf.lm and making a backup of the com.wolf.lm setting I am not able to restore this configuration onto another box.

Here is how I am doing a backup of the Launcher Manager settings

```

adb -s 192.40.1.121:5555 backup -f 20230304data.backup.com.wolf.lm.1.1.8 com.wolf.lm

```

on the new box I do the following:

# install my APK

adb -s 192.40.1.121:5555 install -g "20230325 MUMTI G3 v0.0.28.apk"

# install wolf launcher

adb -s 192.40.1.121:5555 install "LM (FOS) - 1.1.8.apk"

# restore the wolf APK settings from the backup

adb -s 192.40.1.121:5555 restore 20230304data.backup.com.wolf.lm.1.1.8

The result is that the Launcher Manager does not have my APK as Active and requires additional manual step to make my APK active (see attached screenshot).

I have also tried

adb -s 192.40.1.121:5555 shell pm set-home-activity com.wolf.lm/com.wolf.lm.launcher.LMUHandler

But without success. Can anyone help? Thank you.

FYI. Technically I don't need a Launcher Manager since I only want my app to be the ONLY app run at boot.

See more details here: https://android.stackexchange.com/q...apk-mainactivity-as-the-home-activity-via-adb
[Fire TV General] Jerri1240:
Will the update work on newer devices? Like the cube v3?
[Fire TV General] mmortal03:
According to this post, the "new method" works on the latest Cube: https://xdaforums.com/t/app-firetv-...er-without-root.4176349/page-72#post-88322763
[Fire TV General] homelessstoner:
Is there anything we can do to result in it now giving the shell is busy message? Or could you release another package name even its its lm2 lol if that's easier for now....Seems like the ability to clone the apk with custom app & package name is the only way to go because everything youve released is reviewed by tech doctor whom makes a video on YouTube of all places making the exploit much more mainstream which really sucks...it broke my heart when I saw him post a video about the new package name apk....

Once you do release the fix is there anyway to ask him not to make a video on it? Love his content but it's really hurting us with the custom launchers specifically

Thanks ahead of time for the work you put into this for the community...I know I appreciate it more than you could know and I'm sure I'm not the only one... so thank you from us all!
[Fire TV General] meccs:
This cat and mouse game is kinda ridiculous. The people they are targeting with their UI will never go through the steps to install a different launcher and the people that do will never click on anything Amazon is recommending in their UI.
[Fire TV General] asif9t9:
Yes and I find their recommendation screen not child friendly. For example my kid is afraid of that M3gan doll and for a while it kept popping up. Or of course it's confusing for kids to see things pop up that we don't subscribe to. So they try to click it.
[Fire TV General] xnappo:
I know not all of you would, but I would even pay $20 for it if they offered it like they do with the Kindle.

I understand they are subsadizing the box with ads. Fine. Just let me pay my way out of the subsidy!
[Fire TV General] BigBrosMo:
I am on LM 1.18.

When firestick comes back on after being off it's at the Amazon screen. If I keep clicking the Home button it eventually (after 3 or 4 seconds repeatedly pressing it) switches to Wolf. Fyi. Not sure of this is expected behavior given the current situation.
[Fire TV General] loznic89:
today again blocked with the new version name of package 1.1.8
[Fire TV General] cityhunter_1919_xyz:
Is the stick you're using 4K (mantis)?

In MAX, switching takes less than a second.
[Fire TV General] BigBrosMo:
Firestick 4k max. Amazon removed it today but I was able to reinstall it without issue
[Fire TV General] loscni:
Firestick 4K Max (Gen 1 I think? Terminal is called Kara) They've removed it 2 or 3 times on me in the past couple of days. Each time I can reinstall without issue and everything works fine for 12-36 hours. They always seem to get me when the TV has been off for awhile.

I should probably be blocking updates, huh? Is debloat tool sufficient for that?
[Fire TV General] BigBrosMo:
I have updates blocked but it doesn't seem to be stopping the removal. I would love if someone posted a summary/condensed explanation on how to block updates so I can be sure I've done it right.
[Fire TV General] loscni:
If you check for updates and get an error instead of being told you're up to date, you've done it properly. (I'm not entirely convinced this is update related.)

They removed "lm1" and I couldn't install it back even after "adb clear". I solved this by using the original again, which has survived for 3 days??? Not sure what I might have done to prevent removal but this is the longest it has lasted since they started force removing.
[Fire TV General] Pro-me3us:
There is a new quick root option for anyone with a 2nd gen (PS7624) or 3rd gen (PS7613) Cube. It can be used to generate temporary root access so that you can remove all the app 'package protections'. After that you will be able to enable/disable all apps again, even without root.

This will make it possible to use the old Launcher Manager method that is instantaneous.

Sorry for the ad, but it's not easy trying to get the word out before Amazon has patched everyone's devices.

If someone wants to make a post on /r/FireTV about the rooting threads, it would be appreciated. I was told my karma/post count is too low to make posts
[Fire TV General] Timbo303:
Bad News I just discovered com.amazon.adep is a protected package. They must of done this a couple of days or a week ago since I could disable it before. You can still clear the data with adb so you can still do that to temporary disable it.
[Fire TV General] Jerri1240:
Followed the guide last night and have updates blocked now!
[Fire TV General] buzzywuzzy:
I have a 4k Fire Stick. Launcher manager is really inconsistent for me. I have it using the fourth trigger. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It always works when it shows a toast message that says "shell is busy, fallback". Is there any way to force it to use this method all the time?
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
Your Reddit post was removed by a mod that misunderstood rooting. I explained things to them and restored your post.
[Fire TV General] Pro-me3us:
Thank you! Since the post is now only appearing two days later and already buried by newer posts I hope you don't mind if it's just deleted and reposted as a new post.
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
No prob. That's totally understandable. Someone already reported the post as "Illegal Content." I cleared the report, added a sticky comment, and manually marked the post as approved, so, hopefully, no one messes with it this time. But I'll keep an eye on it regardless.
[Fire TV General] Pro-me3us:
Thanks again, it's funny in a sad way that tech has gotten to the state where people feel like there is something illegal or immoral about modifying devices you own to take back a little control from big tech.
[Fire TV General] meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow:
Since today I'm not able to install Launcher Manager. The app was uninstalled and now I'm not able to install it again. The old package name and also the new one are affected.

EDIT:

I can't install them over ADB. When installing them manually from the device itself it works
[Fire TV General] loscni:
I'm able to reinstall over ADB after using

adb shell pm clear --user 0 com.wolf.lm1
adb shell pm clear --user 0 com.amazon.adep

(com.wolf.lm if first command fails)

In my experience, its only ever removed when the device has been sleeping for awhile. If my television/projector is off but I leave the FireStick plugged in, they'll usually pull the app over night, but not if I am using it throughout the night. I wonder if there's something that can be done to subvert that?
[Fire TV General] loscni:
I had a similar issues using the 4th trigger. In my testing on my 4k Max and Lite, Activity Manager trigger wins every time as far as response time and reliability.
[Fire TV General] buzzywuzzy:
That's funny, because Activity Manager doesn't work at all for me. OZ-DCS:HomePressReceiver is the only one that works and even then, it's only about half of the time. I have a 4k Fire Stick. Any fix?
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
When changing the launcher on my Google TV (Hisense Android 11 non-root), none of the app shortcuts on the remote work. Other than using a button remapper app that uses Accessibility services, is there any way to fix this?
[Fire TV General] alex78ita:
hello, after restart the firetv, the "use adb for home" setting is setted to off, on another fire tv with same settings everything is ok. both are 4k max. someone can tell me what's wrong with the first one? thanks
[Fire TV General] hulyahulya:
im using amazon fire stick 4k with tv usb plug . its 500 ma. Because of low power fire stick can damage ? 1 time i saw screen low voltage info. But its working without problem
[Fire TV General] hulyahulya:
This is a very silly answer, as you said, when I checked, I unintentionally updated the system. when you click one time check updates. its updating auto :mad:
[Fire TV General] RiCkLaR:
Mantis received a new full firmware update not that long ago, build date is 2023-04-15, firmware is Fire OS 6.2.9.6 (NS6296/4554), and looks like Amazon added a new system-app, or at least I hadn't noticed this app before, this package:

com.google.android.athome.globalkeyinterceptor

Odd that is has GOOGLE in the name, like maybe Amazon had to ask Google for help in defeating LauncherManager. :ROFLMAO:

Package wasn't protected, was able to Disable it via ADB, but I didn't extract or dump the package to see what it actually does, and then I proceeded to do some bonehead ADB scripts, rebooted & soft-bricked my Mantis. Don't think disabling that one app had anything to do with bricking my Mantis, but be careful, and hopefully someone can take a look at that system-app.
[Fire TV General] MrTooPhone:
So I recently got the WalMart onn. streaming box. Both LM 1.1.6 and WL 0.1.9 installed fine. But the system won't accept WL. Any suggestions?
[Fire TV General] brackenhill_mob:
ProjectIvy. https://xdaforums.com/posts/88477211/
[Fire TV General] MrTooPhone:
Thanks. I will take a look at ProjectIvy if I can't get WL to work. There is another forum that claims their is a Google TV version of Wolf Launcher.
[Fire TV General] mmortal03:
Many people use FLauncher as your launcher rather than Wolf Launcher on Android TV (Google TV) devices. And rather than changing the default launcher, some people just use the Button Mapper app to re-map their Home button to launch FLauncher. On mine, I made a long press of the Home button launch FLauncher, leaving the short press to get back to the default launcher.
[Fire TV General] MrTooPhone:
Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a look at it. But you gave me an idea, using the button mapper app or maybe the start at boot up app. Thanks
[Fire TV General] asif9t9:
Flauncher on the firestick. I found that when you hit the back button in Flauncher, it would unfortunately take you to the regular home screen. Is that still the case? That didn't happen with Wolf for me.
[Fire TV General] mmortal03:
Yes, at least if it's not been set as the default launcher (i.e. when it is just run as an application). That's even what FLauncher does on Android TV. In other words, the back button goes back to whatever application was showing last. I don't know what the back button does there if you've set FLauncher as the default launcher in Launcher Manager on a fresh boot. I definitely get why you'd want it to *not* go back to anything -- to act like a true Kiosk mode for family members. Maybe someone can submit code to add that as an option. FLauncher only gets sporadic updates (but was recently updated, to be sure). Anyway, FLauncher isn't specifically customized for Fire OS. I'm only suggesting FLauncher for the onn. device.
[Fire TV General] PuckBass:
Launcher manager is for FIRE TV the command it execute are useless for a googleTV and wont work and its not needed on googleTV has they dont block using third party launcher
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
I am using the Android TV version from the first post, not the Fire TV version. This app allows me to have my preferred launcher (Projectivy) when selecting Home without using Accessibility Services (to intercept button presses). Everything works well other than the buttons I mentioned.
[Fire TV General] PuckBass:
yeah its totally not needed no need for any app to change launcher on googletv chromecast .....
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
Can you explain how it is not needed? I see no native option to change launcher.
[Fire TV General] duckdown:
Doesn't work on a new generic Q5 AndroidTV box. Complains about ADB Debugging not being enabled and then takes me to dev options where no such option even exists. There is only USB Debugging options, which are already enabled, still complaining.
[Fire TV General] PuckBass:
its for fire tv and useless for android tv guys read up ... use adb on android tv to disable stock launcher and make third party one default... Launcher manager is for FIRE TV since FIREOS blocks launcher changes the program is made to perform certain task and hook than only applies to fireTV !
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
Did you miss that there is an Android TV version in the first post? Not sure why you insist on calling it useless, as it does indeed work on Android TV as there is a specific version for it.
[Fire TV General] PuckBass:
there zero point trying to talk to you and explain you refuse to understand anything plus that version has been out of date and useless on androidtv 12 and up but you just refuse to get it ... thats you problem but stop replying to me about it
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
It does actually work on my Chromecast with Google TV (Android 12). Not sure where all this is coming from. Perhaps @SweenWolf would care to chime in on the Android TV version?
[Fire TV General] Finnzz:
Maybe the app buttons on that Android version / vendor build are dependent on some function of the Google TV Launcher which is now disabled?

Even on FireOS, disabling Amazon Launcher breaks a few features that rely on that APK. In the case of FireOS you can only fix this with root.
[Fire TV General] MrTooPhone:
Not sure how Chromecast works, but Wolf Launcher (LM (ATV) - 1.0.4) does not work on my ONN TV wich uses Android 12. But I have recently heard you need to disable USB Debugging for Wolf Launcher to work on ONN. I have not tried yet. Anything like that with Chromecast?
[Fire TV General] jhedfors:
Nothing like that with either Chromecast with Google TV or with my Hisense TV. USB debugging can remain on without any issues that I am aware of.