Four smart TV apps that deserve a spot on your home screen
When you buy a new smart TV, the first thing you do is install the obvious entertainment apps — Netflix, YouTube, maybe Paramount. But there are a handful of lesser-known apps that can genuinely improve how your TV feels day to day, and they deserve more attention than they get.
You don't have to live with whatever interface the manufacturer shipped. In many cases, a few well-chosen apps can replace the cluttered home screen, give you a better screensaver, or even change how your remote works. Not every app works on every platform, but these four are a great starting point for anyone who wants more control over their TV experience.
Projectivy Launcher is the first app worth trying, especially if you own a TV running Android TV or Google TV. It replaces the stock launcher with a clean, customizable home screen that is free of ads and clutter. Instead of scrolling through rows of promoted content, you can arrange the apps you actually use right on the main screen. The launcher is responsive, minimally invasive, and lets you tweak icons, layout, and shortcuts to match your habits. It can also be sideloaded onto Fire TV devices still running Fire OS, which is a big plus if you're tired of Amazon's increasingly messy home screen. Unfortunately, it won't work on LG's webOS, Samsung's Tizen, or Roku OS — those platforms are locked down and don't allow third-party launchers.
Another app that's easy to overlook is Aerial View, a screensaver that turns your TV's idle screen into something worth looking at. Instead of a static image or a loop of ads, it displays beautiful, calming footage that makes a paused show or a lazy evening feel more atmospheric. It's a small change, but it makes the TV feel less like an advertising billboard and more like a piece of living room decor.
If you've ever wished your remote had a different button layout, Button Mapper is the app for you. It lets you reassign the keys on your remote, so you can launch a specific app, toggle a setting, or trigger a custom action with a single press. This is especially useful if your remote has buttons you never touch — you can turn them into shortcuts for the things you actually use. The app works on many Android-based TV devices and gives you a level of control that manufacturers rarely offer out of the box.
These apps show that smart TVs are more flexible than they first appear. While not every feature is available on every platform, it's worth checking what your TV supports. A few minutes of setup can transform a default, ad-heavy interface into something that feels personal and responsive — and that's a bigger upgrade than many people realize.
