Recent Apps TV

A lightweight Recent Apps / overview switcher for Android TV & Google TV — for the many TV devices that have no system "recent apps" UI. It appears as a translucent dialog over whatever app is running, lets you switch tasks, dismiss a single task (D-pad swipe-to-dismiss), or kill everything — using the remote / D-pad only.

Because Android TV restricts the APIs needed to read the task list and remove tasks, the app uses Shizuku to obtain the elevated permissions at runtime (no root required).

Built natively in Kotlin + Jetpack Compose for TV from a Claude Design handoff.

Features

• RTL icon carousel over the running app — Kill-All tile pinned far-right, most-recent app next to it, older apps flowing left; the strip clamps so Kill-All is always visible. The focused app's name is shown as a single label centered along the bottom.
• D-pad only:
  • ← / → move focus · OK switch to that app · OK on Kill-All clears everything · Back closes.
  • Down arms the kill flow: the card peeks with a "Press again to remove" hint; Down again flies it off and removes it. Up while peeking cancels.
  • Up (when not peeking) jumps focus to the settings gear (top-right).
• Long-press OK on a card → context menu: Add to exceptions, Kill app, App info.
• Real removal — removes every task for an app (apps can own several) and, optionally, force-stops it so it can't relaunch. Disabled/uninstalled apps are filtered out.
• Settings (D-pad): Show Kill-All, Force-stop on kill, Card size (S/M/L), Card shape (Square/Rounded/Circle), Accent colour (5 presets), Background dim (0–100 % bar), Background colour, and an Exceptions list (per-app hide toggles). Persisted in DataStore.
• Shizuku gate when the service isn't running / not granted, and an Empty state (Settings still reachable).
• Themeable — one accent colour drives every focus ring and the Kill-All tile.

Launching it

There is no in-app "how to open" trigger by design. The overlay is launched externally:

• It registers as a leanback launcher entry, and
• publishes a static + dynamic launcher shortcut.

Bind a remote button to it (via a button-remapper / shortcut app) using the component:

com.websnake.recentstv/.RecentsActivity        (action: com.websnake.recentstv.OPEN_RECENTS)

Settings: com.websnake.recentstv/.SettingsActivity (also via the in-overlay gear, or MENU).

Requirements

• Android TV / Google TV, Android 7+ (minSdk 24).
• Shizuku installed and running, with permission granted to this app.

How it works (Shizuku)

The privileged work is isolated in RecentTasksRepository, run under the Shizuku shell identity (which holds REMOVE_TASKS, MANAGE_ACTIVITY_TASKS, FORCE_STOP_PACKAGES):

HiddenApiBypass lifts the hidden-API blocklist; ShizukuBinderWrapper routes the calls.

Architecture

com.websnake.recentstv
├─ RecentsActivity        // translucent dialog; scene routing + D-pad handling
├─ SettingsActivity       // leanback-style settings + exceptions sub-screen
├─ RecentsApp             // HiddenApiBypass init + dynamic shortcut
├─ shizuku/ShizukuManager // binder lifecycle + permission flow
├─ data/                  // RecentTasksRepository, PackageRepository, SettingsStore (DataStore)
└─ ui/                    // theme tokens + LocalAccent, overlay carousel, context menu, settings, states

Smoothness notes (weak TV GPU): animated values are read via State.value inside graphicsLayer{} (draw phase, no recomposition); the carousel is a single translated layer (wrapContentWidth(unbounded=true) so it sizes to content); focus glow is a drawBehind radial gradient (no RenderEffect blur); cards are keyed and @Immutable; icons are downscaled. Ship a release build — non-debuggable Compose is dramatically smoother.

Building

# Android SDK + JDK 17 required
./gradlew :app:assembleRelease
# → app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

Credits

Original design medium: HTML/CSS/JS prototype (Claude Design). Shizuku by RikkaApps.

Recent Apps / overview switcher for Android TV & Google TV — a translucent D-pad overlay over the running app (devices that lack a system recents UI). Shizuku-powered (no root).

Install: sideload the APK; needs Shizuku installed + running, then grant permission on first launch.

Controls: ←/→ move · OK switch · long-press OK → context menu (exceptions / kill / app info) · DOWN arms the kill flow (DOWN again removes) · UP → settings gear (or cancel a peek) · OK on Kill-All clears all · Back closes.

minSdk 24 · Jetpack Compose for TV.