You can turn your Google TV into an Apple TV 4K – here's how

If you're not enjoying the experience of your Google TV, you're not stuck with the interface, you can change it. Thanks to a new launcher called Arc, you can now get an interface that looks a lot more like Apple TV.

Android has always been about flexibility and that doesn't just apply to phones and tablets - there are also freedoms within other Android platforms to switch things around, including on Google TV.

Whether you're using the Google TV Streamer or a TV that runs Google TV, changing the launcher is an option.

The advantage of switching to a new launcher is that you can fully customise it to your preferences, it can be completely personalised, avoiding adverts and recommendations that come from Google.

The most popular of these is Projectivity Launcher, which can be found by searching on Google TV and then installing the app from Google Play. However, if you fancy something that looks like Apple TV, then Arc might be a better bet (via Android Authority).

This option isn't as advanced as Projectivity in that it's not an app in Google Play, so you'll need to be a little more advanced to get everything going. However, it's freely available on Github, which also points out some of the things that don't work and gives advice on button mapping to get Arc to launch.

The result is a cleaner interface that uses less RAM than the standard launcher (so it feels faster) and it looks like the frontend of Apple TV 4K.

The developer says that it was tested on Chromecast with Google TV (so install it at your own risk) and that in future it's looking at video wallpapers, channel support and more.

It isn't the full Apple TV 4K experience, of course, so while you can have the Apple TV app (which again has a cleaner design) you won't get all the features that Apple TV itself offers.

Currently, Apple's TV box is over three years old and while there haven't been many changes in the TV industry to warrant an update, it's still a little long in the tooth.

It's rumoured that there could be an Apple TV 4K update in 2026, with a faster chip and new Siri powers, although the slow roll-out of Apple's advanced AI could have put the brakes on a new box. Still, if you don't want to wait, you can make your Google device look like it instead.