Adding Multiple Launchers to Android TV Without Stacking

Updated 2026-11-04

Android TV makes it simple to swap between a default launcher, third-party alternatives, and custom skins like CleanYourTV—but getting them all to coexist without the icons bleeding into each other takes a bit of planning. If you have tried piping several launchers onto the home screen, you probably noticed that the layout either collapses into an unreadable mess or pushes one of the apps off the edge of your screen. This guide walks through exactly what you need to do to add several launchers side by side, including the hidden config steps, so your launch screen stays organized and completely functional.

Why Android TV launchers normally stack on top of each other

Android TV launched with the Pixel TV launcher on version 6.0+, which has no built-in support for multiple independent launcher panels. In practice, the system treats every installed launcher—Smart Storage, Tizen-style skins, third-party sideloaded options—as competing home-screen renderers. When more than one tries to draw at the same time, the OS picks whichever has the higher priority or simply stacks the layouts, and icon clipping becomes common.

The CleanYourTV launcher was explicitly designed to patch that gap. It wraps the native launcher, injects a clean grid layout, and exposes a small settings menu that lets you pin multiple distinct launcher panels next to each other. To avoid the stacking problem, you have to disable or reconfigure the native launcher first, otherwise both will fight over the icon slots.

How the native launcher blocks extra panels

If you have not yet checked, your preinstalled launcher (often called “Pixel Launcher” or “Android TV Home”) is the top priority for the system. It grabs the slot-application manager and the full-screen icon surface. Once you install a second launcher alongside it, the system either hides the first one or draws the second on top of it, depending on which one reports the larger API surface. You can’t simply drag and drop a second launcher icon onto the screen and expect it to sit peacefully beside the first—it won’t recognize the panel boundaries.

CleanYourTV solves this by bypassing the native launcher entirely. Its core trick is that it registers itself as the active display application while keeping the rest of the system’s app icons intact. The difference shows up immediately: the first time you launch the CleanYourTV panel, it swaps in without touching your existing shortcuts, and you can then add additional launcher icons as separate grid layers. That is only possible because CleanYourTV handles the icon bitmap replacement and the overlay positioning internally, rather than relying on the default launcher’s stacking behavior.

Step-by-step: adding launchers without stacking

First, get a clean install path. Download the official CleanYourTV package from Google Play (search “CleanYourTV Android TV”), and uninstall any leftover launcher from previous attempts. Do not keep the old launcher active during setup, because Android TV will attempt to merge the two panels at boot and that is where stacking happens.

Next, reboot the device and open the launcher settings screen. You will find CleanYourTV listed among the installed apps. Tap it to open the configuration UI. Here you can select your preferred base theme and set the grid size to 7×7 or 9×9, depending on how many icons you intend to display per panel. Set the panel position to “top left” and lock the position; this prevents the panel from drifting in front of the default launcher later.

Now, configure your first launcher grid. Choose 4–5 of the most used apps per panel (for example, Netflix, YouTube, Google Maps, Home, Settings, and your work email). Give each app a single crisp icon and make sure the spacing is uniform; CleanYourTV automatically scales the icons to fit its own grid without shrinking them into illegibility. Once the first grid is saved, return to the main menu and tap “Add Panel.”

For the second panel, repeat the selection process but pick a different set of less-frequent apps—perhaps news, weather, and a couple of utility apps. You can also choose a darker theme for panel two if you want the visual separation to be obvious at a glance.

Finally, assign the second panel to the bottom-right corner, and mark it as a fixed-position panel. Avoid the temptation to let the OS auto-arrange the panels, because auto-arrangement in Android TV is what tends to push panels toward the center and trigger the visual overlap you are trying to prevent.

What to watch for when you mix them

A few trade-offs come up once you have two panels running. The main loss of flexibility is that CleanYourTV itself is a closed package—you can’t swap its layout engine midway through a session. Everything you build lives inside its grid system. Also, because CleanYourTV replaces the native launcher’s splash behavior, the “back” button now controls navigation within the panel instead of returning to the system settings. That can feel jarring if you were used to the old behavior.

Performance-wise, the two-panel setup adds a small amount of RAM overhead, roughly 30–50 MB on most 4K sets, which is negligible on anything above the 2GB tier. If you are running the absolute minimum spec (2GB, 1080p output), consider whether both panels are truly necessary—one well-chosen launcher plus a clean icon list can serve the same purpose with less footprint.

Another risk is update drift. CleanYourTV updates infrequently, and Android TV system updates sometimes reset custom panel placements to default positions. After a firmware update, check that the grid sizes and fixed positions haven’t quietly shifted.

Fine-tuning the look and feel

Once your panels are laid out, tweak the theme colors so that the two panels read as distinct zones. A lighter, saturated palette for the top-left panel and a darker, lower-contrast palette for the bottom-right panel gives an immediate visual cue that you are looking at two separate launchers. Avoid matching themes exactly—if both panels look identical, the benefit of separation disappears.

Disable the auto-start feature on panel three if you ever add a “dynamic” launcher later. Manual-start panels keep the home screen readable, and they prevent the system from loading too many icon layers into memory at once. For daily use, stick to the two-panel set—one for entertainment and quick tools, one for utilities and reference content.

That covers the practical route to having several launchers on Android TV without them stacking into a jumbled mess. Install CleanYourTV, lock both panels to fixed corners, and pick complementary app sets per panel. You end up with a home screen that stays organized, fast to navigate, and genuinely useful across your entire day.

Related reading: more Android TV notes