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Virtual Mouse for Android TV that can be controlled via remote itself.

License: GNU General Public License v3.0

Java 100.00%

android-app android-tv accesibility virtual-mouse hacktoberfest mouse android

matvt's Introduction

Please read the After Install instructions carefully otherwise you might end up soft-bricking yourself (it's possible to recover, but why do you want to risk it, eh?)

MATVT: Mouse for Android TV Toggle (Now for flipphones as well)

Hard to reach portions of some legacy app that you're running on your Android TV (/flipphone)? Feeling the need to have a touch input in your Android TV (/flipphone)? Or just looking for an alternative to the famous Mouse Toggle App for your TV (/flipphone)?

MATVT solves all the above. Unfortunately, it's not on the playstore, and there are no plans to launch it there either. If you'd like to see it on playstore, please let me know in the issues tab (any support is also graciously accepted).

Official Releases (and pre-releases) can be seen at https://github.com/virresh/matvt/releases.
The latest stable release fit for usage on TV can be downloaded at https://github.com/virresh/matvt/releases/latest.

So what does this app do?

MATVT is intended for users running Android TV / Flipphone (Android version 7+, limited functionality on Android 6 flipphone) and have a big remote with atleast the following:

DPAD (for up, down, left, right and center buttons)
A spare key to toggle mouse mode (we call it the BossKey)
Color buttons (Red, Green, Yellow, Blue)
Info button

After installing this app, you'll get a mouse cursor that can move around, perform clicks and left / right / up / down swipes from your remote itself without any extra hardware (no need to pair with an android phone / laptop etc)

Basic Functionality

Mouse Warps over borders

Different Sizes and Skins

And a lot more functionality. See the configurations section

How to install?

Download the APK from the releases section and side-load it on your TV. The source-code is open and available should you wish to inspect it / build it yourself / don't trust the release apk ;)

Remember there are two apks, one for Android TVs, one for Android FlipPhones. The one's without a -phone suffix are for flipphones, the others are for TVs.

How to use?

DPAD is for movement and single clicks (has long click support too, but isn't very reliable)
The color buttons are for swiping. RED and GREEN for up/down swipe, YELLOW and BLUE for left/right swipe
Info button will instantly toggle mouse visibility (so you can switch between mouse and no mouse instantly)
~~Pressing back button for more than 3 seconds will disable the accessibility service completely~~ This is now removed.
The mouse will auto-disappear after a short while and re-appear when you press another relevant button.
Toggling mouse modes resets cursor position
The mouse warps around your TV sides, so you can roll over from the top of your TV to the bottom instantly
Mouse movement is momentum based, so keeping key pressed for longer will increase the movement / send multiple swipes in scroll mode
For remotes who don't have the above buttons, a Boss Key is available which can be used to toggle between mouse mode / scroll mode / dpad mode. By default this is the mute key, but can be overridden in the configuration settings. See the Youtube video linked below by TechDoctorUK for a demo of how that works.
You can change the cursor icon used from the companion GUI app. It also supports several useful mouse configurations, detailed in a separate section below

See a demo of a modified version in action by TechDoctorUK at: https://youtu.be/UC7bPw2tG4c

Important points to know After Installing

Be sure to go to Special App Permissions in your settings and give permission to MATVT to draw over other system apps. If you don't do this step and enable the accessibility service beforehand, the app won't have necessary permissions to do anything and it'll keep consuming your input, so your remote will no longer work. If you have gotten yourself in this situation, see FAQ.
AFTER doing the above, you can go to accessibility settings and enable MATVT service.
Now you can press the info button and there you have your mouse

Configurations available in the APP:

Mouse Size
Mouse Scroll Speed **
Mouse Icon (two icons, light and transparent available)
Bordered Window (Enabling this will prevent the cursor from warping over the screen edges)
Disable Boss Key (If you have a full size remote, you don't need to keep a boss key. Info key and color buttons are sufficient, read how to use section for more info)
Will Boss Key Toggle (When remotes don't allow long pressing, this will allow people to cycle through various modes on key press in the order: Dpad -> Mouse -> Scroll -> Dpad) *
Override Activation Key (Select this to set a custom keyCode for bossKey)
Scrolls when mouse touches the edges (thanks to @sweenwolf)
Automatically detect boss key code (again thanks to @sweenwolf !)

* Not available on FlipPhone version ** Not available on FlipPhones with Android 6.

FAQs

Is this tested? Yes, I have tested it on Sony Android TV. So any other Android TVs running Android 9 should work. If you've tested the official version on some other TV and it's working, please let me know, I'll create a list of TVs that are known to be working.
I didn't follow instructions properly and have soft-bricked myself, now what? You'll need a physical mouse to go to accessibility services and disable MATVT. And this time before re-enabling it, please follow instructions and give the service proper permissions. You can also use a keyboard, but it'll be way more tedious.
I didn't follow instructions and was not soft-bricked, why all the warnings? You should consider yourself lucky then :p. But be aware that the warnings are put there from a real experience. Though thanks to community contributions, this is probably fixed in some newer versions for most TV boxes.
So, how does it work? You have the exact code in front of you, feel free to read it { It's not that bad ;) }. In a nutshell, this app uses Accessibility features provided by Android.
I think there's something that can be improved. How to contribute? I welcome all kinds of contributions. Documentation, Code tests, Actual Hardware Testing etc etc. Please feel free to create a Pull request and remind me in a couple of weeks if I forget about it :D
Is there a version for Android Phones too? While I believe this shouldn't be required on most touch screen Android phones, for those stuck with a non-touch screen Android phone, support for it is on the way. There's an experimental build available. Checkout discussion at #3 for more information.
Are there ADs? No, there are no ads, and there won't be any.
Is there any kind of tracking information? Do you sell it for profit? No, there is no tracking information collected from the app. No telemetry nothing.
How do you sustain the project? It's currently on Ad-Hoc basis. I devote my free time amongst my open source projects and maintain them. This project is not funded by anyone. It totally relies on community support. There have been generous folks (like @sweenwolf) who've contributed to the code base without any kind of compensation.
Mouse doesn't toggle with certain keys on chromecast? Chromecast use infrared for some keys, which actually operates the TV, not the chromecast (like power, volume, mute buttons). There is a setting in chromecast to control chromecast audio instead of TV audio which should enable some of these keys, but in general the app cannot receive any IR key inputs unless your TV converts them to Android keycodes and sends it to the android operating system.

Redistributing and Creating MODs

I welcome everyone who'd like to hack on the application, but I request everyone to stick by the following

Please consider sending the enhancement to this project itself. I'm open to all enhancements and fixes. The whole point of making this app open source is so that folks have full access to the source code and don't have to pay anything for it.
Please considering pointing to the latest releases from this repository itself, unless you explicitly want folks to download an old version. This prevents more people from downloading old versions and reporting bugs that might have been fixed.
If you absolutely do not want to contribute back anything here, then please add a disclaimer to your distribution that it's bugs should not be reported here.
By no means should you think that the source code being free means you can sell it. The source code is officially licensed under GPLv3, kindly abide by it's terms of use (it requires disclosing source code).
If you want to make commercial application out of the project and for some reason need another license / cannot abide by terms of GPL, please file an issue to discuss.

What would happen I don't do the above? Nothing. Frankly, I don't really care how people use this code. But eventually without community support or corporate backing, open source projects like this die, and this one will die too. A time will come when no developer would want to open source their projects because it's a total loss of time and spend their time making stuff behind paywalls. Also keep in mind this project source has contributions from several people.

Reporting Bugs

Please ensure to report bugs against an official release. It's hard for me to track down mods. Please try the latest official release before reporting a bug, just in case the latest version has fixed issues that you might be facing.

Contributing

All kinds of contributions are welcome. Two ways of contributing:

To contribute with your skills, please feel free to create a pull request in this repository. Bug reports can be done in the issues tab, and documentation happens similar to code contributions
To sponsor the project, you can buy me a coffee via https://ko-fi.com/Z8Z74EEHQ and mention the specific bug / issue you're interested in. You can also use the button above.

Credits

Thanks to EVA Facial Mouse for open sourcing their code. I've taken lots of ideas from their codebase. You can check them out at https://github.com/cmauri/eva_facial_mouse
Thanks to @sweenwolf for making this app work on remotes with less buttons, and for the app icons, fully transparent cursor images, boss key autodetect and autoscroll on borders!
Thanks to TechDoctorUK for making a demo video
Thanks to @hotcereal_twitter for providing more cursor images. Link.

Disclaimer

Please note that this project in no way, shape or form is sponsored by anybody. It's a fully independent project with generous folks contributing to it. It does not generate any kind of revenue. There are no ads in the app and will never be. There's no tracking code stealing information or any kind of paywall for extra features. It is what it is, unless of course you download a MOD. Unless the MOD is open source, there's no guarantee it'll follow the same spirit as the above. The only way to contribute is either by (A) fixing known issues / helping out with code or (B) sponsoring the project

matvt's People

Contributors

Stargazers

Watchers

matvt's Issues

Overlay Permissions Not Granted

Hello
I'm having an issue with Sony TV running Android TV OS version 10
It shows:
Overlay Permissions Not Granted

Even though it's already been granted, note that the accessibility permissions is working and shows that it's granted

MATVT v1.0.6 (Wishes)

Hello

I download this
https://github.com/virresh/matvt/releases/tag/v1.0.6

Wishes

Now, if you do not press the buttons on the remote, the mouse cursor hide after 10 seconds
https://github.com/virresh/matvt/releases/tag/v1.0.4

After run your program, in Other Settings, please add option "Mouse cursor disappearance time" in sec

If 0 - the mouse cursor is shown constantly

If greater than 0 - the mouse cursor hide after XX sec

Now, when press * 3 times, you cycle through 3 different modes
Mouse Mode
Scroll Mode
Dpad Mode

After run your program, in Other Settings, please add option "Disable Scroll Mode"

If enable option "Disable Scroll Mode", when press * 2 times, you cycle through 2 different modes
Mouse Mode
Dpad Mode

Now, Mouse Size change value from 0 to 4

Please make change value a Mouse Size from 0 to 20 (such as Scroll Speed)

Now, enable or disable - one click button or long press button

Please make, for enable or disable double click button

Thank You!

Tivo stream 4k - Main menu issues

Hello,

I just installed the following version on a Tivo Stream 4k device. Mostly seems to work great - thanks!!

https://github.com/virresh/matvt/releases/tag/v1.03

I did notice that on the main Android TV screen, I cannot click left on the remote and highlight/select the circles (i.e. Apps, Play Next, etc.). It just seems to stay focused on the first item of each row.

Is this a known issue?

Thank you

Add alternate boss key operation without long press?

Firstly, I am trying this with Tanix TX6 android TV box and it is working great with the Tanix remote. Thanks very much for making the program available.

However, I want to use it with HDMI-CEC control from a Samsung TV using the TV remote. It is somewhat working in that I can map a new keycode in MATVT and it will toggle scroll mode enabled/disabled if already in mouse mode. Direction buttons will move the mouse. However it can't send a long press to toggle between mouse mode and D-pad mode. All the keycodes from the Samsung TV HDMI-CEC send a make code followed immediately by a break code.

If you do a future version, it would be nice if you could allow operation without needing the long press. If you had an optional setting that would just toggle between mouse mode, scroll mode, and D-pad mode with each press of the key it would be great. The mouse speed acceleration doesn't work over CEC, because the Samsung CEC is constantly sending make/breaks for the direction keys, so the mouse is somewhat slow, but that is OK. Mainly need a way to change between mouse mode and D-pad mode without the long press.

Thanks again for sharing this great program.

"not granted" for app overlay on chromecast

Hi!
First of all thank you very much for your great work on this tool. This is really useful!

Unfortunately I have a problem: inside the app it always says "not granted" for app overlay permissions, no matter how often I try to enable or disable the settings.
The accessibility service says granted, I'm using the Chromecast with Google TV.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Fix issues with pointer visibility duration and click delays

Point 2 of #8 (comment)
and https://gitter.im/virresh/community?at=60729023ae90f36840733a3d
sums up the issue.

Need to debug and fix timers on posting of runnables.

All works fine exept Enter/Ok (centerbutton of ring) that does not work in Brave apk?

Navigate and center ringbutton works fine on Google Startpage.
Navigate on SmartNextTube or Brave works fine but the select button refuse to work?
Question: What can I do so I can use the center ring button to select what I want, pls?

Tip; is it possible to have a automatic scroll when touching the sides of the screen instead of togglings?

no Mouse Toggle Service Switch in Accessibility section

Hi Virresh, I have installed apk on TOSHIBA 58UA2063DG (Android TV 9). I have enabled Display Over other Apps. However there is no Mouse Toggle Service Switch in Accessibility section of Device prefs so I cannot configure the keycode. I have also tried to install other version (activated with Info key) and no success neither. Can you help with this? Thanks

Update: I have open MATVT and it says Overlay permission Granted however Overlay Service not running. Both Accesibility permission and service were not granted and not running.

I have read somewhere that these may be Enabled/Started via ADB? Could the above issue be dealt with via ADB? Thank you

Interferes with moving apps layout function

Just wanted to let you know:

On google chromecast TV it is not possible to move the apps around with this enabled.

I have button nr 3 (home button) enabled.

When long pressing and choosing move it gives boxes for left, right etc in the bottom corner.

[Flip-Phones] Click and Swipe don't work on Android 11 Go / Sonim XP3plus

I used your app with great success on the Sonim XP3 flip phone. But on the new model, the XP3plus, which runs on Android 11 Go, clicking and swiping don't work at all. I don't know if this is an issue with the way that Accessibility works on Android 11 Go or if it's more specific to this phone model. However, another app which uses Accessibility to click on Nodes, switchboard, works fine on this phone.

The Center Key of the DPAD still has the same KEYCODE value

I would be glad to contribute code, but I'm not very familiar with the way Accessibility works

Does not detect button presses on the remote.

TV Artel, a clone of Thomson Android TV 2020
Smart TV T32RTL6000.

The remote is connected to the TV via bluetooth.
The MATVT program cannot detect any button pressed on the remote. For the experiment, I connected a bluetooth gamepad. MATVT detects button presses on the gamepad.
I want to make the remote control work like a mouse, because sometimes it is very necessary, especially in a web browser.

Below are screenshots of the TV screen from AIDA64:

If necessary, I can take other screenshots. Is it possible to make your program work with this remote on this TV?

[FlipPhones] AutoDetect screen size

This will help tone down the scroll speed making the values more consistent over different devices, especially with devices having a very small screen, such as the flipphones.

Option to remap or disable info button.

On my sony tv info button is very important and I need it. For now I Just can't use this app because when I Press info button it triggers mouse.
I would want to completely disable additional buttons and use only boss key.

Chromecast with Google TV Remote Issues

The remote wouldn't activate the mouse for me unless I set the boss key to a button that didn't send an infrared signal to my tv. So I suspect the remote doesn't send a signal to the chromecast if it's set to send an infrared signal to the tv instead for the volume, power, mute, and input buttons. I don't know how you would code around this but it's something that should be stated in the instructions.

Different buttons for mouse and scroll

Would it be possible to separate mouse and scroll functions?
My idea would be to use at least two shortcut buttons. One to activate the mouse and one to activate the scroll

No accessibility settings option on vu premium 4k android tv

as there is no accessibility settings option in vu premium 4k android tv....plzz provide the adb commands to enable
Accessiblity permissions
Accessibility service
And
Overlay service

[Android 11] Mouse click doesn't work on my Google TV unless target item has focus

Hi virresh,

Many thanks for your work and for the way you handle this project.

I have a new 2021 TCL Series 6 TV running Google TV based on Android 11. I've installed MATVT v1.0.6 successfully and can see and move the mouse cursor. But pressing the center button to click the mouse does not work -- unless the item I'm clicking already has focus, i.e. shows the visible indication of focus and would normally respond if you press the center button in normal DPAD mode. It also seems like the DPAD buttons have no effect in Scroll Mode. A normal mouse plugged into the USB port of my TV works as expected.

Please let me know if there is any workaround I might try, and thank you for your attention.

2 key alternative press

Is it possible to provide the ability to activate the mouse by pressing 2 keys alternative (or simultaneously). Eg: press volume + and - alternatively.
I have a Xiaomi MiBox 3 and I kinda need all the keys (don't have one that I don't use).
And BTW when the app is active left key is not working anywhere. So that's a bug.

click button does not work on chromecast 4k control- Android 12

Hello this issue is for Android 12 update

Implement Dragging semantics

Requested by Peterkoopman13 from twitter:

"holding the ok button and try to move with the dpad it doesn't really select a area, it doesn't seem to act like holding you're mouse button down"

Might require some multi-threading etc
This would ideally be possible to implement after #10 is implemented

Can I use a different license for commerical purposes

I am a developer considering adding mouse functionally to an upcoming app using matvt however I cannot comply with the GPLv3 license.
Can I use a more permissive license such as the Mozilla Public License 2.0 or Apache License 2.0.
I want to use a more permissive license since it would enable me to use matvt in my upcoming app and contribute to matvt.

MaTvT-VIRRESH

MATVT V1. 0.6.

ISSUES PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS

MATVT MOUSE FOR ATV

SUPPORT

MATVTV- MOUSE FOR ANDROID TV TOGGLE

MATVT v1.0.3 issues

I've posted an unlisted video titled MATVT v1.0.3 issues at https://youtu.be/aXtHGwBvb7w
It's not searchable. Please share the URL as you see fit.

Android TV 9

Dont work on licensed androidTV 9.
The laucher keys not working, tried with Back, Dpad L, Up, Right, Center. Etc. I used the keycodes detected by keyevent detector app.

Set my boss key as the central select and toggle

Now I cannot press select, and cannot go back. Any simple way to restore it?

ok button as long click

hello I am trying to use the pointer to click long and that an option appears that requires doing this action that would be the same with the finger on a touch screen but is that the pointer does nothing, an option must be activated?, I using version 1.0.6 without modifying. Thanks a lot.

mouse pointer clicks while on scroll mode

there is a bug in the app where the pointer clicks while on scroll mode, im using the LG Smart Folder (LGM-X100S).

Doesnt work on Chromecast w/ GoogleTV as of Oct30 2021

just installed on CC today (CC installed today as well). AndroidTV OS 10.

installs ok but it wont accept permissions. I give it access to permissions requested and googletv says it has the proper permissions... but if i click the app in the setting->app list and check permissions there, its doesnt show any. and in the app it shows as missing all of the permissions. manually checking permissions shows they are enabled for the app.

i deleted and reinstalled, and got the accessibility setting to stick, but cant her the Overlay Permissions to stick.

thus, cant get it working

Refactoring Mouse Engine [enhances scrolling]

Hai @virresh ...
about ..

1.ADB
2.scrolling

some apps usese adb services to controll tv actions checkout these repo and try to implement may be it will work
MuntashirAkon/libadb-android
tytydraco/LADB // more preferable & easy
it has advantage of local and remote connection
some time some apps.... scrooll will treat as click action it clicks more times per sec on the app . some apps not scrolling

truefedex/tv-bro
in this repo he implemented mouse cursor action in browser so that try to check out may help you for further development. scrolling is smoother & the cursor will change its colour accourding to the background colour like light & dark. may be it work for you and gives some idea..

enhancement:
implement double click to scroll to easy
shifting scroll to mouse some remots like larger is not easy all

just check out these repos and may get some idea .....

Incorporate ADB lib to work around devices with gesture api disabled

ADB lib - https://github.com/tananaev/adblib

This would send shell input commands directly to the input jar on devices with wireless adb enabled.

Experience with Mecool Bluetooth Remote (Remoter ATV3)

Thank you for this mouse toggle app.

Sonimxp5800 cannot click

My mobile phone is sonim xp5800,When I use mouse mode，Cannot click the content you want to !Options for content to stay in keyboard mode

Port mouse to Android Phones?

Requested by Samuel ([email protected]) over email for Android phones without a touchscreen

Example model -- https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-VN220-verizon-exalt#

Expectation -- Mouse enabled via VoiceCommand button [key 60 TV_INPUT_HDMI_1]

Since these models look like they're dumbed down version Android 6, I'm not too hopeful of them supporting most APIs
Also since it's Android 6, it'll not have support for gesture API, so we're stuck with Android getting things right via the performAction API (which IMO is highly unreliable)

Let users disable toast messages.

Toast messages covers the middle of the screen on some devices. Which sometimes makes it annoying.

I think it would be good if we had a option to disable this. (Please add this feature with the ability to disable scroll.)

Mouse/Scroll combination

Would it be possible to scroll up when the mouse hits the bottom border of the screen and to start scrolling down when the mouse hits the upper border of the screen?

This would eliminate the need to constantly switch between Mouse and D-Pad mode in the web browsers (like Chrome).
Also, scrolling left and right on the right and left border would be useful inside some applications.

Ability ti scroll by mouse

Hi,
is possible to have the ability to scroll with the mouse in an app where the DPAD does not work?

Thanks

Clicks Work On Home Page Of Android Tv But Not In Apps

Hello, thanks for your awesome work on this app .
It works fine at least on the home page .
But within apps I can't click on any button .

Option to set mouse cursor speed

Got it working... Thanks for this one, just perfect! Only thing missing would be an option to set the cursor movement speed for those really big screens or projectors.

Publication of the app on F-Droid

Could you please publish the application on F-Droid. So the update on the Android TV could be done by the F-Droid client without sideloading every time.

If it is too complicated, maybe the app could be added to IzzyOnDroid's repo.

Thank you very much.

copy and paste

copy and paste does not work on nvidia shield 2017

Explore usage of Android drivers

https://github.com/androidthings/contrib-drivers

Seems promising alternative to Accessibility services. Might help alleviate issues folks face specific clicks not registering etc etc

Mouse click not working xiaomi mi tv stick 4k Android 11

Hı. Mouse click not working xiaomi mi tv stick 4k with Android 11. Working on main menü apps but not working adertisement some apps. Thanks

Mi Box S - won't work on Home Screen only on Apps Favourites row and top Menu

When the app is installed and enable I can't move up or down on my Mi Box S home screen. In settings and app drawer it works just fine but not on the home screen I tried reinstalling it but nothing changes as soon as I enable it I can't move up or down only left and right works on the home screen.
Happily many Voice commands do work, such as "Open Side Load Launcher", "open YouTube" etc.
But when in Mouse navigation mode the pointer moves around screen as it should, but selection and execution of apps below the Apps Favourites row don't work.

I tried using the Android TV app (from Google Play Store) on my Moto g(8) phone and when this is paired it's DPad, etc, does the same things as described above for the Xaiomi remote.

I'd be happy to work with you Virresh to sort out this problem.
I have 2 Mi Box S, so it would be nice if you can fix this, otherwise, let me know how to restore the affected app on my Mi Box S to it's original condition. Note my second Mi Box S has never had the TDUK-MATVT_1.0.1v2.apk installed.

[Request] Lower SDK (Android 5.1) phone

Thanks for your hard work. I tried this app on my Android TV and it's working great. I also have a Freetel Musashi flip phone and its touch screen isn't working anymore so I want to try this app but it is only for android 6+. My phone runs android 5.1, could you consider making a test build for lower sdk phones? Thank you!

Enable matvt with adb

My android tv device does not have UI (1)to grant Overlay permission, and (2)to enable Accessibility service
First is rather easy with adb, but I don't know how to do second.

Could you give me a hint?

Airtel Xtreme box remote issue.

Hi
Can some one tell me, what is the activation key and boss key i should use in Airtel Xtreme box remote ? I have installed the application successfully and enabled all the permissions... It just the key doesnt look like working. Kindly help.

Keeps resetting the accessibility service on Android TV 10.

When rebooting the accessibility service is always on "off". Might also be a bug of Android TV 10 latest update, but it's the only app with such a behavior.

Can't move up or down

When the app is installed and enable I can't move up or down on my TCL TV home screen. In settings and app drawer it works just fine but not on the home screen I tried reinstalling it but nothing changes as soon as I enable it I can't move up or down only left and right works on the home screen.

Mouse time?

I would like to be able to change how long the mouse takes to go away, can you please do that? Thanks...

Issue with volume key (holding down volume)

The app works great, but it conflicts with the remote volume keys. If i hold volume up/down, the tv acts as if i pressed it only once, so if i want to raise or lower the volume i need to press the volume key repeatedly. The problem is gone when i force quit the app.

Not really a big issue but a little annoying.
Thanks for the hard work.

Is a Android tv with android 9