Tether

A native macOS app for tidying Android-based devices and Samsung TVs over the network: back up, remove bloat and trackers you don't want, apply a few reversible tweaks, and sideload apps from a GitHub release or a file. Built with SwiftUI and Liquid Glass for macOS 26+.

⚠️ Beta: use at your own risk

Tether changes settings and removes apps on your devices. It saves a restore point first and most changes can be undone, but this is beta software that has not been tested on real hardware by anyone but its author. A mistake can leave a device misbehaving, and Samsung and Amazon firmware can differ from what Tether expects. Only use it on devices you own and can recover, read the safety notes below, and expect rough edges. It comes with no warranty (see LICENSE).

Status: pre-release. The core is covered by automated tests against a scripted fake adb, and Samsung connection/app listing have been checked on a UE43AU9007KXXU (2021, Tizen 6.0). Device modifications still need real-hardware verification. Work through docs/device-checklist.md (and docs/tizen-device-checklist.md for Samsung TVs) before trusting it with a device you care about.

What it does

• Connects over the network to Fire TV (Fire OS), Android TV and Android phones: Bonjour discovery, wireless-pairing codes, or a manual IP address. The Add Device sheet accepts pasted IP:port addresses, supports manual pairing, and includes a cancellable TCP port check with troubleshooting guidance.
• Restore points. Before supported app changes and tweaks Tether saves the app list and states, the APKs of anything it is about to remove, and the relevant settings. Revert any change in one click.
• Debloat from a curated catalogue with risk tiers (Safe, Recommended, Advanced, Expert), a plain-English description and a "what may break" note for each app. Removal is pm uninstall -k --user 0, which is reversible.
• Tweaks: animation speed, screen density, private DNS, screen timeout, screensaver, and an experimental Fire TV ad-tracking flag.
• Apps: drop an .apk, or paste a GitHub repository to install its latest release (ABI-matched, size- and checksum-verified).
• Console: raw adb shell with a guard: read-only commands run, everything else asks first.
• Samsung TVs (Tizen, 2019+) over sdb (connection and app listing verified on one 2021 TV; modifications still unverified): list apps, remove what the TV allows (locked apps are shown as locked), install signed .wgt packages, restore points and revert. Samsung's tools are downloaded on first use after you accept their licence; they are never bundled. See Samsung TV setup.

Build and install

./scripts/bundle.sh        # downloads Google's platform-tools, builds build/Tether.app (adb inside)
open build/Tether.app

The app is ad-hoc signed, not notarised. On first launch macOS may refuse it: right-click the app → Open, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine build/Tether.app. adb is fetched at build time from dl.google.com and checked against a pinned SHA-256; it is never committed to this repository.

swift test runs the suite (about 25 s). The app icon is rendered from assets/icon.png by ./scripts/make-icon.sh. ./scripts/screenshots.sh rebuilds the screenshots against a demo device and doubles as a launch smoke test; demo/run.sh opens the app on that demo device without touching real data.

Updates

Samsung root commands are available as an explicit experimental integration under Overview → Samsung system customisation. They require a separately prepared third-party tool and bypass automatic backups; see root commands and limitations.

Connection trouble? Open Help → Connection diagnostics… to check the network and debugging session, restart ADB or SDB, or restart Tether. See diagnostics and recovery.

Tether checks GitHub for new releases (at launch and every few hours, or Tether → Check for Updates…) and can update itself. An update installs only if it carries a valid signature from the offline release key built into the app, on top of the usual size, checksum, bundle-id and code-signature checks. See SECURITY.md. A copy run from Downloads can't replace itself: move it to Applications first.

Safety model

See docs/safety-model.md. Supported app changes and tweaks require a verified restore point, one code path for every mutation, and strict validation of anything that reaches the device's shell.

Roadmap

1. Slice A: core, Android and Fire OS.
2. Slice B (this): Samsung Tizen TVs via sdb. Samsung locks most preinstalled apps on retail firmware, so debloat there means "try, verify, remember what is locked", not guaranteed removal.
3. Later: Fire TV's newer Vega OS, if its tooling allows.

More: architecture · catalogue format · Security · Releasing · Fire TV setup · Android setup · Android TV setup · Samsung TV setup