BackToSchool.help for Fire TV

This Android app is a locked-down Fire TV and Fire tablet shell for https://backtoschool.help/. It does not expose an address bar or permit navigation to arbitrary sites.

Compatibility

• Application ID: help.backtoschool.tv
• Minimum API: 22 (Fire OS 5)
• Target and compile API: 36
• Launchers: Android and Fire TV Leanback
• Touchscreen, fake touch, microphone, camera, and Leanback are optional
• Cleartext HTTP is disabled

Classroom playback

Classrooms play Nixamp shares and HTTPS media URLs directly in a video element using @profullstack/player; no player page is loaded in an iframe. Nixamp video channels use HLS, with the viewer key carried on playlists and segments. The source server must allow browser access from BackToSchool for HLS playback.

D-pad presses navigate visible controls. Play/pause, rewind and fast-forward keys control the active broadcast. Full screen expands the player inside the WebView, keeping the controls available; Back exits it before navigating away. Player connections are released when leaving the classroom. Web changes require a site deployment; native media-key forwarding requires rebuilding the APK.

Pairux live/join URLs do not expose a direct stream through their embed page. They show an explanation on TV and an external viewing link in other browsers. Hosts need a Nixamp share or direct media URL for inline TV playback. Pairux WebRTC session integration is not implemented by this client.

For a desktop remote-navigation check, open the site with ?tv=1, enter a class, and use arrow keys and Enter. Check play/pause, seek on recordings, mute, full screen, Back/Escape, and leaving the class while playback is loading. A physical Fire TV smoke test is still required before distributing a rebuilt APK.

Build

Release builds require the four signing environment variables used in app/build.gradle.kts. Never commit the release keystore or its password.

BACKTOSCHOOL_KEYSTORE_PATH=/secure/backtoschool-release.p12 \
BACKTOSCHOOL_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=... \
BACKTOSCHOOL_KEY_ALIAS=backtoschool \
BACKTOSCHOOL_KEY_PASSWORD=... \
./gradlew lintRelease assembleRelease

The GitHub Actions workflow signs app updates using the original release key. Configure these repository secrets before building:

• BACKTOSCHOOL_RELEASE_KEYSTORE_BASE64
• BACKTOSCHOOL_RELEASE_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD
• BACKTOSCHOOL_RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD

The first is the base64-encoded original PKCS12 keystore. The alias is backtoschool. Keep a secure backup of the original key and passwords; a newly generated key cannot sign a compatible update for existing installs. The workflow fails if these secrets are missing instead of silently replacing the key.

To attach an APK to an existing GitHub release, dispatch the workflow with release_tag set to that tag. With no tag, it only uploads a build artifact.

See SUBMISSION.md for the exact Amazon upload field, Fire TV targeting, sideloading, and the backtoschool.help/backtoschoohelp.apk staging flow.