DirectorLink · Android TV Notifications for Control4

Free, open-source Control4 driver that shows notifications as a pop-up with a picture on TVs that run Google TV or Android TV: a doorbell ring with who is at the door, a camera alert, a door or gate opened, the alarm. Part of DirectorLink Drivers.

It works on your local network only: the driver talks straight to PiPup, a free app on the TV. No cloud, no account, no extra hardware.

Free. No subscription, no license key, no account with us.

Made by DirectorLink, the open-source management layer for Control4 homes. Works on its own: DirectorLink is not required (Composer programming can show pop-ups too).

DirectorLink is an independent project, not affiliated with Control4 or Snap One. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Google, Amazon or the makers of the TV apps it works with. Android TV, Google TV and Fire TV are trademarks of their owners.

Download: releases · Help and updates: directorlink.io/drivers/android-tv

Tested on a Sony XR-77A95L (Google TV) with PiPup 0.3.4, from a Control4 controller: Find TVs found it (PiPup answers), Test Notification and Show Notification with a picture (fetched by the controller and sent inside the pop-up) showed on it. Reports from other TVs are welcome: see Trying it on your TV.

What you get

A pop-up on the TV	Over whatever is on, in a corner of the screen (you choose which), for 15 seconds or as long as you set
The picture	Who is at the door or the gate, in the pop-up: the picture DirectorLink sends with a ring, or any camera's snapshot from programming
With DirectorLink 1.13	DirectorLink's notifications: doorbell rings, camera alerts, doors and gates opened, the alarm, others; you choose which kinds each TV shows
Composer programming	Show Notification (Title, Message, Picture URL); Notification Shown and Notification Failed; LAST_NOTIFICATION
Quiet Hours	No pop-ups on this TV at night, or whenever you set
Several TVs	One copy of the driver per TV, each with its own kinds, Quiet Hours and look. DirectorLink's notifications show on every TV that is on, at the same moment; in programming, Show Notification with Send To All TVs reaches every TV with one command

What it never does: turn the TV on, change its channel, input or volume.

The app on the TV: PiPup

The TV runs PiPup — TV Notifications by Alexander Savin, free on Google Play (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nyc.savin.pipup, pipup.android.savin.nyc). It runs a small web server on the TV that shows a pop-up when a device on the home network asks, with no cloud and no account.

Only this PiPup. Other apps called PiPup (the original by rogro82, and other forks) take other requests, and the driver does not work with them. In Google Play, look for PiPup — TV Notifications by Alexander Savin.

Setting up PiPup

1. On the TV, open Google Play, search PiPup — TV Notifications and install it.
2. Open PiPup once. Select Grant display permission (PiPup needs Display over other apps). On Google TV it opens the setting; on some older Android TV models the setting is not in the menus and is granted from a computer with adb shell appops set nyc.savin.pipup SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow (see PiPup's own instructions).
3. PiPup's main screen shows the TV's address (for example 192.168.1.50:7979), a QR code and a test button. Press the test button: a pop-up shows.
4. Leave PiPup's token and IP allowlist off, or: with a token, enter the same token in the driver's PiPup Token; with an allowlist, add the Control4 controller's address to it.

PiPup starts by itself when the TV starts.

Which TVs

A TV or box with Google TV or Android TV, Android 7 or newer, with Google Play: look in its Settings → About. The same brand often ships different systems in different countries, so check the TV itself.

Works
Google TV / Android TV	Sony Bravia (all since 2021), TCL (most countries), Hisense (US Google TV models), Sharp (Europe, Japan), Xiaomi, Panasonic (2026 Google TV models), Philips (2021-2025 upper range only), Nokia, Thomson, Motorola, OnePlus, Skyworth, Haier, iFFALCON, Kogan, Metz Blue, some Grundig and JVC
Boxes (on any TV)	Google TV Streamer, Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield, Xiaomi TV Box S, onn. 4K, Nokia Streaming Box
Fire TV (Fire OS 7 / 8)	Not in Google Play: PiPup's APK can be installed by hand. Not tested

Does not work
Samsung (Tizen), Vizio, Roku TVs, Hisense and Toshiba with VIDAA, Philips 2026 (Titan OS), Loewe, Bang & Olufsen	Not Android
LG (webOS)	Use DirectorLink · LG TV Notifications (pop-ups without a picture)
The newest Fire TV sticks (Vega OS)	No Android apps

Requirements

• Control4 OS 3.3.0 or newer and Composer Pro.
• A TV with Google TV or Android TV running PiPup (above).
• A fixed IP address for the TV in the router. The controller reaches PiPup on port 7979 (or the port set in PiPup).
• For DirectorLink's notifications: DirectorLink 1.13 or newer.

Installation

1. Download DirectorLink-Android-TV.c4z from the releases.
2. In Composer Pro: Driver → Add or Update Driver or Agent.
3. Search DirectorLink and add DirectorLink · Android TV Notifications to the room of the TV. Add it once for each TV.

Keep the exact file name. If your browser saves a second copy as DirectorLink-Android-TV (1).c4z, rename it before you upload. Composer knows a driver by its file name, so a renamed copy installs as a separate driver instead of updating the one you have.

Setup

1. Set up PiPup on the TV (above). Turn the TV on.
2. Pick the TV in TVs Found (the driver looks for TVs when it is added; the ones where PiPup answers come first, marked PiPup answers; run Find TVs to look again), or type its IP address in TV IP Address. Status says Ready.
3. Run Test Notification: the TV shows Control4 · Test: pop-ups from Control4 work on this TV.
4. Choose what this TV shows: Doorbell, Camera Alerts, Doors and Gates, Alarm, Other (Doorbell and Alarm are on), Quiet Hours, and the look: Position, Seconds On Screen, Pictures.

Status

Status	Means
Ready	PiPup answers and the screen is on: pop-ups show
Off	The TV does not answer (it answered at this address before), or its screen is off
Not reachable	Nothing has answered at this address yet: check the address and that the TV is on
The TV answers, but PiPup does not	PiPup is not running, or listens on another port: open PiPup on the TV once; check PiPup Port
PiPup asks for a token	A token is set in PiPup: enter it in PiPup Token
PiPup refuses this controller	PiPup's IP allowlist leaves the controller out: add the address Status names
Enter the TV's IP address, or pick it in TVs Found	No address yet

When Quiet Hours cannot be read, Status adds Quiet Hours not understood: write it as 22:00-07:00.

Settings

Property
Status	What the driver is doing (above)
TV	The TV's name and PiPup's version, as PiPup reports them
TV IP Address	The TV's IP address, for example 192.168.1.50
TVs Found	The TVs and casting devices that answered Find TVs, the ones where PiPup answers first. Picking one fills in TV IP Address
PiPup Port	7979, unless it was changed in PiPup's settings
PiPup Token	Only when a token is set in PiPup's settings: the same token. Never written to a log
Doorbell · Camera Alerts · Doors and Gates · Alarm · Other	On or Off: which of DirectorLink's notifications this TV shows. Doorbell and Alarm are On by default
Quiet Hours	From-to in the controller's local time, for example 22:00-07:00 (also 22-7): no pop-ups then. Empty: none
Pictures	On (default): the notification's picture shows in the pop-up
Position	Top Right (default), Top Left, Bottom Right, Bottom Left, Center
Seconds On Screen	3 to 120, 15 by default
Log Level	Info writes one line for every pop-up. Debug and Trace show every check and request

Actions: Find TVs · Test Notification · Print Diagnostics

Print Diagnostics shows the driver version, the TV and PiPup (its screen, whether it wants a token), the last checks, the look, the kinds and Quiet Hours, the DirectorLink variables and the last 10 notifications with what happened to each. It never shows the token.

When a pop-up shows

• Only when the screen is on. Just before each pop-up the driver asks PiPup (/status); a TV with its screen off gets nothing.
• The TV has 3 seconds to answer. No answer (off, or not on the network): the pop-up is dropped, with one line in the log. The driver never turns the TV on.
• One pop-up every 5 seconds at most, on each TV. Others wait their turn; a doorbell or the alarm goes before the rest. One that waited more than 30 seconds (a minute for a doorbell or the alarm), or that does not fit (5 wait at most), is dropped.
• Only the kinds switched on, and nothing during Quiet Hours. Show Notification from programming is shown whatever the kinds, but not during Quiet Hours. Test Notification always shows.
• The text as it was sent: the title and the message, Hebrew and other right-to-left languages as given.
• One pop-up on the screen: a new one replaces the one still showing.
• PiPup is checked every minute while it answers; when it does not, after 5 s, 30 s, 2 min, then every 5 min. Each pop-up tries the TV whatever the last check said.

Pictures

• From DirectorLink, the notification's PICTURE (a picture on the controller), and from programming, Show Notification's Picture URL (for example a camera's snapshot address).
• The driver fetches the picture itself and sends it inside the pop-up. The TV never has to reach the controller or the camera, and a picture that lasts 60 seconds cannot expire on the way. The driver runs on the controller, so an address with 127.0.0.1 works, and a login written in a camera's address (http://user:password@192.168.1.30/snapshot.jpg) is sent as a login. The login is never written to the log.
• A picture that cannot be fetched within 2 seconds, or is larger than 1.5 MB, goes as its address instead, for PiPup to fetch (127.0.0.1 becomes the controller's address).
• JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP. Pictures Off sends text only.

DirectorLink

DirectorLink 1.13 and newer sends its notifications to this driver as soon as both are in the project. Nothing needs to be set up: the driver follows the DirectorLink notification agreement, version 1, the same as DirectorLink · LG TV Notifications, so DirectorLink recognizes it by what it says, not by its file name.

The agreement, version 1

What	The driver	DirectorLink
Marker	A string variable DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY, value 1 (the agreement's version), set at every start	Knows the driver takes notifications
Kinds	A string variable DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY_KINDS: the kinds the driver shows, comma-separated, from doorbell, camera, door, alarm, other; updated whenever its settings change (empty: none)	Sends only those kinds
A notification	Takes the command DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY	Sends it with C4:SendToDevice, to every driver with the marker

1. The variables are ordinary driver variables (C4:AddVariable), read by their names, added after the driver's existing variables, never reordering them. This driver's are LAST_NOTIFICATION, then DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY, then DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY_KINDS, written at every start.

2. The command DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY comes by C4:SendToDevice: in ExecuteCommand when sent to the driver's own device, in ReceivedFromProxy when sent to a proxy; a driver takes it from both. Its parameters, all strings:

   Parameter
   VERSION	1. A later version only adds: read it as version 1
   ID	Unique for each notification, the same for every target. The same ID again within 10 minutes is ignored
   KIND	doorbell, camera, door, alarm or other (another value is taken as other)
   TITLE, MESSAGE	The final text, in the home's language (it may be Hebrew, right to left), UTF-8. Shown exactly as given
   PICTURE	Optional. An http:// address on the controller that gives a JPEG for 60 seconds. This driver fetches it and shows it in the pop-up

3. Rules for the driver: never block; only the kinds switched on, nothing during Quiet Hours; at most one pop-up every 5 seconds on each screen, a doorbell or the alarm first; set LAST_NOTIFICATION, then fire Notification Shown or Notification Failed (a notification left out on purpose fires neither); work the same without DirectorLink.

-- DirectorLink's side: to each device whose driver says DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY = "1" and lists the kind
C4:SendToDevice(deviceId, "DIRECTORLINK_NOTIFY", {
    VERSION = "1", ID = "ring-158-1760206443", KIND = "doorbell",
    TITLE = "Front door", MESSAGE = "Someone is at the door",
    PICTURE = "http://127.0.0.1:47200/notify/ring-158.jpg",
})

Programming

• Command: Show Notification (SHOW_NOTIFICATION), with Title, Message, an optional Picture URL, and Send To: This TV (the default) or All TVs. Shown whatever the kinds, not during Quiet Hours. For example: When the gate opens → Show Notification Gate, Opened, http://user:password@192.168.1.31/snapshot.jpg (the gate camera's snapshot), All TVs.
• Events: Notification Shown · Notification Failed (off, not reachable, PiPup not running or refusing, or no answer).
• Variable: LAST_NOTIFICATION (STRING): the text of the last pop-up shown or failed, as Title: Message. Set before the event fires.
• Several TVs: Send To All TVs shows it on this driver's TV and sends it to every other copy of DirectorLink · Android TV Notifications in the project: each shows it on its own TV, as its own Quiet Hours and look say. (Composer's Programming tab can also run Show Notification on each TV's copy in the same When.)

Updating

1. Download the new DirectorLink-Android-TV.c4z from the releases.
2. Check that the name is exactly DirectorLink-Android-TV.c4z, not ... (1).c4z.
3. Driver → Add or Update Driver or Agent. The driver keeps its settings and the programming.

From a beta: from beta.3 (a list of TVs in one driver), the list's first TV becomes TV IP Address, and the log names the other TVs: add a copy of the driver for each. From beta.1, the TV App property is gone (the driver works with PiPup only): install PiPup on the TV as above. From beta.2 nothing changes.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
Not reachable	Check TV IP Address, that the TV is on, and that the controller and the TV are on the same network. Find TVs lists what answers; PiPup's main screen shows the TV's address
The TV answers, but PiPup does not	Open PiPup on the TV once; check PiPup Port against the port PiPup's screen shows
PiPup asks for a token / refuses this controller	Enter PiPup's token in PiPup Token, or add the controller's address to PiPup's allowlist (or turn them off in PiPup)
Ready, but nothing on the screen	In PiPup, select Grant display permission again, and try PiPup's own test button
A pop-up without its picture	Print Diagnostics and the log at Debug say why the picture could not be fetched
Ready, but no pop-ups from DirectorLink	Check the kinds and Quiet Hours. Print Diagnostics lists the last 10 notifications and why each was skipped or not shown

For details run Print Diagnostics, with Log Level set to Debug. The output appears in the Lua tab and in the driver log.

Trying it on your TV

1. Install PiPup on the TV and press its test button. Give the TV a fixed IP address and turn it on.

2. Add DirectorLink · Android TV Notifications to the TV's room, set Log Level to Trace, and pick the TV in TVs Found (or type its address).

3. Run Test Notification. Then Show Notification with a Hebrew title and message and a camera's snapshot address as Picture URL: from programming, or from the driver's Lua tab in Composer:

   ExecuteCommand("SHOW_NOTIFICATION", { Title = "Gate", Message = "Opened", ["Picture URL"] = "http://192.168.1.31/snapshot.jpg" })

4. Turn the TV off (standby) and run Test Notification again: nothing shows, and the log says why (its screen is off, or it did not answer within 3 s).

5. Run Print Diagnostics and send it with the Lua tab output (or driver_log.log), the TV's model, and photos of the pop-ups, in an issue.

Every line of the driver carries Android TV '<name>': after its time and level. It never shows the token or a login from a picture's address.

Privacy

The driver talks only to PiPup on the TV, to the picture's address it is given (the controller, a camera), and, for Find TVs, to the casting devices that answer the search on the home network. It sends nothing to DirectorLink, Google, the app's maker or anyone else, and collects no usage data.

Support

Community-supported, best effort. Report problems in Issues.

Please include the TV model and its Android / Google TV version, PiPup's version (the TV property), your Control4 OS version, the Print Diagnostics output and the log with Log Level set to Debug. Remove addresses and names you don't want to share. Security problems: see SECURITY.md.

Building from source

pip install lupa pillow
python tools/make_icons.py       # after changing icons
cd tests && python test_static.py && python test_xml.py && python test_protocol.py && python test_driver.py && cd ..
python tools/build.py            # -> dist/DirectorLink-Android-TV.c4z, dist/SHA256SUMS.txt

test_static.py needs luac 5.1 (apt install lua5.1). tests/live_test.py runs the same driver code against a real TV from a computer on the TV's network (not part of CI): python tests/live_test.py find, python tests/live_test.py <TV IP> [picture URL] [token=...], or python tests/live_test.py alltvs <TV IP> [picture URL] (Send To All TVs with one TV: two copies of the driver on it).

Path	Contents
src/core.lua	Logging (the token and a login in an address never logged), timers, variables and events, saved settings, utilities
src/json.lua	JSON (UTF-8 text through as it is)
src/ssdp.lua	Find TVs: the SSDP search for casting devices (DIAL) and their descriptions
src/tvapp.lua	The TV and PiPup: /status, /notify, the token, the checks
src/notify.lua	Notifications: IDs, kinds, Quiet Hours, one every 5 seconds, a doorbell or the alarm first, the picture fetched and carried inline
src/driver.lua, src/driver.xml, src/www/	The driver, its definition, documentation and icons
tools/	build.py (package), make_icons.py (icons)
tests/	harness.py (Lua 5.1 with a fake Director and a virtual clock), fake_apps.py (PiPup as it answers, picture servers, the search), the tests, and live_test.py
VERSION, CHANGELOG.md, docs/releases/	The version, the change log, and the notes for each release

The driver version Composer compares is major·1000000 + minor·10000 + patch·100 + build, where build is the beta number, or 99 for the release: 1.0.0-beta.3 → 1000003, 1.0.0 → 1000099.

The tests run the real driver code in Lua 5.1 against a fake Director and fake_apps.py, PiPup as it answered on a real TV. They cover Show Notification to All TVs (to every other copy of the driver, never back), the move from beta.3, /status before each pop-up (the screen off, a token wanted), /notify (Hebrew, position, duration, the picture), a token (401) and the IP allowlist (403), a TV that is off (3 s), PiPup not running (refused at once), slow answers, the pictures (fetched and carried inline byte for byte, a camera with a login, not a picture, too large, too slow, Pictures Off), the checks (every minute; 5 s, 30 s, 2 min, then every 5 min), a restart, the agreement's variables and both ways the command comes in, the kinds, IDs, Quiet Hours, one pop-up every 5 seconds with a doorbell or the alarm first, Find TVs, and that no log line shows the token or a login.

How it works

• PiPup: GET http://<TV>:7979/status (version, name, screenOn, authEnabled), then POST /notify with JSON: id, title, message, duration, position, media.image.uri (the picture inline as a data: URI, or its address), with Authorization: Bearer <token> when a token is set. Find TVs asks GET /ping (pipup <version>).
• Find TVs: SSDP M-SEARCH for urn:dial-multiscreen-org:service:dial:1, each device's description (friendlyName), and /ping on PiPup's port.

Rules for new versions

• VERSION is the only place the version is set.
• Never rename the .c4z file, and never change or remove the order of variables, event ids, command and property names. Adding new ones at the end is fine.
• Update VERSION, CHANGELOG.md, the change log in src/www/documentation.html, and docs/releases/v<version>.md. Then tag v<version>: GitHub Actions tests, builds and publishes the release with SHA256SUMS.txt (a pre-release for -beta versions). Releases are immutable.

License and trademarks

Apache License 2.0. See also NOTICE.

The requests to PiPup follow PiPup's own documentation (pipup.android.savin.nyc) and its maker's Home Assistant integration (hassio-integration-pipup-notification, MIT). No code was copied from them. Control4 interfaces follow the public Snap One DriverWorks documentation. DirectorLink's own source code: github.directorlink.io.

Installing third-party drivers or changing a Control4 project can affect compatibility, support, warranty or recovery. Keep a backup of your project.

Apache License 2.0. Copyright 2026 DirectorLink. DirectorLink is an independent project, not affiliated with Control4 or Snap One. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Google, Amazon or the makers of the TV apps it works with. Android TV, Google TV and Fire TV are trademarks of their owners.