Your TV shows you ads. This free AI turns them off.

One prompt. The same TV, without the ads.

This is the TV of Gathin's post. Before, a sponsored ad sat on top of the home screen, above Netflix. He gave Claude Code the model number. In his words, Claude found the TV on the Wi-Fi, “removed 25 Xiaomi packages and wrote a new launcher”.

Before

A sponsored ad at the top, then rows of apps, tabs and suggestions picked for you.

After

Four apps in a dock, a clock and the date. The rest of the apps sit one press below.

Then I ran it myself.

The same new home, installed by Claude Code on a Google TV on 2 Nov 2026. My test TV was the official Google TV emulator on my Mac, with Android 14. What it switched off, how long it took and what did not work are in the guide.

It asks first. Then it switches off the junk.

Android TVs have a debug mode, like Android phones. You switch it on, allow your computer once, and Claude Code does the rest over your Wi-Fi. It runs on your computer and checks every step with a screenshot from the TV.

1. 💾

   1. Back up

   It saves the list of apps and settings on your TV before it changes anything.

2. 🔕

   2. Switch off

   The maker's tracking, the ad services, the sponsored rows and the junk apps. Switched off in small batches. Never uninstalled.

3. 🏠

   3. New home

   A small home screen like an Apple TV's: your apps in a dock, a clock, no ads. About 572 KB.

It never touches the parts Android needs to start, and it asks before your apps, the voice assistant, Chromecast and the updates. On a TV nobody listed yet, it looks at what is installed and finds the junk by itself.

Android TV or Google TV? Yes.

416 TV models from 106 brands, each with a list shared by an owner who ran it. Your model is not there? The prompt finds the junk on your TV by itself.

412 articles. Not all of them cheer.

One post on 17 Oct 2026. A week later, the #1 trending project on GitHub, the site where developers share code. By 30 October, the project counted 412 articles and 229 videos. Four headlines, and two that say be careful.

• TechCrunch · 19 Oct 2026People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again
• The Verge · 23 Oct 2026People are fixing their TV OSes with Claude
• Tom's Guide · 20 Oct 2026People are using AI to turn their smart TVs into dumb TVs
• Gizmodo · 20 Oct 2026People Using AI to Make Smart TVs Dumb Again Is the Most 2026 Thing Ever
• PCWorld · 22 Oct 2026 · be carefulPlease don't use AI hacks to debloat your TV

  Says these hacks are complex and risky, with scripts nobody vetted. Its advice: the tracking switches in the TV's own settings, or a launcher from the Play Store.

• PCMag · 24 Oct 2026 · be carefulYou Don't Need AI to Dumb Down Your Smart TV. Do This Instead

About 15 minutes. The tool is free.

What you need: a computer (Mac, Windows or Linux) on the same Wi-Fi as the TV, and your remote. The new home is built on your computer, so it also needs Python, Java and the Android tools: the guide has the lines, and Claude can run them for you. My own run, minutes and cost, is in the guide.

What it does not do, and the risks

• It doesn't remove the ads inside apps. YouTube, Netflix and the others keep theirs. An optional ad-blocking DNS stops some app ads, never YouTube's.
• Only Android TV and Google TV. Fire TV gets the cleanup only. Samsung, LG, Roku, Vizio and Hisense VIDAA: no.
• It needs debug mode on the TV. One “allow this computer” tap. Left open, that port is a way into the TV, and on some sets any device on your Wi-Fi can use it. So you close it at the end: the guide shows how, and how to check.
• Nothing is deleted. Things can still break. The risk is switching off something the TV leans on. So it works in small batches, after a backup, with an undo ready. The TV's own Settings menu can switch apps back on too.
• Some TVs got stuck. A Haier set restarted in a loop, and a Mi TV Stick never started again. The prompt now tells the AI to leave those parts alone, and the project's script refuses the list that broke the stick. TechCrunch reported one person who bricked an Android TV with Claude. If a TV stops starting, a factory reset is usually the way back, and it wipes your apps and accounts.
• The press is split. TechCrunch, The Verge and Tom's Guide wrote it up. PCWorld says don't: it calls these hacks complex and risky, with scripts nobody vetted. Its advice is to switch off the tracking in the TV's settings, or to install a launcher from the Play Store. My guide has those switches too.
• Updates can bring the junk back. A firmware update installs over the cleanup. One line checks what returned and switches it off again.
• Your warranty. The project's own legal note: changing a TV's software may affect its warranty or support. It runs on a TV you own, at your own risk.
• What I tested. One Google TV: the official emulator on my Mac, with Android 14, on 2 Nov 2026. It had no ads to begin with, because it had no Google account. The ads in the photos are on Gathin's TV. The Samsung and LG switches come from the project's own page: I did not test them.