Remove Ads From Smart TV With AI: What dumbtv and cleanyourtv Do, and Where They Can Go Wrong

You can now remove ads from smart TV home screens by handing the job to an AI coding agent, and thousands of people are already doing it. Two free GitHub projects, dumbtv and cleanyourtv, walk an agent like Claude Code through disabling bloat and swapping in a clean launcher. It works, but it’s not risk-free.

Here’s the short version of what matters before you try it.

Quick facts:

• cleanyourtv targets Android TV and Google TV and needs no root, no cable and no uninstalling.
• dumbtv says it works on “all manner of smart TVs” and has been tested on Fire TV, Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi and Nvidia Shield.
• Both claim their changes are reversible, but agents have made mistakes, including one bricked Android TV.
• The story broke on October 19, 2026, via TechCrunch.

If you only want the short answer: it’s doable in an evening, but back up first and go slowly.

Who built these tools, and why do they exist?

TechCrunch reports that cleanyourtv came from a developer named Gathin T., who was tired of ads on his parents’ TV. He had Claude Code connect over Wi-Fi, remove 25 Xiaomi packages and install a launcher that looks like Apple TV. A few thousand people reportedly used his prompt within two days.

dumbtv comes from Muzzammil Yasin Sabuwala, who wanted ads gone and his content faster. He says he built it with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5. Its pitch: your TV should run your apps and HDMI inputs, “and nothing else.”

Behind all this is a simple annoyance. Many TV makers earn money from home-screen ads and from viewing data collected through automatic content recognition (ACR), so the screen you paid for is also an ad slot.

How AI agents remove ads from a smart TV

The approach is the same across most guides. You enable developer options, connect a computer to the TV over ADB (Android Debug Bridge), then let the agent do the tedious part.

A popular guide by Turkish developer Mert Cobanov, posted in late August, spells out the safety rules it gives the agent. It uses pm disable-user instead of deleting apps, so you can undo any change with pm enable. It backs up your package list first, works in batches of at most 10 packages, and checks the remote and screen after each batch.

The result can be noticeable. One user in the TechCrunch story, Mihir Gupta, disabled 25 apps and swapped a 192 MB stock launcher for an 83 MB custom one. Another, Ryan Doyle, reported a faster interface after the cleanup.

If you’re curious how far agents can go with hardware, we covered a similar case in our post on Claude Code writing a Linux scanner driver.

Which projects exist and what do they need?

The table shows the pattern: nearly everything here is built around Android-based TVs. Samsung, LG webOS and Roku sets aren’t clearly covered, and TechCrunch doesn’t say.

What can go wrong when an AI cleans your TV

Agents guess. That’s fine for a spreadsheet and risky for a TV’s firmware.

Cobanov’s guide warns that on one TCL TV, disabling com.tcl.suspension removed the remote’s Inputs button and blocked HDMI switching. On some TCL models, two other packages can drop Wi-Fi. TechCrunch says one user bricked an Android TV, and another got stuck partway through a Fire TV hack.

Two practical rules come out of this:

• Install your replacement launcher, such as FLauncher, and set it as default before disabling the stock one, or you may get a black screen.
• Don’t unlock the bootloader. Cobanov’s guide says it factory-resets the TV and can drop Widevine from L1 to L3, which pushes Netflix down to SD.

Also turn USB debugging off when you’re done, since some TVs cut power to USB ports while it’s on. TechCrunch and TechRadar don’t cover warranty effects or whether a TV update can undo your changes, so assume either could happen.

It’s the same lesson as in our look at sandboxing AI agents on Windows 11: give an agent room to act, but keep an undo button handy.

A safer way to get a cleaner TV home screen

If you don’t want an agent touching system packages, replace only the launcher. TechCrunch points to ATV Launcher, Projectivy Launcher and FLauncher as lower-risk options.

A launcher swap hides the ad rows without disabling anything underneath. You also keep a simple way back: switch the default launcher in settings. It won’t stop background telemetry, but it removes most of what you see.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal to remove ads from a smart TV?

The sources don’t address legality or warranties. Disabling apps on a device you own is generally something owners do, but check your warranty and the TV maker’s terms first. This isn’t legal advice.

Do I need root access?

No. cleanyourtv says it needs no root, no cable and no uninstalling, and Cobanov’s guide says nothing is rooted or uninstalled.

Can I undo the changes?

Usually, yes. Disabled packages can be re-enabled with pm enable, and cleanyourtv offers a one-line restore. A factory reset also resets the TV to defaults.

Will this work on my Samsung, LG or Roku TV?

Unclear. The projects focus on Android TV, Google TV and Fire TV. Check each project’s GitHub page for your exact model before you start.

Does it stop the TV from tracking what I watch?

Not guaranteed. dumbtv lists telemetry removal as a goal, but results depend on your TV. Check your TV’s privacy settings for ACR as well.

Should you try it?

If you own an Android TV or Google TV and you’re comfortable with a command line, try a launcher swap first. It fixes most of the annoyance with almost no risk. Go for the full agent cleanup only if the ads still bother you, and only with a backup and a spare hour. If your TV is your parents’ main set, test it on yours first.