People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again

Developers and hobbyist "vibe coders" are sharing AI-assisted methods to de-bloat smart TVs, removing sponsored ads, watch tracking, and unwanted apps while speeding up interfaces and redesigning home screens. Two prominent projects, "dumbtv" and "cleanyourtv," aim to restore TVs to their core function of running apps and HDMI inputs. The cleanyourtv creator, Gathin T., used Claude Code to remotely clean his parents' Xiaomi TV over Wi-Fi, removing 25 packages and building a custom launcher resembling Apple TV; the prompt was shared on GitHub and thousands replicated it on Xiaomi, TCL, Sony, Fire TV, and LG sets. These hacks target Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology used to profile viewing habits for ad targeting, potentially disrupting the smart TV ad industry. The methods generally avoid root access and remain reversible, but come with risks: some users report Claude ignoring simple prompts, disabling important packages, or even bricking devices. For the cautious, existing launcher replacements like ATV Launcher, Projectivity Launcher, and FLauncher offer alternatives.

(Source：TechCrunch)