Developers are using Claude Code to strip ads and tracking from smart TVs

Developers and self-described vibe coders are pointing AI coding agents, Claude Code among them, at their smart TVs to remove sponsored ads and switch off tracking, Techmeme’s link to a TechCrunch report shows. Two open-source GitHub projects, dumbtv and cleanyourtv, now package the process.

TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez reported that the trend is a response to ads, data collection and sluggish interfaces on current sets. The projects’ own READMEs, which we read, describe how they work.

Two repos that turn a TV cleanup into a prompt

Both tools rely on Android Debug Bridge (ADB), run from a computer on the same network as the TV. Neither needs root access. The user first enables developer options and debugging on the TV, then lets the tool or an AI agent do the work.

dumbtv states its goal as: “Your TV should do what you paid for: your apps, your HDMI inputs, and nothing else.” According to its README, it disables about 65 packages, among them screen fingerprinting (ACR), ad-ID, sponsored rows and analytics, uninstalls ad-funded streaming apps, and adds an on-device DNS filter that blocks Amazon telemetry. It can also swap the home screen for its own open-source launcher. The README says a full pass takes about 10 minutes and reboots the TV twice, and every script supports a --dry-run mode.

cleanyourtv targets Android TV and Google TV. Its README says the user pastes a PROMPT.md file into a coding assistant with shell access, names the TV model, and approves each step. The assistant backs up settings, disables bloatware with pm disable-user, and builds and installs a launcher of about 280 KB styled after Apple TV. The README lists 54 tested TV models across 23 brands.

TechCrunch reported that the cleanyourtv author used Claude Code to find the TV on the network, remove 25 Xiaomi packages and write a new launcher. The developer told TechCrunch’s sources on X that a few thousand people modified their own TVs in the following two days; that figure comes from the developer and is not independently verified. TechCrunch also said dumbtv was built with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5.

Which TVs work, and which are out of reach

Coverage is uneven. dumbtv says it fully supports Fire OS devices and offers debloating, a launcher and DNS filtering on Android TV and Google TV sets from Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi and Nvidia Shield. It lists Samsung, LG, Roku, VIDAA, Vizio and Panasonic as unsupported because they offer no shell access. cleanyourtv gives Fire TV the debloat step only, because Fire OS does not allow a third-party home launcher, and notes that Samsung’s Tizen and LG’s webOS are not covered.

The projects also admit limits. cleanyourtv’s README says it does not remove YouTube ads, since they come from the same servers as the videos, and that DNS-level blocking inside apps works only in part.

Who is affected, and what can go wrong

For owners of Android TV, Google TV or Fire TV sets who are comfortable with a terminal, the change is practical: a job that once meant hunting through forum threads for package names is reduced to a prompt. TechCrunch cited users who reported a faster interface, with one saying he swapped a 192 MB stock launcher for an 83 MB custom one and disabled 25 bloat apps. Those are individual self-reports.

The risks are real, and the sources are open about them. TechCrunch reported that Claude sometimes refused plain “hack my TV” requests, so users needed more detailed prompts, and that agents can disable important packages. One user said they bricked an Android TV, and another got stuck partway through a Fire TV. Both READMEs build in safeguards: dumbtv takes a snapshot before changes and keeps a hard-coded list of packages it will never disable, and cleanyourtv disables rather than uninstalls packages, so its restore script can undo them. The cleanyourtv README also warns that most of its lists switch off the update service, so firmware updates arrive only if the user re-enables it. dumbtv notes that uninstalled streaming apps must be reinstalled from the store, and that a factory reset wipes its changes.

The wider question is for the TV industry. TechCrunch noted that smart TV makers profit from viewing data and personalized ads, and that ACR identifies what is on screen through screenshots, audio clips or other fingerprinting. Tools that disable it at scale could eat into that revenue, though both repos work only on open platforms. Sets that lock down shell access are untouched, which gives manufacturers an obvious response if they want one. None of the manufacturers named had commented in the sources we read.

The episode also shows how coding agents are being used well beyond software projects, as general-purpose operators of whatever device a user can reach over a network. For AI agent security concerns on the corporate side, see our report on Microsoft’s new agent security.