Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 5 hrs ago
AI tools help smart TV owners remove ads and redesign screens
Some smart TV owners are using AI coding assistants to remove ads and unwanted software from their televisions.
The experiments include tools such as CleanYourTV and dumbtv, which can replace cluttered home screens with simpler menus of apps and inputs.
One developer used Claude Code over Wi-Fi to remove 25 software packages from his parents’ Xiaomi TV and build a new launcher.
The projects have been tested on some Xiaomi, Sony, TCL, Fire TV and other devices, but the tools are still works in progress.
Owners say the changes can make menus faster and reduce tracking, though the projects carry risks and can be reversed to factory settings in some cases.
The changes matter to TV companies because their home screens can generate ad revenue, while viewing data can also be used to target advertising.
More users are testing the tools and sharing fixes, but the sources do not say whether TV makers will respond.
Smart TV owners are using AI coding assistants to remove ads and unwanted software, speed up interfaces and redesign their home screens.
Open-source projects including CleanYourTV and dumbtv offer tools and instructions for changing some TV interfaces.
CleanYourTV creator Gathin T. said his first project was prompted by ads on his parents’ Xiaomi TV.
The projects are works in progress, and users are testing them across different TV platforms.
The changes could challenge a smart TV advertising business that uses viewing data and home-screen ads.
- Who
- Smart TV owners and developers are using AI coding assistants, including Claude Code. Open-source projects include CleanYourTV and dumbtv.
- What
- They are removing ads and unwanted software, and changing TV interfaces and screensavers.
- When
- Developers shared experiments in October 2026. Gathin T. posted about his Xiaomi TV on October 17.
- Where
- On smart TVs, including Xiaomi, Sony, TCL, Fire TV and other platforms.
- Why
- Users want less advertising and software clutter, more responsive interfaces and greater control over their TVs.
Smart TV users and developers
Smart TV companies and the ad industry
Advertising
Smart TV users and developers
Users and developers are removing sponsored ads from TV home screens.
Smart TV companies and the ad industry
The ad industry uses TV interfaces to display ads and may use viewing data to target them.
Viewing data
Smart TV users and developers
The projects aim to disable tracking features and give users more control.
Smart TV companies and the ad industry
Smart TVs use Automatic Content Recognition to identify what is playing, and viewing data can be sold to advertisers or used for personalized ads.
Gathin T. posted about using Claude Code to remove 25 software packages from his parents’ Xiaomi TV and create a replacement home screen.
Gathin T. said a few thousand people tried the approach on their own TVs.
Mashable and TechCrunch published reports on people using AI tools to modify smart TVs.
- Software removed
- 25 Xiaomi packages
- Initial project
- CleanYourTV, originally called tv-vibehack
- Connection method
- Wi-Fi
- Reported user uptake
- A few thousand people over two days
- Platforms tested for dumbtv
- Fire TV Edition and Android/Google TV devices from Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi and Shield
3 sources
What people are saying
I had Claude Code clean it up over Wi-Fi and build a simple home screen with just their apps on it. I put the prompt on GitHub, tweeted the before and after,s and a few thousand people did the same to their own TVs over the next two days. Xiaomi, TCL, Sony, Fire TV, LG, a projector or two,
Looks like an Apple TV now lol
Your TV should do what you paid for: your apps, your HDMI inputs, and nothing else. No ads from the TV itself, no watch tracking, no update you did not ask for.
can you hack this?
Posts on X
Vibe coded my parents' TV this afternoon! It was showing a sponsored ad before you could even get to Netflix. Gave Claude Code the model number, it found the TV on wifi, removed 25 Xiaomi packages and wrote a new launcher. Looks like an Apple TV now lol
Hacked my TV with Claude Code today No more ads, bloatware, spyware or laggy UI I also got a beautiful screensaver with my revenue, calendar, weather, and notifications for new Stripe payments It was super easy! I sent it the listing for my tv, asked "can you hack this?" And
Saw people vibe coding their TVs. Mine had gotten unbearably slow, so I tried it. One afternoon with Claude Code: 25 bloat apps disabled, the 192 MB stock launcher replaced with a custom 83 MB one, plus rotating wallpapers. With AI, all you have to do is imagine!