Make a slow, ad-filled Android TV fast and clean again. Debloat it over Wi-Fi and give it a tiny Apple TV-style home screen with rotating nature wallpapers. You can hand the whole thing to Claude Code with one prompt, or do it by hand with the scripts here.

On a 2 GB TCL Google TV this disabled 25 bloat apps and cut the home screen's memory use from 192 MB to 83 MB. Everything is reversible: packages are disabled, never uninstalled.

Do it with Claude Code (easiest)

1. On the TV: Settings → System → About → press OK on Build 7 times → back → Developer options → turn on USB debugging. Keep the TV on, on the same Wi-Fi as your computer.

2. Clone this repo, open Claude Code inside it (so it can reuse the launcher and scripts), and paste:

   My Android TV is slow and full of ads. Find it on my Wi-Fi, connect over ADB, and debloat it:
   disable the manufacturer's ads, telemetry and junk (reversibly, never uninstall), asking me first
   about apps and features I might use. Then build and install a fast, minimal Apple TV-style home
   screen with a dock of my favourite apps and rotating nature wallpapers. Back up before changing
   anything, check every step with screenshots from the TV, and give me a restore script.
   
   Heads-up from people who've done this: use the adb-shell Python package if macOS blocks adb; on
   Google TV also disable com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith or it hijacks the Home button; and
   test the Home button from inside an app.
   

3. Accept "Allow USB debugging?" on the TV when asked, then answer a few questions: which apps you use, which go in the dock, whether you want wallpapers.

The prompt is short on purpose; Claude works out the details. The gotchas below are there in case it gets stuck.

Do it by hand (macOS)

./setup.sh                                                  # Python ADB client, JDK 17, Android SDK
tools/find-tv.sh                                            # finds the TV, saves its IP
tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/tv.py --probe                # model, Android version
tools/disable.sh examples/tcl-google-tv-g07/debloat.txt     # or your own list, see examples/
launcher/build-and-install.sh                               # build + install the launcher

Undo everything with tools/restore.sh <the same list>.

What's here

Path	What it is
PROMPT.md	The prompt for Claude Code / any coding agent
launcher/	The home screen. 4.7 MB including the wallpapers; plain Android, no network, no background services
launcher/res/values/config.xml	Dock apps, hidden apps, Live TV app, grid columns
tools/tv.py	Pure-Python ADB client: shell, batch, screenshots, chunked APK push
tools/find-tv.sh	Finds Android TVs on your Wi-Fi
tools/type.sh	Type into the TV's on-screen keyboard from your laptop (tools/type.sh alone prompts hidden, for passwords)
tools/disable.sh, tools/restore.sh	Apply / undo a debloat list
examples/	Debloat lists per TV model

The launcher

• Clock, greeting and date top-left. Frosted pills top-right for Inputs (HDMI/AV/Live TV dropdown; the remote's Menu key opens it too), Wi-Fi (shows the network name) and Settings.
• A dock of your favourite apps. The focused app's name appears above it over a glow coloured from its banner. Press Down for every other app in a grid.
• 12 nature photos crossfade every 10 minutes, with a scrim so text stays readable. Swap them in launcher/assets/wallpapers/ (1920×1080 JPEGs, credits in launcher/WALLPAPER-CREDITS.md).
• Deterministic D-pad focus, remembers the last tile, picks up newly installed apps on return.

Change the dock: edit config.xml, then run launcher/build-and-install.sh.

Gotchas we hit

• macOS blocks the adb binary on the local network ("No route to host"). tools/tv.py uses the adb-shell Python package instead.
• Google TV hijacks the Home button. With the stock launcher disabled, the setup app (com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith) has a higher HOME priority than any third-party launcher. The install script disables it; restore.sh re-enables it.
• Home opened the launcher behind the current app, because of a stale home task from switching launchers. Force-stopping the launcher and com.android.tv.settings and pressing Home fixes it. The install script does this.
• Chained pm commands (pm disable a; pm disable b) can silently stop after the first. The scripts run one per shell call.
• Apps installed from the Play Store didn't appear, because the package broadcast was missed while another app was in front. The launcher re-checks with getChangedPackages on every return.
• Unsplash blocks scripted downloads with a bot check. The wallpapers come from Wikimedia Commons Featured Pictures instead.

Supported TVs

Android TV and Google TV: TCL, Xiaomi/Redmi, Hisense, Sony, OnePlus, Realme, Nvidia Shield, Chromecast with Google TV and most others. Not Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS) or Fire TV. Tested on: TCL Google TV (Android 11). Add yours to examples/.

Credits

Inspired by Gathin23/tv-vibehack. Wallpaper photos are from Wikimedia Commons under their own licences, see launcher/WALLPAPER-CREDITS.md. Code is MIT, see LICENSE.