TV Detox

1. On the TV, open Settings, then Device Preferences (or System), then About.
2. Press OK on Build 7 times until you see "You are now a developer."
3. Go back, open Developer options and turn on USB debugging. If you see Network debugging or Wireless debugging, turn that on too.
4. The first time your laptop connects, the TV asks "Allow debugging?" Tick "Always allow" and press Allow.
5. When setup is done, turn USB debugging, Network debugging and Wireless debugging off again (or turn off Developer options). Turn them back on only to run undo.sh or update.

Chromecast with Google TV and other newer Google TVs usually only have Wireless debugging, which needs a pairing code. install.sh <TV_IP> alone won't connect. Instead:

1. In Developer options, open Wireless debugging and choose Pair device with pairing code. Leave that screen open.
2. On your laptop, run adb pair <IP>:<pairing port> with the IP and port shown under the code, and type the code.
3. Back on the Wireless debugging screen, note the IP and port shown there (it's a different port), and run adb connect <IP>:<port>.
4. Use that same address for every script: sh install.sh <IP>:<port>, sh undo.sh <IP>:<port>.

The port changes every time the TV restarts, and the connection can drop. If a script says it can't reach the TV, pair and connect again. Don't restart the TV halfway through a cleanup.

Menus differ a bit by brand. If you're stuck, ask Claude or Codex: "I have a <brand and model> TV. How can you connect to it from my laptop and take control of it?"

Android TV 9 (a real TV), 11 and 12, and Google TV 14 (also a real TCL TV, see TCL notes). Every change is tested automatically on emulators.

• Amazon Fire TV: partly. Fire TV is Android underneath, so the cleanup works. Amazon blocks changing the home screen on current Fire TVs, so you keep Amazon's. Tell Claude what you want to keep, like Alexa voice search on the remote.
• Roku: no. Roku runs its own system, not Android, so nothing can connect to it to turn things off.
• Samsung (Tizen): no, for the same reason.
• LG (webOS): no. You can still cut down the ads by turning off Home Promotion and Content Recommendation in the TV's home settings.

If your TV or streaming box runs Android TV or Google TV, it should work. That includes many Sony, TCL, Hisense, Philips and Xiaomi TVs, Chromecast with Google TV and Nvidia Shield. Some of those brands also sell Roku or other non-Android models, so check Settings > About if you're not sure.

• Android projectors: probably. If it has Developer options and USB debugging, the cleanup should work. Cheap projectors often run a custom Android, so the home screen may act a bit differently.
• Android phones: only the cleanup. The home screen is made for a TV remote, not touch.

The cleanup works, but leave Google TV's own home screen on, which means you keep Google TV's home screen. At least one Chromecast got stuck restarting after it was turned off, and it needed a factory reset. install.sh leaves it on by default since v1.4.1.

• Connect with Wireless debugging (see "How do I turn on developer mode?" above). The plain install.sh <TV_IP> won't reach a Chromecast.
• The YouTube button on the remote can stop working, and some lose casting. Tell Claude to keep casting on if you use it.

On some Google TVs, once Google TV's home screen (com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx) is off, Android picks the setup app (com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith) for Home instead. install.sh spots this and asks before turning the setup app off too. It only asks if Home opens exactly that app, Google TV's home screen is already off and the TV has finished its first setup. Since v1.4.1 this only happens if you also opt in with GOOGLE_TV=1. YES=1 doesn't turn it off; use YES_SETUP=1 for that. This worked on a Sony BRAVIA and a TCL Smart TV Pro (Google TV 14), but it hasn't been tested on every TV. undo.sh turns it back on.

To undo it by hand:

adb shell pm enable com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith
adb shell pm enable com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx

If the TV ever asks to be set up again, or a setup screen won't finish, turn the setup app back on first.

Tested on a TCL Smart TV Pro (Google TV, Android 14, 2.3 GB of RAM). Every step below was followed by a restart, and the TV started normally each time. Free memory went from about 660 MB to about 1 GB, though part of that is just from restarting: the first number was taken after the TV had been on for 15 days.

Home screen. With Google TV's home screen off, Home opened the setup app's recovery screen, as in #16. Turning the setup app off too (YES_SETUP=1) made this home screen stick, through several restarts.

Connect on port 5555. If you connected with Wireless debugging (pairing code), turning the setup app off ends that connection halfway through install.sh. The script then says it couldn't turn the setup app off, even though it did. On this TV, the classic port also worked, so you can reconnect with adb connect <TV_IP>:5555, check with adb shell pm list packages -d, and run install.sh again with that address.

Safe to turn off, if you don't use them:

Tiles that stay after the cleanup. Two TCL tiles can still show up on this home screen. TCL Channel is com.tcl.partnercustomizer, which also handles the TCL button on the remote. TCL Home is com.tcl.dashboard, TCL's quick settings panel. Both turned off without trouble.

Keep these on:

• com.tcl.tvinput: the HDMI inputs and the tuner.
• com.tcl.suspension: the input picker.
• com.tcl.inputmethod.international: the TCL keyboard.
• com.tcl.providers.config: other TCL apps read their settings from it.
• com.tcl.useragreement: TCL's privacy switches.

com.tcl.tv is Live TV, the channel guide and channel scanning. Turn it off only if you never watch antenna or cable TV.

Optional: the phone keyboard keeps popping up. On this TV, Google TV's phone-remote service made its phone keyboard the TV's keyboard again after every restart. If that happens to you, first note which keyboard you have now:

adb shell settings get secure default_input_method

Then switch to the TCL keyboard and turn the phone-remote service off:

adb shell ime set com.tcl.inputmethod.international/.T_IME
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.tv.remote.service

This also stops your phone from working as a remote: no typing, voice search or control from the Google TV or Google Home app. undo.sh doesn't undo it. To undo it by hand, turn the service back on and switch back to the keyboard you noted:

adb shell pm enable com.google.android.tv.remote.service
adb shell ime set <the keyboard you noted>

The TCL logo at startup is part of the TV's firmware, so it can't be turned off. On this TV, turning it off with the remote (not at the wall) let TCL's quick start wake it straight to the home screen, with no logo.

Tested on a OnePlus TV E00 (QLED, Android TV 11 with Google TV's home screen, 2.9 GB of RAM). The cleanup was followed by a restart, and the TV started normally and opened this home screen by itself. Free memory went from about 1.34 GB to about 1.67 GB, though part of that is just from restarting.

Home screen. OnePlus ships two home screens: OxygenPlay (com.oneplus.tv.launcher) and Google TV's (com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx). Turning off Google TV's is up to you and at your own risk: it worked on this TV, but it has left some Google TVs (like Chromecast) stuck restarting. Only try it if you can reconnect over USB or port 5555. If you leave it on, the cleanup still works and Home keeps opening Google TV's home screen. If you do turn it off and Home opens Google TV's setup app, run install.sh again with GOOGLE_TV=1 YES_SETUP=1, the same fix as on the TCL above.

Safe to turn off, if you don't use them:

Keep these on:

• com.heytap.tv.livetv: Live TV, which also opens the HDMI input list. Turning it off can stop you switching inputs.
• com.mediatek.*, com.oneplus.tv.factory, com.oneplus.tv.remote: the remote's buttons, the input key, the tuner and HDMI.

Remote buttons. If you turned Google TV's home screen off, the Guide and All apps keys do nothing, because they open it. That's expected.

The chat in the Claude app (and claude.ai) runs on Anthropic's servers, not on your laptop, so it can't see your TV. You need something that runs on your own laptop: Claude Code or Codex.

Don't want to pay for either? Skip the AI and use install.sh instead (see "Can I install the home screen without AI?" below).

Not yet. Claude has to run on a computer on the same network as your TV. A phone hotspot is fine as that network, as long as the laptop and TV both join it.

That works the same. Your laptop talks to the TV over its IP address on your home network, so cable or Wi-Fi doesn't matter. The laptop just has to be on the same network. You'll find the TV's IP in its network settings, or ask Claude to find it.

Yes. Leave out step 5 of the prompt ("Install the home screen"). Your TV looks the same, just with the junk turned off.

Run the planner. It reads the TV and prints every app with a verdict, changing nothing:

sh candidates.sh <TV_IP>

never the TV needs it, keep it carries a feature you may use, safe common junk, review unknown. docs/debloat.md explains the rules behind the verdicts, the traps — apps Android restarts whatever you do, the app that carries casting, and package names that hide what the app really is — and the never-touch and commonly-safe lists.

You can. The cleanup is the part that makes the TV faster, and it works with any home screen. This one is here if you want something tiny and open source: one screen, no ads, no account, about 30 MB of RAM.

That's a TV setting, not this home screen. Ask it: "My TV opens Live TV at startup instead of the home screen. Find that setting and turn it off."

Some remote buttons are handled by the TV's own home screen or by apps the cleanup turned off. To see which app handles which button, ask Claude: "Run adb shell dumpsys window policy and tell me which apps my remote's global keys go to." If it's an app other than your TV's home screen, turn that app back on.

The YouTube button on some Google TVs (seen on Xiaomi and Vu): it goes to Google TV's own home screen, which install.sh turns off, so the button does nothing. Turning that home screen back on brings the button back, but your TV may then open Google TV's home screen again instead of this one. Until there's a safe fix, open YouTube from its tile on the home screen.

sh check.sh <TV_IP>                  # check the home screen is still in charge
sh check.sh <TV_IP> --fix            # and fix it
sh check.sh <TV_IP> --fix my-tv.txt  # also check your own list of changes

Your list has one change per line, like off com.example.app, global window_animation_scale 0 or device_config activity_manager max_cached_processes 4. Ask Claude to write it from the changes it made.

Yes. You only need adb. On a Mac, run brew install android-platform-tools. On Windows, download Google's SDK Platform Tools, unzip it, and run the commands below from Git Bash. Download this repo, then:

sh install.sh <TV_IP>                                               # picks your TV apps for you
sh install.sh <TV_IP> "com.netflix.ninja,com.hulu.livingroomplus"   # or choose them
sh install.sh <TV_IP> "" "bluetooth,sound,picture"    # add settings shortcuts

Most TVs keep opening their own home screen, so the script offers to turn that off. Nothing is uninstalled.

The cleanup half is a judgement call per app, so it's not automated. sh candidates.sh <TV_IP> lists every app with a verdict and docs/debloat.md gives the rules, if you'd rather decide yourself than have the AI do it.

Use the remote. Hold OK on an app (or press Menu) to:

• Move it: use the arrows to slide it to a new spot, then press OK to finish.
• Replace it: pick another app to take its place.
• Remove it from the home screen. The app stays installed, and you can add it back any time.
• Uninstall it, for apps you installed yourself. The TV asks you to confirm first.
• App info, for apps that came with the TV. They can't be uninstalled, but from there you can turn them off.

To add an app, pick the Add app tile in the bottom row. Add as many apps as you like: they wrap into rows of six, and the page scrolls once there are more than twelve. Your changes are kept until you run install.sh with a new app list.

Yes. Pick the Settings tile, then Wallpaper. (TV settings, right under it, opens the TV's own settings.) There are fourteen gradients. Dark: Dusk (the default), Midnight, Plum, Forest, Graphite, Ocean and Ember. Bright: Sunset, Lagoon, Aurora, Coral, Iris, Meadow and Gold. The background changes as you move through the list; press OK to keep one, or Back to leave it as it was. They're colours only, no pictures, so every one is just as fast and uses the same memory.

Yes. A small network icon always sits next to the clock. It shows Wi-Fi (with signal bars), Ethernet or a crossed-out Wi-Fi when you're offline, and opens your network settings. Bluetooth, Sound and Picture shortcuts can join it. They're off unless you ask for them:

sh install.sh <TV_IP> "" "bluetooth,sound,picture"   # pick any of them, in any order
sh install.sh <TV_IP> "" "none"                                    # take them away

Press Up from your apps to reach them. A shortcut your TV has no screen for is left out. On TCL TVs, Sound and Picture open TCL's own panels.

sh undo.sh <TV_IP>

This turns your TV's own home screen back on and removes this one. To undo the cleanup too, ask Claude or Codex to reverse everything on its list.

If you turned debugging off after setup, turn it back on first, then off again when you're done.

Your laptop can often still connect for a few seconds each time the TV starts. Use that to turn everything back on:

adb connect <TV_IP>
adb wait-for-device
adb shell pm list packages -d

That lists everything that's turned off. Turn each one back on with adb shell pm enable <package>, or all of them at once:

for p in $(adb shell pm list packages -d | tr -d '\r' | sed 's/package://'); do adb shell pm enable "$p"; done

To undo just the home screen, run sh undo.sh <TV_IP>. Then restart the TV. You can redo the cleanup later, one app at a time.

If the laptop never connects, use the TV's recovery mode or a factory reset. How you get there depends on the brand and model, so check your TV maker's support page.

1. Put your default apps in apps.txt (package names, one per line). You can also pass them to install.sh instead.
2. Install Java 17 and the Android SDK. On a Mac:

   brew install openjdk@17
   brew install --cask android-commandlinetools
   sdkmanager "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0"

3. sh build.sh, then sh install.sh <TV_IP> installs your build instead of the release.
4. sh ci/smoke-test.sh <TV_IP or emulator> checks it all works.

HDMI inputs are found on their own. The labels follow the TV's language, with 16 languages built in. To add yours or fix a translation, edit src/com/ansub/tvhome/Strings.java. Keep key.jks, which is made on your first build: updates must be signed with the same key.

It's one screen of plain Java, no libraries, no Gradle. The background is drawn once, the only animation is the focus lift, and it uses about 30 MB of RAM.