Start here
| You have | Go to |
|---|
| An Android TV or Google TV | Quick start: a coding assistant does the work in about fifteen minutes. |
| A Samsung, LG, Roku, Vizio or Hisense VIDAA TV | cleanyour.tv/not-android: CleanYourTV can't run there, but you can turn off the tracking with your remote. |
| Only an Android phone | The community-built Clean Your TV app: no laptop, no coding agent. |
| Want to see it first | What you get: screenshots of the new home screen. |
Official links: cleanyour.tv and this repo. Other domains using the name, such as
cleanyourtv.com, are not run by this project (#1004).
How it works · Quick start · What you get ·
Supported TVs · Doing it by hand · The launcher ·
Restoring · Firmware updates ·
Questions · Contributing
How it works
Android TVs have the same debug bridge as Android phones. Switch on USB debugging in the TV's
developer options, allow your computer once, and the rest is standard Android tooling:
| Step | What happens |
|---|
| Back up | The list of installed packages and settings. |
| Disable | The manufacturer's telemetry, ad services, content rows and preloaded junk, with pm disable-user. Nothing is uninstalled, so a restore script can undo every step. |
| Install | A small native launcher, made the default home screen. |
No root, no cable, nothing uninstalled, and a one-line restore if you change your mind.
The bloat differs by brand, so the prompt has your coding assistant discover it on your TV and ask
before touching anything you might use.
Quick start
| You have | Do this |
|---|
| A computer | Use the prompt with a coding assistant: the three steps below. |
| A computer, no coding assistant | Run the three steps yourself: the commands are in Doing it by hand. |
| Only an Android phone | Use the community-built Clean Your TV app by @udhaykumarbala: connect, analyse, clean, in about five minutes. No laptop, no coding agent. |
The three steps below are written for a coding assistant: the computer needs to be on the same Wi-Fi as
the TV, with a shell on it, plus Python 3, a JDK from 17 through 22, and Android SDK platform 34
with build-tools 34 (the assistant builds the launcher there).
Without an assistant, Doing it by hand
is the same job, run by you, and it has the install commands.
Any of these work: Claude Code (on 0G Private Computer or an Anthropic plan), Codex, Gemini CLI or Antigravity CLI.
| Where | What to do |
|---|
| 1. On the TV | Settings → Device Preferences → About → press OK on Build seven times → back → Developer options → USB debugging on. If you see a Network or ADB debugging toggle, turn that on too. Keep the TV on. |
| 2. On your computer | Clone the repo and open that folder in your assistant (git clone https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv), then paste PROMPT.md and fill in your TV model. |
| 3. Follow along | Accept "Allow USB debugging?" on the TV, then answer the checklist: which apps you use, the dock size and app order, whether to keep the voice assistant, Chromecast and updates. |
Cloning matters: the assistant reuses this repo's tools/disable.sh and launcher/build-and-install.sh
instead of writing its own, and that is where the backup, the Home guard and the restore record live.
The assistant backs up, debloats, builds and installs the launcher, and checks each step with
screenshots pulled from the TV. With this repo as context it takes about fifteen minutes.
What you get
A home screen that looks like an Apple TV and gets out of the way:
| Part | What it looks like |
|---|
| A pitch-black home | A dock of your four favourite apps in a rounded band, where Apple TV puts it. |
| A top shelf | Names the focused app in large type, with an ambient glow in a colour taken from its artwork. |
| The rest of your apps in a grid | Slides up when you press Down. |
| One floating glass highlight | Springs from tile to tile. The focused tile lifts and shows its name. |
| Three frosted buttons | Inputs (HDMI ports under the names you gave them in the TV's settings, AV, Live TV), Wi-Fi or Ethernet with the network name, Settings. |
| A greeting, a thin clock and the date | In Outfit, and a matching Clock screensaver. Set show_stats in config or a theme for one line under the clock: CPU, free memory and free storage. It stays off unless you turn it on, and it refreshes only while Home is on screen. |
| Themes and module cards | Themes change colours, wallpaper, dock and columns without a rebuild, and module cards let other apps plug a tile in, only with your say-so. |
And a TV that stops working against you: no sponsored rows, no "Discover" nags, no analytics
phoning home, no apps you never asked for.
| |
|---|
| |
| Top shelf and ambient glow | Inputs: HDMI with connection state, AV, Live TV |
| |
| The grid, one glass highlight, the tile's name | Clock screensaver, drifts so nothing burns in |
| |
Aurora theme, pushed with tools/theme.sh | Six columns and a six-app dock, same launcher |
| |
With tile_menu, hold OK on a tile, Move: arrows carry it, Back puts it down | App library: one press puts a removed app back on Home |
Supported TVs
Anything running Android TV or Google TV.
| Platform | What works |
|---|
| Android TV, Google TV | The debloat and the launcher. |
| Fire TV | The debloat half only, since Fire OS will not hand Home to a third-party launcher. And on the 2015 Fire TV Box (Fire OS 5) even that half fails: every pm route is refused. |
| A few China-market TCL sets | They refuse to install any launcher at all; their lists say so in the header. |
| Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS), Roku, Vizio, Hisense VIDAA | Not supported (no ADB). Turn off the tracking instead: cleanyour.tv/not-android. See SHOWCASE.md for four webOS ports, and docs/devices/samsung-tizen.md for what a 2021 Samsung set answers over Wi-Fi (no ADB, so no pm disable-user) if you are weighing a Tizen port. |
Tested lists from contributors, one folder per model in examples/. The brands with the
most lists, each linked to its models on the website:
onn 2 · RockTek 2 · Sankey 2 · Sber 2 · Vidda 2 ·
Acer · AiPro2K · AIWA · AQUA · Artel · ASUS · Beko · BGH · Caxium · Cecotec · Challenger · Compac · Dcolor · Dialog ·
DYON · Freebox · Home+ · Impex · INCLO · Karbonn · Koryo · KTC · Liberton · Lumio · Master-G · MECOOL · MTC · Next ·
Noblex · OK. · OPPO · Panavox · PEAQ · Polytron · PPTV · PRISM+ · Prosonic · SANYO · Seleco · Super General · Síragon ·
Tele System · TiVo · Tornado · Turkcell · Tuvio · Verizon · Vision ·
Alwtniet, Anker Nebula, BYINTEK, Epson, Formovie, Gadnic, HOTACK, HY320, JMGO, Magcubic, Portronics, Stellamore, Wanbo and XGIMI projectors
Find your TV: search cleanyour.tv/tvs or the full table in
examples/README.md.
Your TV not here? The prompt discovers the bloat itself. Add your list afterwards and the next
person with your model skips that step: CONTRIBUTING.md.
Doing it by hand
Everything the assistant does, you can run yourself. Two things have to be on the computer first:
| You need | For |
|---|
| Python 3 (any 3.x) | The tools. The venv command below installs what they import. |
JDK 17 through 22 (a full JDK, including jlink) and Android SDK platform 34 with build-tools 34.0.0 or any newer 34.x | Building the launcher. JDK 23 and newer stops Gradle 8.9. Platform 34 is the one the build reads; a newer platform does not replace it. On macOS, when none of these is installed: brew install openjdk@17 android-commandlinetools, then sdkmanager "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0". On Linux the install script looks in ~/Android/Sdk and for java on your PATH. |
tools/tv.py talks to network ADB on port 5555. If that port stays closed and the TV offers
Wireless debugging with a pairing code (the Chromecast with Google TV and the Google TV Streamer
do), pair it once with the stock adb and run adb tcpip 5555 first, as
Troubleshooting describes.
python3 -m venv tools/venv && tools/venv/bin/pip install -r tools/requirements.txt
export TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 # your TV's IP address
tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/tv.py --probe # model, Android version, firmware
tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/tv.py 'pm list packages' # one shell command on the TV
tools/disable.sh examples/xiaomi-mi-tv-4a/debloat.txt # apply a debloat list
tools/restore.sh examples/xiaomi-mi-tv-4a/debloat.txt # undo it, stock launcher back
tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/check.py examples/xiaomi-mi-tv-4a/debloat.txt # what a firmware update undid
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 launcher/build-and-install.sh # build the launcher and make it Home
tools/theme.sh themes/aurora # push a theme; --reset removes it
| Tool | What it does |
|---|
tools/tv.py | Pure-Python ADB client: shell, batch, push, pull, reboot, and screenshots, optionally pressing remote keys first. Works where the stock adb binary is blocked. Optional paired Google ADB backend for encrypted Wireless debugging. |
tools/docker-build.sh | Builds the launcher or an add-on in Docker (JDK 17, Android SDK 34), so this computer needs nothing but Docker. Install the result with SKIP_BUILD=1. Guide. |
tools/b64push.py | Uploads large files such as APKs in base64 chunks and verifies the checksum. |
tools/relay.py | Forwards a local port to the TV's ADB port, for assistants whose sandbox can't reach your network. Listens on this computer only. Guide. |
tools/disable.sh, restore.sh | Apply or undo a debloat list, the undo from the state recorded before the change. |
tools/recovery.py | Writes the record needs to undo itself, and prints the restore batch. |
The scripts never leave the TV without a Home app: they only disable a stock launcher they recognise,
and skip the Home app in a list until another launcher answers HOME. Your own lists can live outside
the repository: list paths are relative to the directory you run from, and absolute paths work too.
Every script has a PowerShell twin next to it. Install Python 3 and a JDK from 17 through 22, and
in the SDK Manager add platform 34 and build-tools 34 (34.0.0 or any newer 34.x). The script uses
JAVA_HOME when it points at a JDK in that range, and otherwise Android Studio's bundled JDK when
that JDK is in the same range:
python -m venv tools\venv; tools\venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -r tools\requirements.txt
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File launcher\build-and-install.ps1 -TvHost 192.168.1.50
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\disable.ps1 -TvHost 192.168.1.50 examples\xiaomi-mi-tv-4a\debloat.txt
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\restore.ps1 -TvHost 192.168.1.50 examples\xiaomi-mi-tv-4a\debloat.txt
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\theme.ps1 -TvHost 192.168.1.50 themes\aurora
The last two are the undo and a theme push, the tools/restore.sh and tools/theme.sh lines the
sections above give in bash. On Google TV the undo takes the stock launcher as well:
-Stock com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx.
The install scripts ask the TV which launcher owns Home and only disable one they recognise, the four
in KNOWN_STOCK_LAUNCHERS: com.google.android.tvlauncher, com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx,
com.google.android.leanbacklauncher and Xiaomi's com.mitv.tvhome (PatchWall). Pass
STOCK_LAUNCHER=<package> (-StockLauncher) to override, or none to leave it alone.
tools/disable.sh (disable.ps1) applies the same rule before it disables anything:
- If the list contains the app that owns Home and no other app on the TV answers HOME, it skips that
entry, says why, and disables the rest of the list. So a list applied before the launcher handover
cannot leave the TV with nothing to start.
- The setup wizard, the settings apps, a vendor
FallbackHome and factory-test apps (Xiaomi's
com.duokan.factorytest) answer HOME too and don't count.
- On Google TV it also keeps the owner while setupwraith answers HOME and stays enabled (not listed, or
kept for the Wi-Fi network): setupwraith answers ahead of an installed launcher that is not Home yet,
so it would take Home.
Run the same list again once launcher/build-and-install.sh has made the new launcher Home and the
entry is applied; FORCE_HOME=1 ($env:FORCE_HOME) disables it anyway.
The microphone, and what can be said about it
"Which of these packages is listening?" has no honest one-line answer: a permission scan shows fifty
system packages with RECORD_AUDIO that record nothing, and ACR clients see the screen with no audio
permission at all. tools/privacy.py reports what the TV actually says, with the
evidence for each voice, ACR and telemetry candidate:
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/privacy.py, and --write turns them into a normal
debloat list. What the audit cannot do is prove intent: docs/privacy.md explains why.
The launcher
A small native home screen for Android TV: about 561 KB, plain Java, built for TVs with 1 GB of RAM.
No blur, no video, no network permission, no background services. The TV needs Android 8.0 (API 26)
or newer, the minSdk in launcher/app/build.gradle; what is left on an older
set is in Troubleshooting.
| What | How it works |
|---|
| Configure | Dock order, hidden apps, Live TV app, 4 to 7 tiles per row, reduced motion. All in config.xml |
| Settings on the TV | Hold OK on Settings for launcher settings. Optional launcher_settings_button makes a normal click open them directly; TV settings remain on the settings page and their app tile. |
| Themes | Background, wallpaper and layout from a config.json pushed over Wi-Fi, no rebuild. twelve ship in themes/, the built-in default/ included |
| 30 languages | Follows the TV's language, with a fully mirrored right-to-left layout for Hebrew |
| App library | Optional: browse every installed app and add or remove Home shortcuts. See the app library guide |
| Tile menu | Optional (tile_menu): hold OK on a tile for Move, Remove from Home and App info. Off, holding OK opens App info |
| Module cards | Any TV app can offer its own tile; you approve each one once. See docs/modules.md |
| Add-ons | Optional apps that plug in as module cards, kept in addons/ and never built into the launcher |
| Clock screensaver | A drifting clock over the glow, so nothing burns in |
| Remote keys | Keeps the Input, YouTube and gear buttons working after the stock launcher is gone |
Themes, switches and add-ons together, with screenshots: cleanyour.tv/addons.
More: docs/launcher.md has the launcher settings page row by row, changing the
default home, the languages, remote keys, the Clock screensaver, navigation and building it yourself.
Restoring your TV
Keep the list you applied. One line puts the TV back the way it was:
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/restore.sh examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt # Android TV
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/restore.sh examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx # Google TV
| What | How |
|---|
| A record comes first | Before tools/disable.sh changes anything it writes down what the TV looked like, in ~/.cleanyourtv/. |
| Restore replays it | A package you had disabled yourself stays disabled, and Home goes back to the component that owned it. |
| The launcher stays installed | Remove it from the TV's Settings → Apps if you want it gone. |
| No computer? | If the TV is unreachable, its own Settings → Apps page can re-enable packages too. |
More: docs/restore.md has what the record holds, when the stock launcher argument
counts, and what happens without a record.
After a firmware update
An update installs over the cleaned-up system: the listed packages come back, Home goes to the
stock launcher, and new preloads appear that no list mentions. Open ADB again as in
Quick start step 1, then compare the TV with the list you applied; --fix puts it back:
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/check.py examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt
More: docs/firmware-updates.md has the exit codes, a weekly check, what
--fix changes, TVs that keep the stock launcher as Home, and lists that disable the updater.
When something goes wrong
The full list of things that bit us is in docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md. The
three that matter most:
- 🍎 macOS blocks
adb connect ("No route to host") under Local Network privacy. tools/tv.py avoids the binary.
- ⚠️ Disable the stock launcher only after the new one is installed and running, or Home lands on a factory test app. The install script orders this for you.
- 🔁 On Google TV the setup wizard (
com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith) can take Home and crash-loop the system after the stock launcher is disabled. Disable it too, and list it in your debloat.txt so restore brings it back.
- But check
dumpsys wifi | grep -o 'cname=[^ ]*' first: if the Wi-Fi network was saved during setup it belongs to setupwraith, and disabling it deletes the network (re-join it in Settings first; tools/disable.sh skips setupwraith until you do).
- On Google's own Chromecast and on the Google TV Streamer it also costs phone casting, see Troubleshooting.
- Stuck already?
tools/tv.py 'pm enable --user 0 com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx'.
Questions people ask
Yes. @udhaykumarbala built a free, open-source phone app
for Android that does the same cleanup over Wi-Fi: it connects to the TV, shows a plan first, saves a restore
point, and only switches apps off, so everything can be put back. It's community-built.
Nothing is flashed, rooted or deleted; packages are disabled
in the user profile. The risk is disabling something the TV leans on, which is why lists are
applied in small batches with a restore script ready. The TV's own Settings → Apps page can
re-enable packages even without the tools. If the TV no longer starts far enough for that, a factory
reset from its recovery menu is usually the way back.
More: docs/faq.md
The updater is left on in most lists, so firmware updates arrive as usual. Some lists disable the
TV's own updater, and on those a firmware update arrives only when you re-enable it. When one does
land it installs over the cleaned-up system, so a package comes back and you re-run the script: see
After a firmware update.
Streaming apps still update through the Play Store, which is left alone.
The launcher just lists what is installed and launches it with intents that have been stable for a decade.
Yes, over a private Tailscale
link instead of the same Wi-Fi: either Tailscale on their TV, shared with you, or a computer or Apple
TV at their home routing to it. Never by opening the ADB port on their router. Step by step in
docs/REMOTE.md.
It is one explicit "allow this computer" tap on the TV, the
same as developing an Android app. Network ADB is plaintext on port 5555, and on some firmware any
device on the LAN gets a shell, so close it when you are done:
- On the TV: Developer options → turn USB debugging, Network/ADB debugging and
Wireless debugging off, whichever the TV has, and revoke the USB debugging authorisations.
- Reboot the TV, then confirm the port is gone from your computer:
python3 tools/adb-closed.py <tv ip> must say the port is closed.
The launcher keeps working without debugging. More, including checking Wireless debugging's own port:
docs/faq.md
Partly, with Android's Private DNS (Android 9 and newer). Point
it at an ad-blocking resolver such as AdGuard DNS and every app's ad and
tracker domains stop resolving, system-wide, surviving reboots. The trade-off: that resolver then
sees every DNS query the TV makes, and it does not remove YouTube ads.
More, with the two commands and how to switch back: docs/faq.md
A few, and they need no ADB: the advertising ID, Location, Usage & diagnostics and Scanning always
available, plus Apps only mode where the stock launcher stays. Flip Usage & diagnostics before the
debloat; on some TVs its page goes with it.
More, with the paths for Google TV, Android TV and Fire OS:
docs/faq.md
Not from this repo. Chromecast built-in stays for Android phones. For iPhones,
jqssun/android-airplay-server works; an install
script for it is in PR #84.
Build it with the one-line script in Doing it by hand; it takes a minute and you
control what goes on your TV. That needs the JDK and Android SDK named there. No prebuilt binaries.
The story
On 17 October 2026 I posted a before and after of my
parents' TV, cleaned up by Claude Code over Wi-Fi. It reached 7.4M views, people started doing the same to
their own TVs, and their replies turned into the lists here: 170+ TV models from 200+ contributors in four
days. The repo was called tv-vibehack until the 19th; old links work. The coverage since is in
docs/PRESS.md.
Contributing
The most useful contribution is your TV's debloat list, so the next person with that model does
not have to rediscover it. CONTRIBUTING.md has the format and the testing we ask for.
Contributing through a coding agent? AGENTS.md gives it the same rules.
| How to help | What it means |
|---|
| Your TV's debloat list | The most useful one: the next person with that model skips the discovery. |
| Launcher and prompt | Launcher improvements and sharper prompt wording are welcome too. |
| Built something on top? | A launcher, a port, a theme: add it to SHOWCASE.md, where a hundred and fifty-one projects already live, sorted into home screens, forks, add-ons, tools and other platforms, with an index by TV brand. |
The people whose work is in this repo:
Contact
Legal
- CleanYourTV is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored
by any TV maker or platform. Brand and model names are used only to say which TV a list was tested on,
and remain the trademarks of their owners.
- It works only through settings the TV itself offers to its owner: Developer options, ADB debugging and
Android's own
pm disable-user, the same switch as Settings > Apps > Disable. It does not root the TV,
flash firmware, or bypass any lock, DRM or copy protection, and the repo contains no manufacturer
software, firmware or APKs.
- Nothing is uninstalled, and
tools/restore.sh puts everything back. You run it on a TV you own, at your
own risk, and changing a TV's software may affect its warranty or support.
- Everything here is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, under the MIT licence below.
Licence
MIT, see LICENSE. The Outfit typeface is under the SIL Open Font License, see
launcher/FONT-LICENSE-OFL.txt.
