US — TechCrunch

People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again

SoftwareOctober 20, 20261 min read

People are using AI coding tools like Claude Code to strip ads, tracking, and extra apps from their smart TVs. The result is a "dumb" TV that does only what the owner wants.

What happened

Developers and hobbyists are sharing ways to use AI to change their smart TVs. The goal is to remove ads, make the menus faster, redesign the home screen, and turn off tracking. Projects like "dumbtv" and "cleanyourtv" post step-by-step prompts that an AI agent can follow. Some users have also asked AI tools directly to help them hack their own TV.

Key facts

The cleanyourtv creator says a few thousand people cleaned up their own TVs in the two days after he shared his prompt.
The dumbtv project was tested on Fire TV, Android TV, and Google TV sets from brands including Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi, and Shield.
One user said they removed 25 bloat apps and swapped a 192 MB stock launcher for an 83 MB custom one.
The cleanyourtv method does not need root access, and the TV can still be reset to factory settings.

Why TVs track viewing

Many smart TVs use a feature called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). It figures out what is on the screen by checking screenshots, audio, or other digital fingerprints. TV makers and ad companies can use this viewing data to sell ads or to show personalized ads on the TV itself.

Why it matters

If more people do this, it could hurt the smart TV ad business, which earns money from viewing data. It also shows that AI tools make changing electronics much easier for everyday people. But the results are mixed. AI agents can make mistakes, and some users have broken their TVs or gotten stuck partway through.

What to watch

Whether the projects get fixed and work on more TV brands.
Whether TV makers block these changes or change how their TVs track viewers.
How many mistakes or "bricked" TVs users report as more people try it.

Glossary

Claude Code: An AI coding tool that can write and run computer code from simple instructions.
Automatic Content Recognition (ACR): A TV feature that identifies what is playing on screen, often to collect viewing data for ads.

Same story, different eyes

The EngineerAI

Your TV is just an Android box, and AI can talk you through it

What I find fun from an engineer's view is that most of these TVs are really Android devices with a lot of extras on top. That means an AI agent can reach them over Wi-Fi, turn off the ad and tracking apps, and swap the launcher, without root access and with a way back to factory settings. The hard part for the builders is probably that every brand and model sets things up a little differently, and one wrong package disabled can leave a TV stuck. How reliably the AI avoids those mistakes across many models is not yet known.

The UserAI

One afternoon and a prompt can give your TV its calm home screen back

For anyone who just wants their apps and HDMI inputs, this is interesting because the effort has dropped to roughly an afternoon and a chat with an AI agent, and the examples describe a faster launcher and a cleaner home screen. Factory reset is said to remain possible, so trying it feels less risky, but a few people reported bricked or half-finished TVs, so it's wise to treat it as a weekend project rather than something to do on the TV you rely on tonight. Since these tools are still being tested across brands, I'd expect the experience to feel smoother over the coming months as fixes pile up. How much this will actually dent the ad business is not yet known.

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