Claude Code is being used to make smart TVs ‘dumb’ again (Disclaimer: This is an AI generated image)
Within two days, thousands had repeated it on Xiaomi, TCL, Sony and Fire TV sets, and the project now claims testing on over 80 models. One X user said an afternoon with Claude Code disabled 25 bloat apps and replaced a 192MB stock launcher with an 83MB custom one.
One user said Claude bricked their Android TV, another got stuck midway through a Fire TV attempt, and an attempt on a Samsung set ended with a bricked TV too. As tech analyst Carmi Levy puts it, people are “starting to get fed up” with devices that collect data at every turn. Ads on the home screen, menus that lag and software that quietly logs what you watch have pushed a growing number of smart TV owners towards an unusual fix. They are using AI coding agents like Claude Code to strip their Android TV and Google TV sets back to the apps and HDMI inputs they paid for, and the idea has spread fast across X and GitHub over the past week. The appeal is easy to see, but the method isn’t risk-free. Some users have bricked their sets, others have got stuck halfway, and security experts warn that cutting a connected TV off from updates could open the door to bigger problems. Most modern smart TVs use automatic content recognition (ACR), which identifies what’s playing through screenshots or audio clips. Manufacturers use that data to serve targeted ads and share it with ad partners. Opt-outs exist, but they are usually buried deep in the settings. Developer Gathin T. hit his limit with the ads on his parents’ TV. He had Claude Code clean it up over Wi-Fi, build a home screen with just their apps, and shared the prompt online as cleanyourtv. Another project, dumbtv by Muzzammil Yasin Sabuwala, targets ads, telemetry, Alexa and ACR, and has been tested on Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense and Xiaomi TVs. Both work through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a developer feature built into Android-based TVs, so nothing is rooted and changes can be reversed. Speed is part of the draw too. In India, where Google TV powers a large share of sets from Xiaomi, TCL, Sony and several budget brands, the pool of potential tinkerers is big. Results vary widely. Samsung’s Tizen, LG’s webOS, Roku and Amazon’s newer Vega-based Fire TV Sticks are largely out of reach, and tampering can void the warranty on a new set. Toronto-based cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak warns that blocking services and skipping updates on a TV that stays online could leave it exposed to hackers, particularly as many sets now carry microphones. Vibe-coded scripts are also rarely built with security first, and may not be maintained for long. Safer routes exist. Turning off ACR and personalised ads in settings, using launchers like Projectivy or FLauncher, or keeping the TV offline with a streaming stick plugged in all reduce the clutter. The bigger reason behind the trend is fatigue. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.