Switch off the ads, tracking and junk apps, and swap the cluttered home screen for a clean one. Claude Code does the work over Wi-Fi, asks before it touches anything you use, and every change can be undone.
The method, prompt and launcher are tv-home by Mihir Gupta (free, MIT licence). This guide explains it in plain steps.
Results reported by Mihir Gupta on a 2 GB TCL Google TV (Android 11). Your numbers will depend on your TV.
These run a different operating system.
Not sure? On the TV open Settings → System → About (older TVs: Settings → Device Preferences → About). If you see Android TV OS version, you're good.
Older Android TV menus: Settings → Device Preferences → About → Build.
Despite the name, no cable is needed. This lets your computer talk to the TV over your home network.
Open a terminal (Mac: Terminal app; Windows: PowerShell) and run the installer for your system:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashirm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iexOpen a new terminal window afterwards and run claude --version to check it worked. Prefer apps to terminals? The Claude desktop app has Claude Code built in.
Run Claude Code inside the project so it can reuse the ready-made home screen and scripts instead of writing them from scratch.
git clone https://github.com/mihirgupta0900/tv-home
cd tv-home
claudeNo git? On the GitHub page click Code → Download ZIP, unzip it, and run claude inside that folder. The first time, Claude opens your browser to sign in.
Copy the prompt from the next section, paste it into Claude Code and press Enter. Claude finds the TV, connects, and starts working.
Claude Code asks before it runs commands on your computer. Read each request and approve it. If macOS asks whether your terminal may find devices on your local network, choose Allow.
This is Mihir Gupta's prompt from PROMPT.md, unchanged. It is short on purpose: Claude works out the details for your TV.
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.
What each part of the prompt makes Claude do, so you know what you're agreeing to:
| The prompt says | What Claude does |
|---|---|
| “Find it on my Wi-Fi, connect over ADB” | Looks for the TV on your network and connects with ADB (Android Debug Bridge), Android's official developer tool. This is what developer mode and USB debugging were for. |
| “disable the manufacturer's ads, telemetry and junk” | Switches off the brand's promo pop-ups, ad stickers, sponsored rows, data-collection services and preinstalled apps you don't use. |
| “reversibly, never uninstall” | Uses Android's pm disable-user command, which disables an app for your profile. The app stays on the TV, so it can be switched back on at any time. |
| “asking me first about apps and features I might use” | Before switching things off, Claude checks with you about features like Chromecast, screen mirroring and USB media, so nothing you rely on disappears. |
| “build and install a fast, minimal Apple TV-style home screen” | Builds Mihir's small home-screen app (about 4.7 MB with wallpapers, no internet access, no background services) and makes it the TV's Home. |
| “a dock of my favourite apps and rotating nature wallpapers” | Your chosen apps sit in a dock (press Down for all the others), over 12 nature photos that crossfade every 10 minutes. |
| “Back up before changing anything” | Records how the TV is set up before any change, so there is something to go back to. |
| “check every step with screenshots from the TV” | Takes screenshots of the TV over ADB to confirm each change really worked, instead of assuming it did. |
| “give me a restore script” | Leaves you a script that switches every disabled app back on and restores the original home screen. |
| “use the adb-shell Python package if macOS blocks adb” | macOS can block the standard adb program on the local network (“No route to host”). A Python ADB library avoids that. |
| “disable …tungsten.setupwraith or it hijacks the Home button” | On Google TV, a setup app grabs the Home button once the stock home screen is off. Disabling it lets the new home screen take over. |
| “test the Home button from inside an app” | Makes sure Home works everywhere, not just on the home screen itself. |
Mihir's full list for his TV: examples/tcl-google-tv-g07/debloat.txt. Your TV gets its own list, built with you.
Nothing is uninstalled, so going back is one step. With USB debugging still on, either ask Claude in the same folder:
Restore my TV: re-enable everything you disabled and bring back the original home screen.or run tv-home's restore script with the same debloat list that was used (Claude tells you which file):
tools/restore.sh <the same list>It switches every disabled app back on, re-enables the original launcher and Google TV's setup app, and makes the original home screen the default again.
Check that the TV is on (not in standby), USB debugging is on, and both devices are on the same Wi-Fi. Guest networks and some routers stop devices from seeing each other; use your main network. If the TV has a Network debugging switch, turn it on.
macOS can block the standard adb program on the local network. The prompt already tells Claude to use the adb-shell Python package instead (tv-home's tools/tv.py does this). If macOS asks to let your terminal find devices on your local network, click Allow.
Wake the TV and look again: the dialog can hide behind an app. Switching USB debugging off and on again, then asking Claude to reconnect, usually brings it back.
That's Google TV's setup app taking over Home. Disabling com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith fixes it; tv-home's install script does this, and the restore script turns it back on.
A leftover from switching home screens. Force-stopping the launcher and the Settings app, then pressing Home, fixes it. tv-home's install script already does this; ask Claude to run it again if needed.
Go back to the home screen: it checks for newly installed apps every time you return. To pin it in the dock, ask Claude to add it (it edits launcher/res/values/config.xml and reinstalls).
Tell Claude which feature it is; it can turn that one app back on with pm enable. Or use the restore script to put everything back.
Comfortable in a Mac terminal? tv-home's scripts do the same job. Start with Mihir's example list for a TCL Google TV, or make your own list for your TV first.
./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
launcher/build-and-install.sh # build + install the launcherUndo with tools/restore.sh and the same list. To change the dock, edit launcher/res/values/config.xml and run launcher/build-and-install.sh again.