Claude Code or Codex does the work. You just press OK on the remote.
Your apps, your HDMI inputs and a clock. Nothing else.
1. Connect to my TV over Wi-Fi. Walk me through anything
2. Before changing anything, list every app in plain English:
safe to turn off, needed by the TV, and apps I use.
3. Ask me before every change. Turn apps off instead of
deleting them. Keep a list of what you changed and how
System UI, setup apps, the keyboard, Bluetooth, my HDMI
inputs, the TV’s input and tuner framework, or anything
else the TV needs to start. If you’re not sure, leave
it on. The one exception: if install.sh offers to turn
off Google TV’s setup app because it’s taking over Home,
6. Turn off animations and the screensaver, and make the TV
7. Wait 30 seconds after the last change, then restart the
TV once and check it starts up normally before you say
This is what worked for us, not professional advice. Use it at your own risk. You’re responsible for your own TV, and I’m not liable if something goes wrong.
The first time your laptop connects, the TV asks “Allow debugging?” Tick “Always allow” and press
Menus differ a bit by brand. If you’re stuck, ask Claude or Codex:
“I have a
Android TV 9 (a real TV), 11 and 12, and Google TV 14. Every change is tested automatically on emulators.
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.
no. Roku runs its own system, not Android, so nothing can connect to it to turn things off.
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
, the cleanup should work. Cheap projectors often run a custom Android, so the home screen may act a bit differently.
only the cleanup. The home screen is made for a TV remote, not touch.
Anything to watch out for on Chromecast with Google TV?
It runs the same Google TV this is tested on, so it should work. People who’ve done it report two things:
The YouTube button on the remote can stop working, and some lose casting. Tell Claude to keep casting on if you use it.
Google TV can bring its own home screen back. If that happens, ask Claude to turn off Google TV’s home screen. Leave its setup app on unless it’s taking over Home (see below).
Home opens Google TV’s setup screen instead (Sony BRAVIA and others)
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.
for that. This worked on a Sony BRAVIA, but it hasn’t been tested on every TV.
If the TV ever asks to be set up again, or a setup screen won’t finish, turn the setup app back on first.
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:
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.
Can I just do the cleanup and keep my TV’s home screen?
Yes. Leave out step 5 of the prompt (“Install the home screen”). Your TV looks the same, just with the junk turned off.
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.
The TV still opens Live TV or HDMI when it turns on
“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:
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.
(seen on Xiaomi and Vu): it goes to Google TV’s own home screen, which
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.
device_config activity_manager max_cached_processes 4
, unzip it, and run the commands below from Git Bash. Download this repo, then:
Most TVs keep opening their own home screen, so the script offers to turn that off. Nothing is uninstalled.
it: use the arrows to slide it to a new spot, then press
it from the home screen. The app stays installed, and you can add it back any time.
it, for apps you installed yourself. The TV asks you to confirm first.
, for apps that came with the TV. They can’t be uninstalled, but from there you can turn them off.
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
Yes. A small network icon always sits next to the clock. It shows
or a crossed-out Wi-Fi when you’re offline, and opens your network settings.
shortcuts can join it. They’re off unless you ask for them:
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.
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.
Your laptop can often still connect for a few seconds each time the TV starts. Use that to turn everything back on:
That lists everything that’s turned off. Turn each one back on with
. 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.
(package names, one per line). You can also pass them to
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
, 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.
Pull requests are welcome for fixes that keep working on every TV. This project sticks to official apps and Android’s own settings, so changes that add ad blockers or unofficial apps won’t be merged. If you want those, fork it and make it yours.