AI Is Helping People Turn Their Smart TVs Into Dumb TVs

Smart TVs are supposed to make entertainment easier, but growing numbers of users are getting tired of advertisements, tracking, unwanted apps, and slow interfaces. Now, developers are turning to artificial intelligence to strip away those features and bring back a simpler television experience.

A growing trend known as “vibe coding” is helping people customize their smart TVs using AI coding assistants. Instead of spending hours manually modifying software, users can ask AI tools to remove unnecessary apps, block certain advertising features, redesign home screens, and make their televisions faster.

Several projects shared online, including DumbTV and CleanYourTV, are gaining attention from people who want their televisions to focus on streaming apps and HDMI inputs rather than advertisements and recommendations.

The trend could eventually challenge part of the smart TV advertising business, which benefits from collecting viewing data and displaying ads directly on television home screens.

Why People Want to Make Their Smart TVs Dumb Again

Modern smart TVs offer access to streaming services, online content, and connected applications. However, manufacturers increasingly use their home screens to promote content, display sponsored recommendations, and collect information about viewing habits.

Some televisions also use automatic content recognition (ACR), a technology that can identify what appears on the screen through screenshots, audio signals, or other digital fingerprints.

This information can help companies understand viewing behavior and support personalized advertising.

For consumers, the experience can feel increasingly cluttered. Instead of opening a favorite streaming service immediately, users may have to navigate advertisements, promotional content, and recommendations before reaching what they want to watch.

The new AI-powered approach aims to reverse that experience by putting users back in control of their devices.

CleanYourTV Uses AI to Remove Unwanted Features

One project attracting attention is CleanYourTV, which aims to remove unnecessary software from Android TV and Google TV devices over Wi-Fi and replace the default interface with a simpler launcher.

Its creator, Gathin T., said the idea began when he became frustrated with the advertisements appearing on his parents’ television.

Rather than manually making every change, he used Claude Code to clean up the television and build a home screen containing only the applications his parents needed.

“I had Claude Code clean it up over Wi-Fi and build a simple home screen with just their apps on it,” the developer wrote on a website linked to the project.

After sharing the instructions and before-and-after images online, the project reportedly attracted thousands of users within two days. People tried the approach on televisions from Xiaomi, TCL, Sony, LG, and other manufacturers, as well as on projectors.

One advantage of the approach is that it does not require root access, according to the developer. Users can also return to the factory-default configuration if they want to reverse their changes.

However, compatibility and results can vary depending on the device and its software.

DumbTV Takes a Similar Approach

Another project, called DumbTV, follows the same basic philosophy: a television should provide access to the owner’s apps and HDMI inputs without unnecessary advertising or unwanted tracking.

Its GitHub page describes the goal as giving users a television experience without manufacturer-controlled ads, viewing surveillance, or unwanted updates.

Developer Muzzammil Yasin Sabuwala created the project after becoming frustrated with advertisements and the difficulty of getting directly to the content he wanted to watch.

Sabuwala told TechCrunch that he developed the solution using a combination of DeepSeek V4.1 F

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