cobanov

Clean up your Android TV

If your TV has gotten sluggish, you can disable the factory apps you never use. Below is a four-step setup and the prompt you hand to an AI agent. Nothing gets uninstalled, every step is reversible. Windows, Mac and Linux all work.

Setup

  1. Turn on developer options

    On the TV, go to Settings → System → About and press the remote's OK button on the Build row seven times.

  2. Turn on debugging

    Settings → System → Developer options → USB debugging. If there is a separate "Wireless debugging" toggle, turn that on too.

  3. Find the TV's IP address

    Settings → Network & internet → Status. Note the number starting with 192.168. Your computer has to be on the same network as the TV: same Wi-Fi, or same router.

  4. Open Claude Code or Codex and paste the prompt

    Copy the text below, replace the two FILL THIS IN placeholders with your TV's model and IP address, and hand it to the agent. It takes care of the rest: installing the tooling, connecting to the TV, doing the cleanup. It will occasionally stop and ask you to approve or test something.

Prompt

prompt.txt
I want you to clean up my Android TV over ADB. The goal: get rid of the ad and
recommendation rows, disable the factory apps I never use, and make the TV
faster. Run the commands yourself and explain what you are doing in plain
language as you go.

MY TV
- Make / model: FILL THIS IN            (example: TCL Smart TV Pro)
- TV's IP address: FILL THIS IN         (TV > Settings > Network & internet > Status)
- "Developer options" and "USB debugging / Wireless debugging" are already on.
  My computer and the TV are on the same network.

RULES - follow these exactly
1. DO NOT UNINSTALL ANYTHING. Use only `pm disable-user --user 0`, so every
   change can be undone with `pm enable <package>`. `pm uninstall` is forbidden.
2. Do not suggest or attempt rooting, unlocking the bootloader, or flashing a
   custom ROM. That factory-resets the TV, and if the Widevine certificate
   drops from L1 to L3 Netflix falls back to SD. There is nothing to gain.
3. MEASURE FIRST. Before you start, capture `dumpsys meminfo`,
   `pm list packages -s` and `pm list packages -d` to a file. Repeat the same
   measurements at the end and give me a before/after table.
4. WORK IN SMALL BATCHES. Disable at most 10 packages at a time, then STOP and
   have me test: does the remote's "Inputs / Source" button still work, can I
   switch to HDMI, do Netflix and YouTube still open, do sound and the on-screen
   keyboard still work? Do not move to the next batch until I say it is fine.
5. NEVER DISABLE THE FOLLOWING (these make the TV unusable):
      com.tcl.suspension          -> the Inputs/Source menu on the remote.
                                     The name looks like junk but disabling it
                                     means you can no longer switch to HDMI.
                                     If your TV is a different brand, find that
                                     brand's equivalent "quick panel" package.
      com.tcl.tv, com.tcl.tvinput -> HDMI / antenna input services
      com.google.android.tv.remote.service,
      com.tcl.tcl_bt_rcu_service,
      com.tcl.autopair            -> the remote control
      com.google.android.gms,
      com.google.android.gsf,
      com.android.vending         -> Play Services and the Play Store
      com.android.location.fused  -> disabling it sends the TV into a boot loop
      *.inputmethod.*             -> the on-screen keyboard
      com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx
                                  -> the home screen. Disabling it before an
                                     alternative launcher is installed leaves
                                     you with a black screen.
   For other brands, find the equivalents of this list. If you are not sure
   what a package does, ask me before disabling it.
6. KEEP A RECORD. Write every package you disable to `kapatilanlar.txt` inside
   a `tv-debloat` folder. Keep a `DEBLOAT-LOG.md` in the same folder describing
   what you did, why, and the exact command to undo each change.
7. If something breaks, re-enable the last batch first, then narrow it down one
   package at a time.

DO IT IN THIS ORDER
a) Check whether `adb` is installed and install it if not. Check which
   operating system I am on and pick the right route: on Windows download
   Google's platform-tools package and add it to PATH, on macOS
   `brew install android-platform-tools`, on Linux `apt install adb`. Then
   connect with `adb connect <IP>:5555`. The TV will show an "Allow debugging
   from this computer?" dialog, tell me so I can approve it. On Android 11 and
   above, if the TV asks for a pairing code on its "Wireless debugging" screen,
   use `adb pair` first.
b) Take the measurements and list the packages.
c) Sort the packages into three groups and show me a table: (1) definitely junk:
   unused streaming apps, demos, screensavers, voice assistants, setup wizards,
   telemetry; (2) depends on me: ask whether I actually use them; (3) untouchable.
   Get my approval and start with group 1.
d) Halve the animation speeds:
      settings put global window_animation_scale 0.5
      settings put global transition_animation_scale 0.5
      settings put global animator_duration_scale 0.5
e) Clear caches with `pm trim-caches`.
f) Reboot the TV and take the measurements again.

REPLACE THE HOME SCREEN
Google TV's own home screen is full of ads and "recommended for you" rows. I
want to use FLauncher instead (it is on the Play Store, free, open source, and
shows nothing but a grid of my apps).
- First ask me to install FLauncher and confirm that it is installed.
- Have me open FLauncher once and set it as the home screen.
- Only then disable `com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx`.
- Reboot the TV and confirm the home screen is still FLauncher.

WHEN YOU ARE DONE, GIVE ME
1. The before/after RAM table.
2. The list of packages you disabled, each with a one-line "what this was".
3. A single command that undoes everything.

Three warnings

Never disable a package you can't identify by name On my TV, disabling com.tcl.suspension killed the "Inputs" button on the remote and I could no longer switch to HDMI. It turned out to be the source-select menu.

Don't disable the home screen before installing a new one Install FLauncher and set it as the default first. Only then disable the old launcher. Otherwise you get a black screen.

Don't root it Unlocking the bootloader factory-resets the TV, and if Widevine drops to L3 Netflix falls back to SD. There is nothing to gain: disable-user already does what root would.

Undoing it

Nothing is uninstalled, so every step can be reversed. The agent keeps a list of what it disabled, so telling it "re-enable everything you disabled" is enough.

To bring back a single app yourself:

terminal
adb shell pm enable com.tcl.suspension