People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again

A simpler television, with AI doing the setup

Television owners are using AI coding assistants to strip back smart TV interfaces, according to firsthand accounts published by the people behind CleanYourTV and dumbtv. The documented work involves changing software settings and home screens—not replacing the television or removing its underlying operating system.

CleanYourTV’s repository dates its origin story to 17 October 2026, when its maintainer says they shared a before-and-after demonstration of their parents’ television after a Claude Code-assisted cleanup over Wi-Fi. The account says other owners followed and contributed device-specific cleanup lists. This is a documented project history, not an independently verified measure of adoption.

Two projects, related approaches

CleanYourTV describes a workflow in which a coding assistant identifies software on an Android TV or Google TV device and asks before changing anything the owner might need. Its documentation says the process disables packages within the user profile rather than deleting them, and installs a replacement home screen. The project also provides a manual route, so AI is an interface to the tools rather than a requirement for the cleanup.

The dumbtv maintainer describes a similar starting point: frustration with a Fire TV Edition television led them to ask a coding agent to simplify it through Android Debug Bridge, or ADB. According to the repository, owners of roughly twenty additional televisions and streaming sticks subsequently tried the project and submitted reports. Its stated goal is to preserve access to applications and HDMI inputs while reducing unwanted interface elements.

What “dumb again” does—and does not—establish

Analysis: These accounts support the headline’s central observation, but the metaphor has limits. The projects describe selective software changes, not a conversion into a television without smart features. Their significance is the attempt to give owners a less intrusive interface while retaining functions they want.

Reversibility remains a project claim, not a guarantee established here. CleanYourTV advertises an undo mechanism, while its repository acknowledges that disabling a component the television depends on can cause problems. No independent device testing, performance measurements or privacy audit was supplied for this draft; claims about reduced tracking or improved responsiveness therefore should not be treated as demonstrated outcomes.