Direct answer: yes, the "Hack your TV with Claude" method is real — for Android TV and Google TV sets. No, it is not one magic prompt for every TV. The project behind the viral infographic is CleanYourTV, a public GitHub repo that uses Claude Code (or another coding assistant) to disable a TV's ad, telemetry and bloat packages over Wi-Fi and install a clean Apple-TV-style home screen. It works without root and without a cable, and it can be undone with one command. But it only works where Android's debug bridge (ADB) exists — Samsung's Tizen, LG's webOS, Roku, Vizio and Hisense's VIDAA OS are all excluded, because they have no ADB. That last point is almost certainly why a Chinese Hisense TV refuses to cooperate: the chip inside does not decide this, the operating system does, and most China-market Hisense sets run VIDAA, not Android TV.
What the trend is — and where the infographic's numbers check out
The story started on 17 October 2026, when Gathin (@gathint) posted that he had used Claude Code on his parents' Xiaomi TV: the assistant found the TV on Wi-Fi, disabled 25 Xiaomi packages, and built a new launcher that looks like an Apple TV home screen. The prompt and scripts became the repo CleanYourTV (first called tv-vibehack), and it spread fast. The infographic doing the rounds claims a free GitHub repo with 16,000+ stars covering 170+ TV models, and ends with "Comment 'TV' I'll send it" — engagement bait. Skip the bait: the repo is public and free, and you do not need anyone to DM you a link.
| The infographic claims | What checks out (31 October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Free GitHub repo, 16k+ stars, 170+ TV models | Outdated, and now understated: the repo shows 46,737 stars and its banner lists 380 TV models across 101 brands. On 20 October it had about 5,830 stars and 66 tested models — the infographic's numbers match no dated snapshot, so treat them as marketing, not measurements. |
| One prompt strips 25 bloatware apps, ads and trackers | Partly true: 25 was the original Xiaomi TV's count. Every model has its own list — a China-market Hisense E5Q Pro list disables 18 packages, another Hisense list 26. The assistant discovers the bloat on your TV; there is no universal list of 25. |
| A fresh home screen, Apple TV style | True: a small native launcher (about 572 KB) with a dock, a top shelf and an app grid, built for TVs with as little as 1 GB of RAM. |
| Undo with one command | True, with a catch: the restore replays a backup record, but the launcher itself stays installed until you remove it in Settings → Apps. |
| Works on your TV | Only if it runs Android TV or Google TV. VIDAA, Tizen, webOS, Roku and Vizio sets cannot run it at all. |
The repo: CleanYourTV
The project is CleanYourTV on GitHub (github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv), created 17 October 2026, with its own site at cleanyour.tv. It contains the prompt (PROMPT.md), the tools, the launcher source, and one debloat list per tested model in its examples folder. It has been covered by TechCrunch, Android Authority, XDA and others, and was the week's #1 trending repo for 19–25 October 2026. Beware of copycat domains: the README itself warns that domains such as cleanyourtv.com are not run by the project — use the GitHub link and cleanyour.tv only.
How it works
Android TVs have the same debug bridge as Android phones. Switch on USB debugging in the TV's developer options, allow your computer once, and everything after that is standard Android tooling. The assistant does three things, in order: it backs up the list of installed packages and settings; it disables the manufacturer's telemetry, ad services, content rows and preloaded junk with pm disable-user; and it installs the clean launcher and makes it the default home screen. Nothing is uninstalled and nothing is rooted, which is exactly why a restore script can undo every step. The scripts also protect Home: they only disable a stock launcher they recognise, and they skip the Home app in a list until another launcher answers HOME, so the TV is never left without a home screen.
The complete method, step by step
What you need. A computer on the same Wi-Fi as the TV, with a shell, Python 3, a JDK from 17 through 22, and Android SDK platform 34 with build-tools 34 (the assistant builds the launcher there; a Docker build script exists if you would rather not install those). A coding assistant with shell access: Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or Antigravity CLI. No laptop? A community-built Android phone app does the same cleanup over Wi-Fi in about five minutes — but the steps below are the full computer method. Budget about fifteen minutes with the repo as context.
Step 1 — On the TV, switch on debugging. Go to Settings → Device Preferences → About, press OK on Build seven times until you see "You are now a developer!", go back to Developer options, and turn on USB debugging. If you see a Network or ADB debugging toggle, turn that on too. On Google TV the path is Settings → System → About → Android TV OS build. Keep the TV on.
Step 2 — On the computer, clone the repo and open it in your assistant.
git clone https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv
Then paste the repo's PROMPT.md into the assistant and fill in your exact TV model. Cloning matters: the assistant reuses the repo's tools and launcher scripts instead of writing its own, and that is where the backup, the Home guard and the restore record live.
Step 3 — Follow along. Accept "Allow USB debugging?" on the TV when asked. Then answer the checklist: which apps you use, the dock size and app order, and whether to keep the voice assistant, Chromecast and updates. The assistant backs up, debloats in small batches, builds and installs the launcher, makes it Home, and checks each step with screenshots pulled from the TV.
Step 4 — Verify, then close ADB. Check the new home screen, open your usual apps, and confirm the remote's Input and app buttons still work. Then switch debugging off, revoke the computer's authorisation, reboot, and confirm the network ADB port refuses connections — the repo ships a checker for exactly that. This step is not optional: network ADB on port 5555 is plaintext, and on firmware with insecure ADB settings any device on your home network could get a shell on the TV.
Doing it by hand (no assistant). The same job, run by you, from the repo folder:
python3 -m venv tools/venv && tools/venv/bin/pip install -r tools/requirements.txt export TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/tv.py --probe tools/disable.sh examples/xiaomi-mi-tv-4a/debloat.txt TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 launcher/build-and-install.sh
Swap in your model's folder for the Xiaomi example. Every script has a PowerShell twin for Windows.
Undo it with one command. Keep the list you applied:
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/restore.sh examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/restore.sh examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx
The first line is Android TV; the second, with the stock launcher package added, is Google TV. Restore replays the backup record written to ~/.cleanyourtv/ before the first change, and a package you had disabled yourself stays disabled. The clean launcher stays installed until you remove it in Settings → Apps. No computer handy? The TV's own Settings → Apps page can re-enable packages too, stock launcher first.
After a firmware update. An update installs over the cleaned-up system: the listed packages come back, Home goes back to the stock launcher, and new preloads appear that no list mentions. Reopen ADB as in Step 1, then compare and repair:
TV_HOST=192.168.1.50 tools/venv/bin/python -I tools/check.py examples/<your tv>/debloat.txt
The updater is left on in most lists, so updates still arrive; a few lists disable the updater itself, in which case an update only arrives when you re-enable it.
What the "25 apps, ads and trackers" actually are
There is no universal hit list. The assistant discovers your TV's bloat and asks before touching anything you might use. Typical entries across the tested lists: the manufacturer's ad SDK and ad service, push-messaging channels, retail store demo and hotel modes, telemetry and log uploaders, content-recommendation rows, sponsored home banners, and partner auto-installers. On Hisense sets specifically, the lists disable the ACR collector (com.hisense.evservice, which also watches HDMI input), push messages, store demo and hotel/B2B modes, VIDAA free channels, the store disclaimer screen, Google recommendation rows and partner tracking. One warning from the Hisense lists is worth repeating everywhere: never touch the smartsense / AIoT family on Hisense FFM, U75 and lushan boards — disabling it risks a Recovery boot.
Honest limitations and risks
- Wrong-package breakage is the real risk. Nothing is flashed, rooted or deleted, but disabling something the TV leans on can break features or, on Google TV, let the setup wizard (setupwraith) take Home and crash-loop the system after the stock launcher is disabled. That is why lists are applied in small batches with a restore script ready, and why the install script disables the stock launcher only after the new one is installed and running. If the TV no longer starts far enough for Settings → Apps, a factory reset from its recovery menu is usually the way back — and that wipes your apps and accounts.
- ADB is a security hole while it is open. Network ADB is plaintext, and on some firmware any device on your LAN can get a shell. Turn debugging off, revoke authorisations and reboot when you are done — and never run this on a shared or public network.
- The launcher needs Android 8.0 or newer. Older sets get the debloat half only. Fire TV also gets the debloat half only, because Fire OS will not hand Home to a third-party launcher. A few China-market TCL sets refuse to install any launcher at all.
- Updates undo the work. Firmware updates restore disabled packages and the stock launcher, so expect to re-run the check script after an update.
- Not every app survives untouched. Streaming apps still update through the Play Store, which is left alone, but anything tied to a disabled package (voice, casting, HDMI switching on some boards) needs checking before you call the job done.
- Check your warranty and support terms. Disabling system packages is reversible, but a manufacturer support agent may still treat a modified system state as a complication if you later need a repair — keep the restore record and the list you applied.
Why it fails on a Chinese Hisense TV — and what to do instead
Here is the honest answer for a Chinese Android TV with a Hisense chip: the chip is not the problem, and the brand alone does not settle it either. The operating system does. Hisense sells the same badge on two very different systems. Most China-market Hisense sets run VIDAA OS, Hisense's own Linux-based system — and VIDAA has no ADB, so CleanYourTV cannot run on it at all: no list, no launcher, no command. That is the most likely reason the method "could not" work: there is simply no door for it to enter through. The repo's own supported-TV table says it plainly: Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS), Roku, Vizio and Hisense VIDAA are not supported (no ADB), and VIDAA owners are sent to a remote-only guide instead.
But there is a twist that catches people out: some China-market Hisense sets look like VIDAA and are actually Android TV underneath. The China-market E5Q Pro and 65D62QH both carry the device name VIDAA_TV and run Android TV 11 (the 65D62QH on China JuUI firmware 9.0.10.845, MediaTek MT9653). Both have tested lists in the repo — but both are limited: the 65D62QH list is debloat-only with the stock Home and Live TV kept, and the E5Q Pro list is a conservative subset that also keeps the stock launcher. So even on the Android side of the line, a China-market Hisense may give you the debloat without the Apple-TV home screen.
Find out which side your set is on (two minutes). Open Settings → About (or System → About) on the TV. If it says VIDAA OS, or shows no Android version and no Build entry you can tap seven times, it is VIDAA: stop, the method cannot run. If it says Android TV (or Google TV) with a version number, ADB is at least possible in principle: try the Build-taps route to Developer options. If no Developer options appear, or no USB debugging toggle exists, the China firmware has locked that door and the method is blocked at step one — a few repo notes mention factory-mode routes to ADB on specific models such as the E5Q Pro, but those are model-specific, fiddly and risky, and they are not a general fix.
If your set is VIDAA, you still have three real options. First, use the remote-only privacy cleanup the project itself recommends: turn off Enhanced Viewing (Hisense's ACR, which recognises what is on screen) in Settings → Advanced Settings → Enhanced Viewing Settings (or Settings → System → Advanced Settings → Enhanced Viewing on VIDAA U5), then switch off personalised ads and the optional data-sharing consents. That kills the tracking, even though the ads in the home screen stay. Second, make the TV dumb and put a supported stick on it: a Chromecast with Google TV or a Google TV Streamer runs Google TV, appears in the repo's supported lists, and can be debloated with the full method — the TV itself then just displays HDMI input. Third, if you only want the apps and not the project, the community phone app can clean a supported Android device over Wi-Fi without a laptop, but it cannot help a VIDAA set either.
If your set is Android TV but the launcher will not install, take the debloat-only win: run the model list (or the closest model on the same board) for the ads and telemetry, keep the stock launcher, and do not force a launcher install that the firmware refuses — a refused install is how people end up with no Home screen at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is CleanYourTV free, and do I need someone to send me the link?
Yes, it is free, and no — the repo is public at github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv with its own site at cleanyour.tv. Any post that asks you to comment a keyword so it can DM you the link is farming engagement; ignore the funnel and use the public link.
Does it work on Samsung, LG or VIDAA TVs?
No. Samsung runs Tizen, LG runs webOS, and Hisense VIDAA runs its own OS — none of them has Android's debug bridge, so the method cannot run. For those sets the project only offers remote-only tracking switches, not a debloat or a new launcher.
Can it brick my TV?
Nothing is flashed, rooted or deleted, so a true brick is unlikely — but disabling the wrong package can break features or, on Google TV, crash-loop the home screen. Keep the restore record, apply lists in small batches, and know that a factory reset from the recovery menu is the last way back.
Will I lose my apps, Netflix or Chromecast?
Streaming apps still update through the Play Store, which is left alone. Voice, casting and HDMI switching are checklist items the assistant asks about before touching them — answer honestly about what you use, and verify the remote buttons afterwards.
Why did it fail on my Chinese Hisense TV?
Almost certainly because the set runs VIDAA OS, which has no ADB — the method cannot start. Check Settings → About: VIDAA means no debloat and no launcher, only the privacy toggles and, if you want the clean home screen, a supported external stick. If the set is Android TV underneath a VIDAA name, the repo's China lists are debloat-only or conservative, so the launcher swap may still be unavailable.
Sources
- CleanYourTV repository and README (stars, model counts, method, restore, firmware updates, supported TVs, Hisense lists) — https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv
- CleanYourTV prompt — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv/main/PROMPT.md
- Remove ads from Hisense TVs with CleanYourTV: Android TV, Google TV and VIDAA (model table, VIDAA guide, per-model notes; checked 27 October 2026) — https://cleanyourtv.wiki/tv/hisense/
- Cybernews: CleanYourTV lets AI strip ads from smart TVs (version 3, about 300 models, 83 brands, 41,000+ stars) — https://cybernews.com/security/smart-tv-debloating-movement-cleanyourtv-explodes-on-github/
- Settl: Take the ads off your Android TV with Claude Code (17 October origin story, 5,830 stars and 66 models on 20 October) — https://settl.fyi/social/cleanyourtv
- Developers Digest: CleanYourTV debloat guide (ADB plaintext and insecure-firmware warning, close ADB when done) — https://www.developersdigest.tech/blog/cleanyourtv-claude-code-debloat-android-tv-safe-guide-2026
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