Developers use Claude Code to make smart TVs dumb again

One developer handed Claude Code only a TV model number. The agent found the set on Wi-Fi, uninstalled 25 Xiaomi packages, and wrote a new launcher. The recipes are now being packaged on GitHub as two projects, dumbtv and cleanyourtv, TechCrunch reports.

Gathin T., who built cleanyourtv, started the project after a sponsored ad ran on his parents' TV before they could open Netflix. "Vibe coded my parents' TV this afternoon! It was showing a sponsored ad before you could even get to Netflix," he wrote. He added that he "had Claude Code clean it up over Wi-Fi and build a simple home screen with just their apps on it." The tool promises a launcher that resembles Apple TV, works over Wi-Fi, and requires no root.

The companion project, dumbtv, is blunter in its pitch. "Your TV should do what you paid for: your apps, your HDMI inputs, and nothing else. No ads from the TV itself, no watch tracking, no update you did not ask for," the project description reads. Its creator, Muzzammil Yasin Sabuwala, says the code was built using Deepseek V4.1 Flash alongside Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5, and has been tested on Fire TV and Android/Google TV devices from Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Xiaomi, and Shield.

Results vary. Mihir Gupta posted that "one afternoon with Claude Code: 25 bloat apps disabled, the 192 MB stock launcher replaced with a custom 83 MB one, plus rotating wallpapers." Ryan Doyle sent Claude Code his TV listing with the question "Can you hack this?" and later wrote, "This is how fast the TV moves now that Claude deleted all the BS laggy bloatware." Other users ran into Claude declining requests, and some reported bricked sets.

Two researchers we follow posted the TechCrunch piece into their feeds within the day, a small signal that appliance-vibe-coding is finding readers outside the usual tinkerer circles.