Claude Code trims bloat from smart TVs: Disables 25 apps, reducing desktop memory usage by 57%

Insight: Beating AI News Flash, developer Mihir Gupta spent an afternoon using Claude Code to revamp his laggy TCL smart TV. The device only has 2GB of RAM; the AI helped him disable 25 pre-installed apps and background services, and replace the ad-ridden native home screen with a custom interface he built. The new home screen’s RAM usage dropped from 192MB to 83MB, a roughly 57% reduction. The interface mimics Apple TV’s design, retains shortcuts for frequently used apps, HDMI input, and settings, and automatically switches wallpapers between 12 nature photos. The entire installation package is just 4.7MB, with no requirement for root access or firmware flashing. After enabling the TV’s developer mode, Claude Code connects to the device via Wi-Fi and ADB, checks pre-installed software, backs up configurations, develops the new home screen, and verifies results via screenshots. Gupta has open-sourced all related code, prompts, and recovery scripts. This is not the first AI-powered TV modification: In early September, engineer Mert Cobanov used Claude Code to clean a 4-year-old Android TV. On October 17, developer Gathin open-sourced a similar project named tv-vibehack, and Gupta’s work was inspired by this project.