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People Are Vibe Coding Their Way to Better TVs (theverge.com) 101

Posted by BeauHD from the make-TVs-dumb-again dept.
Frustrated by intrusive ads, sluggish interfaces, and data tracking, smart TV owners are using AI coding tools and open-source projects to strip unwanted software from their televisions and build customized home screens. The Verge reports: Several vibe-coded TV-debloating projects exploded in popularity over the weekend. Cleanyourtv (known as tv-vibehack until the 19th), tv-detox, and dumbtv all claim to accomplish similar things -- remove sponsored ads, debloat the TV so it runs faster, and block unwanted data collection that tracks what you're watching -- without hacking, or rooting, the TV. By default, they all also replace the TV's built-in app launcher with simpler ones. Many users are going a step further and vibe-coding their own replacement launchers, like the Pokemon one below.

Most of the projects we've seen so far focus on TVs that run on Android and Google TV operating systems (such as TCL, Hisense, Sony, and older Amazon Fire products), using existing developer modes and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to tweak settings and apply (and remove) packages. According to the GitHub pages, they can also work with some Fire TV products that use a custom fork of Android (although likely not on the new Vega-based Fire TV Sticks). Because they use built-in developer tools, they don't require root access or firmware hacking, and they're reversible. Even projects that totally change the look of the interface just use Android's ability to install custom launchers -- in many cases with an assist from Claude Code or a similar tool to create the new launcher, too.
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People Are Vibe Coding Their Way to Better TVs More

People Are Vibe Coding Their Way to Better TVs

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  • So long ago... (Score:3)

    by ambrandt12 ( 6486220 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:08PM (#66390668)

    my 43" plasma Panasonic hooked up to my buildings antenna and my tower (straight internet), Apple TV, Blu-Ray, Sony VCR (oh... all in 5.1 surround)... will survive any changes that whoever comes up with, and that ain't gonna change.

    • Re:So long ago... (Score:4)

      by CAIMLAS ( 41445 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @06:08PM (#66390838)

      I'm still using a 40" 1080p monitor I bought for $50 in 2011. It's the only TV in the house and we just use it for things mostly made before 2005.

      The new stuff isn't worth the time.

      • The new stuff isn't worth the time.

        That's a roundabout way of saying "I don't care about TV". A great many people definitely find the idea of using a 20 year old "low resolution" display that can't instantly burn the netflix logo into your eyes in HDR1000 quality a "waste of time".

        I don't watch TV much either, but I know plenty of people who do, and the resolution of your setup alone, let alone the age and capabilities of the display makes it a non-starter for many who actually enjoy watching movies at home.

        • I enjoyed shows on old tube TVs. You certainly don't need 4K to "enjoy TV". You need it to gloat about the technology you have though. That said, I don't know if I could stand the sound quality on an old tv.
      • Ditto that. I have yet to see any of these new hyped-up panels showing a better image than my Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-141FD (Plasma HD).

    • will survive any changes

      It better experience changes or your 20 year old plasma technology will permanently burn in whatever it is you watch most of.

  • Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hwstar ( 35834 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:08PM (#66390670)

    will be the response to this. The manufacturers won't stand for it, because they lose the potential revenue.

    Likely methods:

    1. Proprietary Non-linux os's which have a smaller memory foot print.
    2. Signed bootloaders with E-fuses blown in the microcomputer.
    3. Potted CPU electronics.
    4. TV hardware subscriptions (Now tou don't own it) Click wrap contract provisions which prohbit modification of the hardware.
    5. Mandatory network connections. TV won't work unless it is connected to the internet. This will allow security patches to stop jailbreaks and expoits.

    • Re:Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ambrandt12 ( 6486220 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:13PM (#66390688)

      And, I can stop every single one of those... not to mention, my shit ain't new enough to be worth trying to brick.
      Is Sega going to storm my place to shred my First edition of Sonic?

      • Is Sega going to storm my place to shred my First edition of Sonic?

        Nintendo would probably storm your place if they didn't like what you were doing. https://www.suedbynintendo.com... [suedbynintendo.com]

      • You can stop it, but most people can't or won't.

        They don't need to block 100% of debloating.

        99.9% is good enough.

        The only ads I see are for video content like new movies or TV shows, and I don't mind those.

        • My livingroom TV is from '08 (42" Panasonic plasma TV) and the bedroom TV is from about 2015 (32" Element LCD).
          The only ads I see are on OTA broadcast TV.

          • Burn in not a problem?

            I've had a Samsung plasma TV (50"!) since 2012 and love it but it's gotten to the point there are permanent blotches of discoloured pixels on the screen. Not enough to be a major problem, it's normally only visible if what's being shown is supposed to be a large light colored area. But it's increasingly noticeable, and no amount of running supposed anti-burn-in stuff is getting rid of it at the moment.

            Next TV will presumably be a smart TV. Other than "Not LG" I have no idea what it'll

            • My plasma doesn't have any burn-in as far as I can see, and has a far better picture than my folks' smart TV.

    • 1. Proprietary Non-linux os's which have a smaller memory foot print.

      Which televisions run Linux?

      • Re: Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:5, Informative)

        by Bad Ad ( 729117 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:18PM (#66390710)
        All the Android TV ones.

        • Re: Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:4, Informative)

          by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:37PM (#66390754) Homepage Journal

          And all the WebOS ones

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by quenda ( 644621 )

            All the Tizen
            All the Roku OS ones.
            All the Amazon ones.
            All the VIDAA U (Hisense, Toshiba ...)

            As far as i know, every TV bigger than 32" is smart and running Linux inside.
            And probably every streaming device except AppleTV, which runs their own unix derivative.

            • their own unix derivative.

              Humorously, XNU stands for "X is Not UNIX" ;)
              The FreeBSD layer in it does arguably offer some kind of UNIX-i-ness to it, though, in that it has broad POSIX compliance.

              • Well, macOS is UNIX. Certified, trademarked, all that, has been for decades. Mostly because Apple is one of the few companies that pays the fee, because it really doesn't matter these days. In some ways it's more UNIX-like than Linux now, because it doesn't have the systemd cancer that's infected a lot of distros.

                Not so much TV OS, there's definitely no reason to certify that as UNIX. But it's still a *nix, every OS Apple releases is at the core.

                • In some ways it's more UNIX-like than Linux now, because it doesn't have the systemd cancer that's infected a lot of distros.

                  Are you sure about that? macOS has launchd which provided the inspiration for systemd.
                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

                • Well, macOS is UNIX.

                  No, it's not.
                  It is compliant with UNIX, though... But even then, only kinda.

                  Certified

                  It's SUS-certified. Windows can be SUS-certified. So can linux. It merely means a set of APIs are available.
                  Also, macOS is only SUS-certified if running with a case-sensitive filesystem, and no mobile XNU derivative is SUS-compliant at all (Apple frameworks do not use POSIX interfaces)

                  You have no idea what you're talking about.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by dazdaz ( 77833 )
            This webOS launcher is insanely good. https://github.com/gprot42/web... [github.com]

            • That does look pretty good, but I'm not using the network. The only things I want to see are Live TV and HDMI inputs. Everything else is an anti-feature.

    • will be the response to this. The manufacturers won't stand for it, because they lose the potential revenue.

      Likely methods:
      1. Proprietary Non-linux os's which have a smaller memory foot print.
      2. Signed boot loaders with E-fuses blown in the microcomputer.
      3. Potted CPU electronics.
      4. TV hardware subscriptions (Now you don't own it) Click wrap contract provisions which prohibit modification of the hardware.
      5. Mandatory network connections. TV won't work unless it is connected to the internet. This will allow security patches to stop jailbreaks and exploits.

      6. Televisions legally required to always be on - like in the dystopian future of Max Headroom [wikipedia.org].

    • Re:Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @06:30PM (#66390872)

      >"5. Mandatory network connections. TV won't work unless it is connected to the internet. "

      That is the only problematic one.

      My TV, like all the previous ones, is a display. It is connected to a single HDMI cable. I don't give a F about anything else. I don't use audio, I never connect network, or anything else.

      I simply won't buy a TV that requires a network connection (or includes one inside out of my control). I assume many others would feel the same. And if this starts to be a thing, I will do my best to educate everyone I know why it matters and why they shouldn't buy that model/brand.

      • I will do my best to educate everyone I know why it matters and why they shouldn't buy that model/brand.

        I applaud the sentiment but my family tuned my advice out long ago. As a result, they all pay a lot more money for an inferior experience.

      • I'll just point out that if your devices support HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) and one of them are connected to the network, congratulations, it's possible they share that network connection over HDMI. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        • I don't think I have ever had or have any device that does ethernet over HDMI.

          • Have you looked? The support for HEC (or HEAC as it is called sometimes) is spotty but it exists although since WiFi is more prevalent now the support for HEC is extremely rare on newer devices.

        • You could connect it with a cable that doesn't support that.

      • I simply won't buy a TV that requires a network connection

        Requires != seeks out even if you don't set it up. We have evidence of TVs establishing network connections despite not being logged in. Your neighbour has an open wifi hotspot? Congrats, your TV may have a network connection regardless of what you want it to have.

    • Then it'll be the consumers' turn to rip out those cpu's.

      • Re: Lockdown by the TV manufacturers (Score:4, Interesting)

        by hwstar ( 35834 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @08:13PM (#66390972)

        Board rip-out is a superb idea, the only issue is the amount of reverse engineering required to design a board to interoperate with all of the other boards in the TV could be a tall order.

        Speaking of board rip-out, it has been done with another product: Electric Vehicle Chargers. A few years ago, a company called Juicebox decided to stop supporting their electric vehicle chargers and left all of their customers high and dry. Another company founded on open hardware principles called OpenEvse came along and designed 100% complete replacement board which fit in the Juicebox enclosure thereby breathing new life into an otherwise useless EVSE.

        • Vibe-boarding. Treat as a black box, and let AI figure out what's in that box by watching inputs and outputs.

    • The manufacturers won't stand for it, because they lose the potential revenue.

      The manufacturers really don't care if 5 of their customers modify their TV. Consumer ambivalence will mean manufacturers won't change, largely because sheeple have come to accept the current experience as the norm.

      99.9% of normal customers wouldn't make it past the first 4 words of this Slashdot headline without scrolling on to the next article.

    • They won't use a proprietary non-linux OS because it takes too much work to write and test one when open source offers free labor.

      I've written small RTOS and embedded kernels, both by hand and with AI tools. (Such as a factory diags environment used for a few of the early Kindles).

      It is easy to get a proof of concept up. But even my own employer isn't comfortable with the schedule risks of my in-house proposals. (Safety OS for an ADAS)

      For a TV, without enough of an Android compatibility layer, it is hard to

  • I bought my first-ever "smart" TV this year, and the interface is horrible. The hardware is fine, but everything else is designed for people pushing stuff, rather than for a user.

  • Anyone aware of something similar for Samsungs POS smart TV interface?

  • Cuckcoding (Score:5, Funny)

    by stealth_finger ( 1809752 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:17PM (#66390706)
    I saw someone call it cuckcoding because you just sit there and watch and I think that's a much better name.

    • OK that's hilarious lol

    • I saw someone call it cuckcoding because you just sit there and watch and I think that's a much better name.

      Nice. I'm gonna use this term from now on.

    • I saw someone call it cuckcoding because you just sit there and watch and I think that's a much better name.

      Cute, but a more accurate metaphor would be that one guy is using Cialis, and the other guy is whining on Slashdot.

  • That is like putting a paper bag on a Shrek and calling him arousing. I would not just put Kaspersky on a virus infested Windows 95 and call it a day, even with Gretha. Compromised machine has to be wiped as a minimum, but smart TVs can't even do that. Compromised by OEM, thank you, can i get that again, master? No, you don't own the glass, if I could, you know where the glass would go, just guess. Anyways, fortunately this is one of device types that has a privacy respecting alternatives, forget about TVs

  • If only.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Ritz_Just_Ritz ( 883997 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @05:48PM (#66390788)

    An upstart company would make a "dumb TV" that simply displays high quality video. I'd pay extra for that. I also won't buy any audio or video gear that requires a network connection to anything outside of my local network unless that's integral (and a wanted feature) to the functionality of the device.

    Until then I like the idea of "de-cluttering" the bloat as long as that continues to be possible.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by keltor ( 99721 ) *
      Move to Asia, they still sell "dumb" TVs here (they in fact are the same TVs with the same OS, they just disable the smart interfaces. They do that because there's still way too many people without "household" Internet and the devices don't make enough in ads to pay for a cell modem connection (yet.)
    • They're called commercial displays, and the only major problem with them is they cost substantially more than smart tvs because consumer smart tvs are sold much much cheaper on the assumption by the manufacturer that they will make it up on telemetry sales and ads. Right now it still makes more sense to buy the smart tv and never give it internet access and use a box like an appletv. if they start forcing online and more ads etc into smart tvs though it'll start making more sense to buy the commercial displ

    • An upstart company would make a "dumb TV"

      There are dumb TVs still being made.

      That you don't even know that shows you are not a serious customer for such a product.

      I also won't buy any audio or video gear that requires a network connection

      You can just click "Skip" when it asks you to connect to the Internet.

      • There are dumb TVs still being made.

        There are precisely zero dumb TVs on the market with the format support and visual quality of a high end TV from the majors. That you don't even know that shows you're not a serious customer of TVs and are just parroting whatever AI spat out at you from a quick Google search.

        You can just click "Skip" when it asks you to connect to the Internet.

        No you can't. That doesn't guarantee that your TV doesn't seek out a network connection. We have evidence of that, actual evidence of network traffic despite the user "skipping" the network setup. That you don't even know this shows you

    • An upstart company would make a "dumb TV" that simply displays high quality video.

      Like a ... monitor?

  • To avoid purchasing a $50 mini PC. Maybe $100 since everything keeps going up in price since 2024 but still...

    I mean if you're a hobbyist more power to you. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow tinkering with a small form factor computer case to get The thermals right. I happen to like this particular case because I've had it for a long time but it's not terribly good and I could and probably should just replace it but screw that I'm going to keep tinkering with it.

  • "using existing developer modes and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to tweak settings and apply (and remove) packages"

    I'm surprised that these Android/Google TV's have a developer mode, but that's great. ADB even without root access is powerful.

    This article says you can get cheap but good TV's that are subsidized with ads and spyware, and remove all that crap.

  • Or just... (Score:4)

    by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @07:42PM (#66390930)

    Or, just, you know, don't connect your TV to the internet. Use a device better suited to that purpose for the internet connection and just use the TV as a dumb display.

    • Bingo. That's precisely how I've addressed the issue since the first time people figure out TVs were listening to them over a fucking decade ago.

    • How about we stop accepting sub optimal solutions made of bodged together diverse components like some cyberpunk dystopia and actually demand better products that work the way we want?

      You shouldn't need to "not connect your TV to the internet". It should work the way you want.

  • The true price of things you buy (Score:3)

    by BitterEpic ( 10503015 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @07:59PM (#66390952) Homepage

    These devices are subsidized by the ads to reach these price ranges. Americans might be indignant about the ads, but the rightous behavior only gets worse when forced to pay the true value of something.

    Honest businesses cannot complete with Wallstreet and VC. Once people are conditioned to free by the sponsoring money of VC, no one will pay for them. After gmail, it's next to impossible to find an email service outside of a few privacy focus ones. The only option becomes ads.

    The heroin of Chinese goods is a similar problem. Once people are no longer conditioned to pay the true value of goods it is very hard to get back.

    It is said that dollar stores destroy neighborhoods. I do not understand why anyone believes VC, these ad supposed services that take advantage of the poor, or Chinese goods in the US economy is any different.

    • After gmail, it's next to impossible to find an email service outside of a few privacy focus ones.

      This sounds like a good thing to me, what am I missing? Don't we like privacy around here?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by olddoc ( 152678 )
      How much do TV companies make by selling my data? On a $700 TV that lasts 8 years will they make $100 off of me? Would they trade $780 up front to make up for a stream of $100 over 8 years? How many people would pay an extra $80 for a non data collecting TV? I would be curious to know the expected revenue stream the manufacturers get from smart TVs

  • In search of some means of blocking ads within Apple TV apps.

    No, DNS blockers don't do shit.

  • Imagine replacing the firmware in an LG spyware TV? Turn off all the tracking and surveillance features.

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