This is a tutorial disguised as a blog post, and the disguise is thin in the best way. The author runs Android TV on Chromecasts and a Hisense TV, hates the persistent ad banner Google jams into the home screen even in "Apps only" mode, and decided to fix it with four apps and a handful of ADB commands. The result is a clean, ad-free interface that feels like what Android TV should have shipped as. The core stack is Projectivy Launcher (replaces the home screen), SmartTube (replaces YouTube with ad-blocking and SponsorBlock), Wholphin (Jellyfin client), and Button Mapper (remaps the hardware YouTube button). Projectivy and Wholphin are on the Play Store. SmartTube requires sideloading via Downloader. The rest is ADB over Wi-Fi or USB. The ADB work is where the craft lives. Disabling the stock launcher (com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx) and its restoration daemon (setupwraith), then setting Projectivy as the home activity via cmd package set-home-activity — that's the kind of specific, tested knowledge that saves you hours of forum-trawling. The author flags the gotcha that HDMI input switching may break when you disable the stock launcher, which is the mark of someone who actually lives with this setup. SmartTube replacement is cleaner: uninstall the stock YouTube app (or pm uninstall --user 0 if it's baked into firmware), then remap the remote's YouTube button via Button Mapper. The accessibility services wiring is fiddly — you need to set the full component name for Projectivy or it reports "Enabled: No" even when running — and Android periodically kills accessibility services, so granting WRITESECURESETTINGS and whitelisting from battery optimization are necessary durability fixes. The author notes they still pay for YouTube Premium to support creators despite using SmartTube. This is a small ethical detail that matters: the guide isn't about freeloading, it's about interface control. The distinction between "I don't want to pay" and "I don't want your ad banner in my living room" is real and the author respects it. The closing tip — hand the article to Claude Code and let it run the ADB commands — is a neat meta-move that acknowledges the audience split between people comfortable with terminal commands and people who'd rather delegate. It's also an honest signal about where we are with AI-assisted system administration: the commands are deterministic enough that an agent can execute them reliably. This is a focused, well-tested recipe with specific package names, exact ADB incantations, and real caveats from multi-device deployment. It doesn't try to be more than it is, and what it is works.
