An ad-free Android TV

I like Android TV. It runs every app I care about, it’s cheap on a Chromecast, and it’s built into plenty of TVs. What I don’t like is ads. Here’s my setup for ad-free watching on my devices.

Google TV, the default interface on most Android TV devices, puts a large banner at the top of the home screen promoting whatever Google wants you to watch next, often from apps you don’t even use. Apps only mode is supposed to strip the home screen down to your apps, but the banner stays, and there’s no setting to turn it off.

Before: Google TV, in Apps only mode

After setting up a few devices around the house, I landed on a setup with no ads at all, and a nicer interface to go with it.

The setup

• Projectivy Launcher replaces the home screen. It shows your apps and nothing else, and it’s very customizable. FLauncher and ATV Launcher Pro are good alternatives.
• SmartTube replaces YouTube, with no ads, a better interface, and SponsorBlock built in. I still pay for YouTube Premium to support creators, but I vastly prefer SmartTube to the official app.
• Wholphin is my preferred Jellyfin client, for its UI and customization options. Moonfin is a good alternative.
• Button Mapper remaps the remote, so the YouTube button opens SmartTube.

After: Projectivy Launcher

SmartTube, blurred

I’ve set this up on two Chromecasts with Google TV and a Hisense TV, and it should work on most Android TV devices.

Tip: For ads in other apps, and the TV’s own tracking, also run Pi-hole on your network. It blocks ad and tracking domains at the DNS level, for every device in the house, not just the TV.

If you’d rather keep the stock launcher, blocking androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com in Pi-hole (or your router’s DNS) reportedly hides its banner. You might have to restart the device or clear the launcher’s cache for it to take effect.

Without Pi-hole, you can point the TV’s Private DNS at an ad-blocking resolver like AdGuard DNS instead, once ADB is connected (see below):

adb -s $D shell settings put global private_dns_mode hostname
adb -s $D shell settings put global private_dns_specifier dns.adguard-dns.com

Tutorial

Tip: Hand this article to an AI agent and have it guide you through the setup. It can adapt the ADB commands to your device and run them for you, so review each one before approving it.

Everything here is done with ADB, so start by connecting it.

Connecting ADB

Enable Developer options by clicking Settings → System → About → Android TV OS build 7 times. Then, in Developer options, enable Wireless debugging and choose Pair device with pairing code:

adb pair <ip>:<pairing-port> <code>
adb mdns services # Find the connect port
adb connect <ip>:<connect-port>

D=<ip>:<connect-port> # Used in the commands below

Wireless debugging only works over Wi-Fi. If your device doesn’t have it (like my Hisense TV), enable USB debugging instead and connect with adb connect <ip>:5555.

Installing the apps

Projectivy, Wholphin, and Button Mapper are on the Play Store. ADB can’t install from the Play Store directly, but it can open each app’s page on the TV, so you just click Install:

for p in com.spocky.projengmenu com.github.damontecres.wholphin flar2.homebutton; do
  adb -s $D shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "market://details?id=$p"
  read -p "Press Enter once it's installed..."
done

SmartTube isn’t on the Play Store, so download the latest APK from GitHub and install it:

curl -L -o smarttube.apk "$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/yuliskov/SmartTube/releases/latest \
  | grep -o '"browser_download_url": *"[^"]*_universal\.apk"' | cut -d'"' -f4)"
adb -s $D install smarttube.apk

You can also sideload it on the TV with Downloader.

Replacing the launcher

Projectivy has an Override current launcher option, but the stock home screen still flashes before it. Instead, set Projectivy as the home app, then disable the stock launcher and the package that restores it:

adb -s $D shell cmd package set-home-activity com.spocky.projengmenu/.ui.home.MainActivity
adb -s $D shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx
adb -s $D shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith

Setting the home app first matters. On some devices, disabling setupwraith can also forget the saved Wi-Fi network, so keep a remote handy to reconnect.

On a TV, the stock launcher may also handle switching HDMI inputs, so check that still works afterward.

Replacing YouTube

Once SmartTube is set up, remove the official app:

adb -s $D uninstall com.google.android.youtube.tv

If it’s built into the firmware (DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR), use adb -s $D shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube.tv instead.

Remapping the remote

Button Mapper and Projectivy both need their accessibility services enabled. This replaces the whole list, so check the current one first with adb -s $D shell settings get secure enabled_accessibility_services and keep anything else you use:

adb -s $D shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services \
  'flar2.homebutton/a.i:com.spocky.projengmenu/com.spocky.projengmenu.services.ProjectivyAccessibilityService'
adb -s $D shell settings put secure accessibility_enabled 1

Android sometimes turns accessibility services off. Granting Button Mapper WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS lets it turn itself back on, and exempting it from battery optimization keeps it responsive:

adb -s $D shell pm grant flar2.homebutton android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
adb -s $D shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +flar2.homebutton

Then, in Button Mapper, map the YouTube button to SmartTube.

Cleaning up

You can also speed up animations to make it snappier:

for k in window_animation_scale transition_animation_scale animator_duration_scale; do
  adb -s $D shell settings put global $k 0.75
done

And disable some Google apps and services you probably won’t use. Skip any you do use, and ignore errors for packages your device doesn’t have:

for p in com.google.android.videos \
         com.google.android.play.games \
         com.google.android.youtube.tvmusic \
         com.google.android.tvrecommendations \
         com.google.android.feedback \
         com.google.android.partnersetup; do
  adb -s $D shell pm disable-user --user 0 $p
done

For additional debloating, cleanyourtv has lists for many TVs, covering manufacturer apps, ad services, and telemetry.

Everything can be undone with adb shell pm enable <package> (or adb shell cmd package install-existing <package> for YouTube). Turn Wireless debugging (or USB debugging) off when you’re done, since an open ADB port can let other devices on your network connect.

On a TV, also check the picture settings. Switch to Filmmaker Mode (or a neutral mode like Movie or Cinema) and turn off most of the image processing, like motion smoothing, noise reduction, and dynamic contrast. You might have to tweak it a bit to suit your room and taste.

That’s it: no banner, no ads, and a remote that opens the apps you actually use.

Update 2026-10-20: Thank you for the replies on Hacker News! I’ve made some changes:

• Added Pi-hole and Private DNS as a way to block ads across the network, including the stock launcher’s banner
• Linked cleanyourtv for additional debloating
• Added FLauncher and ATV Launcher Pro as launcher alternatives, and Moonfin as a Jellyfin client alternative