An ad-free Android TV
- ID
- 37513
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 20 Oct 2026, 6:32 AM
- Fetched
- 21 Oct 2026, 1:44 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://cretezy.com/2026/ad-free-android-tv
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 4.0
- Created
- 21 Oct 2026, 1:45 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_agent_users
What happened
The post documents an ad-free Android TV setup using Projectivy Launcher to replace the Google TV home screen, SmartTube instead of the YouTube app, Button Mapper to remap the remote, and Pi-hole or AdGuard DNS to block ads and tracking at the network level. It notes that Google TV's Apps only mode still leaves a promotional banner, and that blocking androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com reportedly hides it, though a restart or launcher cache clear may be needed. The author says the setup was tested on two Chromecasts with Google TV and a Hisense TV, and includes ADB wireless-debugging commands plus a tip to have an AI agent adapt and run the ADB steps.
Why it matters
If you own an Android TV or Chromecast with Google TV, this is a concrete recipe for removing the home-screen ad banner and YouTube ads using a replacement launcher, SmartTube, remote remapping, and DNS blocking. The trade-off is maintaining side-loaded apps and ADB/DNS configuration across devices, so decide whether that upkeep is worth it for your household before following the commands.
Discussion angle
Would you let an AI agent run ADB commands on your TV, and what review or rollback steps would you require before approving each command?