Get FLauncher from the Play Store then either use Button Mapper to make the home button go there or use adb to disable the existing launcher. Completely clean home screen and can be done in a few minutes.
this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Worked like a charm. About an hour of fiddling around and learning ADB and now I feel like I own my TV. Thanks for giving me a solution outside of 'build/buy a different device'.
While I do appreciate everyones advice, this is exactly what I was hoping was possible. Thanks for the help mate.
Glad you went with ADB. Yeah it is more complicated but I agree it does feel better to have it completely disabled. Luckily once you do it once it is easier to do again. I just recently did it for a TV and a Chromecast, and the first one took me 30-40 minutes to figure out while the second one took more like 5 since I knew exactly what to do.
Still check out Button Mapper if you want to map the YouTube button on your remote to SmartTube. And if you are looking for any other app recommendations there is one called S0undTV that is basically SmartTube but for Twitch if you watch any streams.
I did the use button mapper. Little finicky at first but now it's great. It's probably worth noting, in case someone bumps into this later, the exact commands in the link you posted didn't work for me, I needed to search for a different launcher removal command, since I'm not on a chrome cast, or maybe Google just changed they're launcher name/location. The appwraith remover worked, just not for the actual launcher. I'll rack down what I did later and update this with my command.
If you go to account configuration, you can select the "apps only" interface, which gets rid of almost all recommend crap. Also, install pihole/AdGuard Home on your lan and disable all the telemetry apps and related shit, which can be done directly from the GUI (at least on my Sony).
That setting wasn't an option on my TV unfortunately, and my network ad blocking wasn't working due to the ads being saved on the TV. I ended up using ADB to just kill Google entirely.
consider jellyfin
I'm dreading replacing my dumb tv, but can confirm that the nvidia shield was the best thing I ever bought for entertainment: just sideload your apps and off you go.
Take the cable out of the tv, plug it into your android box and hdmi to the tv.
Can recommend STN, cloudstream and plex.
Good luck.
Based on what I learned from another reply here, I was able to make my TV do exactly what I wanted. If you ever have to replace the dumb TV, I'm going to recommend getting an android TV just because it was so easy to remove the original OS.
I know each android TV is a little bit different, so if it helps I'm running a Sony Bravia with android TV 11.
Excellent! Glad you found what you wanted - I'll bookmark this for when I have to replace my trusty Bravia! 👍
Now, a Sony Bravia - what size and price may I ask ? And how difficult is it to remove all the shit ad functionality from it ?
I've had my 32" for like 8 years but definately looking for the same quality piece of kit.
65". Got it at Costco for around 600$ in 2021. I fought with the regular os after some updates about a year ago. Before that Google wasn't shoving shit down my throat all day. I've been considering rooting it for a while, but finally got the motivation today.