On 17 October 2026, developer Gathin posted on X that he had “vibe coded” his parents’ Xiaomi TV because, as he wrote, it was “showing a sponsored ad before you could even get to Netflix.”
By 24 October, his open-source project CleanYourTV had 30,900 GitHub stars, 3,600 forks and tested configuration lists for 260 TV models across 77 brands. The original post passed 8.4 million views.
What the tool actually switches off
CleanYourTV uses an AI coding assistant such as Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI. It finds the TV over home Wi-Fi, disables the maker’s ad services, sponsored content rows and telemetry, and installs a 497 KB replacement home screen. The original post said it removed 25 Xiaomi packages; the repository clarifies they are disabled in the user profile, not deleted, and a restore script can undo the changes.
The README also warns that firmware updates can bring the packages back, which is why a weekly drift check exists.
Why media buyers should care
Home screen placements are one of CTV’s fastest-growing ad surfaces. LG Ad Solutions reported advertiser use of the placements grew more than 60% year over year, and 97% of LG users start viewing on the home screen. Teads says its combined home screen inventory reaches 500 million devices.
CleanYourTV removes the placements those reach claims count. It also quietens the telemetry that TV makers sell as viewing data.
- Reach claims get softer: sets running a replacement launcher do not render home screen ads.
- Measurement gets noisier: disabled telemetry sends less viewing data back.
- Scale is still unknown: stars are not installs; the project ships no prebuilt binaries.
What to do about it
Do not anchor a CTV plan to a single home screen masthead. Ask sellers how they account for device-level opt-outs and launcher replacement, and measure incremental reach rather than trusting a 97% start-rate figure alone.
The growth takeaway is sharper: a relatable problem, a dramatic before/after and a shareable prompt turned one post into a 30,900-star project in a week.
Source: PPC Land
