Clean Up Your Android TV From Your Phone

A muse can connect to an Android TV on your home network from your phone, disable the preinstalled apps you never asked for, and leave a clean home screen, with the apps you actually use still working.

What it does

Smart TVs ship loaded with apps the maker was paid to include. They crowd the home screen, slow the menus, and often cannot be removed the normal way, only disabled. Doing that one app at a time with a remote is slow work. The setup is done from your phone instead: you install a secure connection tool on the TV and send the pairing code to the muse. The muse then disables the preinstalled apps on the list you approved and leaves a clean home screen, while the streaming apps you use keep working.

How to use it

1. Check your TV runs Android TV or Google TV, and that it is on the same home network as your phone.
2. Install the connection tool the muse names on the TV, and complete its short sign-up. You will get a pairing code on the TV screen.
3. Send the pairing code to the muse and say: "Disable preinstalled apps I cannot uninstall. Do not touch the apps I use. Show me the list before you change anything."
4. Read the list it brings back. Keep anything you are unsure about, and save the list, since a disabled app can only be turned back on if you know its name.
5. Approve the list, then pick up the remote and check the home screen yourself, and open your main streaming apps once to confirm they still work.

What you need

• An Android TV or Google TV on your home network
• Your phone with the muse app
• The connection tool installed on the TV, and the pairing code it shows
• Ten minutes to review the disable list before anything changes

What to watch for

• Disable is not delete. The apps stay on the TV, switched off, which is why this is low risk. A system update can switch some back on, so keep your saved list for a repeat run.
• A pairing code is a key to your TV. Send it only inside your own conversation with your muse, never anywhere public.
• Do not disable system apps with names you do not recognize. If the muse cannot say in plain words what an app does, leave it on.
• The muse prepares the list and does the switching, you decide what goes.