Safe Reversible Device Clean-Up Plan

Act as a cautious IT technician who tidies slow consumer devices without ever causing lasting harm.

Task: Create a safe, reversible clean-up plan for my device, based on the details below.

Device: 2 GB TCL Google TV running Android 11, connected to home Wi-Fi, about four years old. The manufacturer's home screen shows banner adverts and takes around ten seconds to load after waking from standby.
Problems I notice: The home screen is slow and stutters when scrolling. Adverts for apps I have not installed appear on the main screen. The remote's Home button sometimes opens a setup screen instead of the home screen.
Apps I rely on: Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Plex, and the Google Play Store for updates.
Apps I never use: The manufacturer's shopping app, a games hub, a free-channels app, a voice-assistant promotion, and a usage-statistics service I did not knowingly agree to.

Steps:
1. Sort every app or feature mentioned into three groups: safe to disable, ask me first, and leave alone. Give a one-line reason for each.
2. Write a backup step to complete before any change, including how to confirm it worked.
3. List the changes one at a time, each with a command or menu path, a check that it worked, and the exact way to undo it.
4. Add a final test, such as pressing the Home button from inside an app, to confirm nothing important broke.
5. Name two likely side effects and how to spot them.

Output: A short summary, then a numbered plan using the headings Backup, Changes, Undo and Final test. Use disable or hide, never delete.

# Summary The slowness is most likely the manufacturer's launcher and its bundled apps competing for 2 GB of RAM. The plan only **disables** packages (never uninstalls), one at a time, with a check and an exact undo for each. Package names differ between TCL models, so the plan finds the real names on your TV first instead of guessing. The Home-button-opens-setup problem is treated as a diagnosis task, not something to "fix" by disabling things. ## Step 1: Sorting | Item | Group | Reason | |---|---|---| | Manufacturer shopping app | Safe to disable | Pure promotion, nothing else depends on it. | | Games hub | Safe to disable | Optional storefront, not needed by your apps. | | Free-channels app (TCL's own, not Google's) | Safe to disable | Duplicates your streaming apps and feeds home-screen ads. | | Voice-assistant promotion app | Safe to disable | Marketing only. Google Assistant on the remote is separate. | | Usage-statistics service | Ask me first | It may be tied to a system service, so first try the Settings opt-outs, and only disable the package if you approve. | | Manufacturer launcher / home screen | Leave alone | It is the Home screen, and disabling it can leave no working Home. | | Banner adverts | Ask me first | They come from the launcher, so you can reduce them with ad and recommendation settings but may not fully remove them. | | Setup wizard / setup screen | Leave alone | Disabling it can cause boot or Home loops. Diagnose instead. | | Remote/Bluetooth services, System UI | Leave alone | The remote and navigation depend on them. | | Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Plex | Leave alone | Apps you rely on. | | Google Play Store, Play Services | Leave alone | They handle updates and sign-in for every app. | ## Backup 1. **Enable ADB on the TV.** Go to Settings → System → About, click *Android TV OS build* 7 times, then go to Settings → System → Developer options and turn on USB debugging (and network debugging if offered). Find the TV's IP under Settings → Network & Internet. 2. **On your PC (PowerShell)**, use a folder outside any project, and connect: ```powershell mkdir $HOME\tv-backup; cd $HOME\tv-backup adb connect <TV-IP>:5555 adb devices ``` Accept the prompt on the TV. `adb devices` must show the TV as `device`, not `unauthorized`. 3. **Record the current state.** `Out-File` is used because plain `>` in PowerShell 5 writes unreadable UTF-16: ```powershell adb shell pm list packages -f | Out-File -Encoding utf8 all-packages.txt adb shell pm list packages -d | Out-File -Encoding utf8 disabled-before.txt adb shell pm list packages -e | Out-File -Encoding utf8 enabled-before.txt adb shell settings list global | Out-File -Encoding utf8 settings-global.txt adb shell settings list secure | Out-File -Encoding utf8 settings-secure.txt adb shell dumpsys package | Select-String "Package \[|codePath" | Out-File -Encoding utf8 package-detail.txt ``` 4. **Take photos** of Settings → Apps → See all apps, and of the Home screen as it is now. 5. **Confirm it worked:** ```powershell (Get-Content all-packages.txt).Count (Get-Content enabled-before.txt).Count Select-String "netflix|youtube|plex|disney|bbc" enabled-before.txt ``` Pass means the counts are well above 0 (typically 100+ for all packages) and your five apps appear in the last output. 6. **Note:** Your apps, logins and Plex library live in your Google account or on your Plex server, so nothing is lost by disabling packages. This backup is a record to restore the enabled/disabled state. ## Changes Do these one at a time. After each, wake the TV from standby, press Home, and scroll for a minute before moving on. **0. Find the real package names** ```powershell adb shell pm list packages | Select-String -Pattern "tcl|shop|game|channel|freeplay|assistant|stats|analytics" ``` Match names to your unwanted apps. Cross-check with Settings → Apps → See all apps → Show system apps. If a name is unclear, stop and ask me. Don't guess. *Check:* you have a written list of exact names. *Undo:* nothing changed yet. **1. Opt out of ads and stats via Settings (no packages touched)** - Settings → Privacy → Ads → Opt out of Ads Personalization. - Settings → Privacy → Usage & Diagnostics → Off. - Settings → Accounts & Sign In → your account → turn off personalised recommendations or sponsored rows if listed. *Check:* the toggles show Off after you leave and re-enter the menu. *Undo:* set each toggle back to On. **2. Disable the shopping app** ```powershell adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <shopping.package> ``` *Check:* `adb shell pm list packages -d | Select-String <shopping.package>` returns a line, and the app disappears from the Apps row. *Undo:* `adb shell pm enable <shopping.package>` **3. Disable the games hub** ```powershell adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <games.package> ``` *Check and undo:* same as step 2, using this package name. **4. Disable the manufacturer's free-channels app** ```powershell adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <freechannels.package> ``` *Check and undo:* same as above. Do not touch Google's own Live TV or Play-related packages. **5. Disable the voice-assistant promotion app** ```powershell adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <promo.package> ``` *Check:* the remote's microphone button still works for Google Assistant. If not, undo straight away. *Undo:* `adb shell pm enable <promo.package>` **6. Usage-statistics service (only after you approve)** Only if the Settings opt-out in step 1 didn't stop it, and you say yes: ```powershell adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <stats.package> ``` *Check:* reboot, then confirm the TV reaches Home normally. *Undo:* `adb shell pm enable <stats.package>` **7. Clear the launcher's cache only (not its data)** Settings → Apps → See all apps → Show system apps → (Google TV Home / the TCL launcher) → Clear cache. Then restart the TV. *Check:* wake time from standby improves, and Home still opens. *Undo:* nothing is needed, since the cache rebuilds itself. Do not choose *Clear data*. **8. Optional: lighten animations** Settings → System → Developer options → set Window, Transition and Animator scale to 0.5x. *Check:* scrolling feels snappier. *Undo:* set all three back to 1x. **9. Diagnose the Home-button-opens-setup problem (no disabling)** - Settings → System → Restart, then test Home again. - Check Settings → Accounts & Sign In for any unfinished setup or a pending system update, and complete it. - Check Settings → Remote & Accessories to see if the Home button was remapped. *Check:* Home opens the home screen 10 times in a row. *Undo:* revert any remapping you changed. ## Undo - **Single item:** `adb shell pm enable <package>` - **Everything at once:** compare against the backup and re-enable anything newly disabled: ```powershell adb shell pm list packages -d | Out-File -Encoding utf8 disabled-now.txt Compare-Object (Get-Content disabled-before.txt) (Get-Content disabled-now.txt) ``` Run `adb shell pm enable <name>` for each line that appears only in `disabled-now.txt`. - **Without a PC:** disabled apps stay visible under Settings → Apps → See all apps → Show system apps. Select one and choose Enable. - **Settings toggles:** set them back as described in the steps above. - **Last resort:** a factory reset, which I'd only use if the TV can't reach Home at all. Your Google account restores apps. ## Final test 1. Restart the TV, then put it in standby for 1 minute and wake it. Time the wake. It should be noticeably under ten seconds. 2. Open each of Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Plex, and play a few seconds of video in each. 3. From inside each app, press **Home**. You should land on the home screen, not a setup screen. 4. Open the Play Store, go to Manage apps, and confirm it loads and can check for updates. 5. Press and hold the mic button on the remote and ask for something to confirm Assistant still responds. 6. Scroll the home screen for a minute, checking for stutter and fewer or no banner ads for apps you don't have. ## Two likely side effects 1. **Home screen glitches or an empty or looping Home.** This happens if a disabled package was something the launcher quietly relied on. You'd see a "has stopped" dialog, blank rows, or Home flashing back to itself. Re-enable the most recent change straight away. 2. **A lost feature, such as the remote's voice button doing nothing, the Live TV or Free channels tab going empty, or a Games row vanishing.** You'd spot it in the Final test, or when a tab or button you used to see no longer responds. Re-enable the matching package. Please share the package list from step 0 if you want me to review it before you disable anything.