That’s nice to hear. I wouldn’t mind playing with shizuku to see what can I do.

Modules work on top of an OverlayFS, which essentially lets you write to /system without actually writing to /system, similar to rwfus on the Steam Deck.

I see. So if something goes wrong, I can do factory reset without any problems. I guess.

I actually did another way. I blocked these streaming domains on pi-hole. Now none of those ad channels can connect to internet. I’m assuming the list would also disappear if I factory reset and rescan the channel list, those ad channels wouldn’t get into the list in the first place. Cannot try this right away but will definitely try this.

Sounds nice. What can I do with rooting though? Since there isn’t a replacement for the default TV app. I know I can remove the TCL stuff, but besides that? Also, now I wonder if shizuku would work too.

That’s the initial thing I wanted to do but there seems to be no ROM for this TV yet. I really prefer this to replace the default app.

I just hope there is some work from some developer but currently I don’t know any.

I actually checked XDA but there seems to be no ROMs currently. Maybe it’s possible to unlock the bootloader, I saw an OEM unlocking option while wandering developer options. But without a ROM it’s useless. Maybe someone will make a ROM but no idea.

I’m guessing your manufacturer added ads to their TV app and made a deal with Google to use them as the ad provider.

Yeah, it’s most likely this. And that’s why vendor locked it as well it seems.

The other alternative might be to block the ads on your router

Heh, I actually did this and will edit the main post for what I did.

I’m full behind of buying a big monitor and plug a mini pc or raspberry pi kind of thing. But my mother wanted to experience smart TVs, no matter what I told. So here I am, trying to reduce the damage. :)

By the way, that first TCL app is still included and it’s way worse than default TV app.

Thanks for the insight. I specifically checked those channels one by one (not all of course, just enough to get the streaming service domains) and blocked them on pi-hole. Now none of them can connect to internet. :)

Now is find a way to clear that hollow list. Factory reset might pull the trick but currently it’s not convenient before backing up smarttube etc.

Yes, exactly. The app I have to use to view satellite channels but there are also some bullshit channels inside, and they are a lot, like 20K+. No idea what Xumo or Pluto is but if that’s all maybe it’s possible to block them via pi-hole. Though probably they’ll still occupy the channel list because when internet is not connected those channels still occupy those places.

Yeah it seems so. It sucks that it’s not possible to use it peacefully. I wouldn’t disable the core functions as well. I once disabled the default file manager on a phone and learned surprisingly almost everything is tied to it. :)

That’s what I’m talking about. I want to replace the default TV app, not the launcher. Though it seems the tuner is vendor locked so I won’t find any alternative most likely. And the easiest thing is to get a separate satellite box and plug it into HDMI and use that instead of the built-in one. That launcher manager works great though.

I checked both apps and all I got is this:

Which is just a launcher where I place shortcuts. I put the TV app on it to show. If there is an app inside this to replace it, I’d like to hear. However I couldn’t find anything like that.

I checked it but it’s just a launcher that changes the UI, it doesn’t replace the default TV app.

Yeah, it is. To be honest, I lost hope for all-in-one solution. Currently the cheapest option seems to be get an HDMI satellite tuner and plug it in one the of the HDMI ports and use that as a TV source instead of the built-in one.

Thank you! If I find an app solution instead of this, I’ll edit my post. I can also try installing a backend for DVB-S on the network and connect the TV and use KODI but apparently that also requires a separate tuner, so the previous one seems easier.

Not sure when we’ll fed up but I’ll keep this in mind, barely 2 years passed with this TV.

I wish I could get those Linux ISOs through satellite tuner.

I would install LineageOS if it was possible, there are no ROMs. I’m not even sure if the bootloader is unlockable.

It’s great and already installed.

Not exactly like that but there are 20K+ ad TVs in the same list with the satellite ones which has only 400 channels. It is possible to switch to satellite only list but it always reverts so you have to do this every time. So I need either a separate app or the modified version of this current one. However it’s possible that TV producers most likely don’t open their SDKs so no one can create an app without reverse engineering.

Exactly. The DVB-S tuner is included in the TV. There is indeed input switch that includes HDMI 1,2,3 and AV and yet they made the TV input only accessible through an app.

Yeah they do. :) Personally I don’t watch TV at all when I’m alone but this is my mother’s TV. Also no problem! And thanks!

They basically hid the satellite tuner behind this with an app and it’s plagued with Google stuff. Now I have checked the app details and it says com.tcl.tv. It didn’t occur to me before since I don’t know any other Android TV, so thanks for this. That’s nice to know. So what is the default TV app on standard Android TVs?

The TV is TCL P635 by the way.