I've been writing about Android since 2011, with a focus on device reviews, Samsung and Google Pixel hardware, and the latest happenings in the ecosystem. In my entire writing career, I've reviewed more than 75 Android phones.
Carrying both a Samsung or Pixel flagship and an iPhone as a daily driver provides me with deep insight into how Android works and how it compares to iOS.
I have been writing for Android Police since 2021, covering news, how-tos, and features. You can find my previous work on Neowin, AndroidBeat, Times of India, iPhoneHacks, MySmartPrice, and MakeUseOf.
When not working, I tend to mindlessly scroll through X, play with new AI models, or go on long road trips. You can reach out to me on X or drop a mail at rajesh@androidpolice.com.
I have never really been a fan of Android TVs or low-end streaming boxes because they tend to slow down drastically over time.
I have multiple smart TVs at home running Android TV or Google TV, and all of them have become painfully slow. So when I saw a viral post on X about using Claude to speed up an old Android TV, I decided to give it a shot.
Surprisingly, everything worked, but what impressed me most was how little I had to do. Claude handled most of the setup and cleanup with minimal input from me.
I gave Claude a prompt, and it took care of the setup
Even a missing ADB installation barely slowed it down
Since I have dabbled with custom ROMs on Android phones in the past, I always knew I could debloat my old Android TVs to speed things up and free up internal storage. But I never bothered, as the process seemed convoluted and required more time than I could squeeze into my schedule.
Seeing other people do it on X with relative ease using Claude gave me a reason to try. I did not expect the process to be straightforward and seamless. It took a few minutes and required minimal input on my part.
Before trying this experiment on the old Android TV in my living room, I started with a Mi Box S connected to an old TV in my bedroom. It's running Android 9 with a September 2021 security patch. With only around 1GB of free space and limited RAM, the device had become painfully slow.
To get started, I enabled ADB on the Mi Box S from the hidden Developer Options menu. This streaming box doesn't support wireless ADB. But if you have a newer Android TV model, you'll also need to enable wireless ADB debugging in the Developer Options menu.
After that, I fired up a Claude Code instance on my Mac and gave it a simple prompt: "Find the Mi Box streaming box on my network. I have ADB enabled. Check if you can access it."
Claude took it from there. It first detected that I did not have ADB installed on my Mac. Then, it scanned my home network, found two Xiaomi devices, and checked both for an open ADB port. The initial scan didn't find one, but a second check located the Mi Box.
After that, Claude installed ADB through Homebrew on my Mac and attempted to connect to the Mi Box. I had to approve the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt on my TV. Claude then verified the connection and gathered more device information.
The cleanup was just another request
I told Claude what I wanted, and it took care of the rest
After Claude had access to my Mi Box S, I told it to debloat the box so that it would run more smoothly and faster. Instead of uninstalling everything immediately, Claude scanned the installed software and identified non-critical system packages.
Then it generated a list of bloatware it could uninstall to free up storage space and speed up the streaming box.
More importantly, it recommended a reversible method to remove these packages, leaving all OS, launcher, and Google framework packages untouched during the cleanup.
It even listed the preinstalled streaming apps and asked which ones I didn't use so it could uninstall them.
During the process, Claude suggested removing PatchWall, Xiaomi's Android TV launcher, because it would significantly boost speed. However, my Mi Box S would then default to the standard Android TV home screen.
While I liked the PatchWall experience, a smoother and faster Android TV experience was a bigger win for me. So this was an easy decision. Many users on X replaced the Google TV launcher with something lightweight, but I was okay with this trade-off.
Within a few minutes, Claude debloated the Mi Box S and removed unnecessary packages to free up storage and RAM. At the end, it asked whether I wanted to disable the background cache and animations for extra speed, though I decided against it.
The process felt surreal because it went so smoothly. I repeated it on other old Android and Google TVs in my house to make them faster.
What I liked was that Claude didn't just uninstall everything without my consent. Instead, it asked which apps I wanted to keep and which I didn't care about.
Claude made my old Android TV streaming box feel like new
I had known for years that I could debloat my old Android TV or install a minimalistic launcher to make it faster. But because of the complexity, I never bothered to take the time. Claude closed that gap, handling the setup and cleanup with minimal input from me.
I still decided what to keep and remove, but I no longer had to figure out the commands myself. That convenience finally got me to tackle a job I had put off for years.