Fix your TV

Ads on my smart TV’s home screen: what can I do?

Many smart TVs earn money from the home screen: promoted rows, banners and previews that play by themselves. Some of it you can switch off, some of it you can’t, and one option is to stop looking at it.

Where they come from

  • Promoted rows and banners

    Manufacturers and platforms sell space on the home screen to apps and services.

  • Sponsored recommendations

    Content rows are filled in by the apps you have installed, and some of that is promotion.

  • Personalised advertising

    On some TVs, ads are matched to your advertising ID or to what you watch.

  • Screensavers and pre-installed apps

    Some screensavers and bundled apps show promotions of their own.

What you can do

  1. Switch off ad personalisation

    Look in Settings › Privacy (or Device Preferences) for an Ads option and opt out of personalisation, and reset your advertising ID.

  2. Turn off viewing-data features

    Some TVs recognise what is on screen to tailor ads. The setting has different names by brand: look for viewing information or content recognition and switch it off.

  3. Hide or remove promoted channels

    On many home screens you can customise channels and hide the ones you don’t want.

  4. Disable pre-installed apps that show ads

    In Settings › Apps, disable what you can’t uninstall.

  5. Change the screensaver

    Pick a plain one, or turn it off, if the default shows promotions.

  6. Use a launcher without ads

    If the home screen itself is where the ads are, a different launcher is the cleanest answer.

Where HView helps

HView has no ads and no sponsored rows, and it shows only your apps. The only content rows it can show are the “Watch next” and recommendation channels that your own apps publish, and that module is optional: you can leave it off.

It needs no account and sends no advertising data, because there is no advertising.

Where it doesn’t

HView doesn’t block ads inside other apps, such as ad-supported streaming, and it doesn’t remove the stock home screen. It gives you a home screen that has none, and you decide how much of the rest you use.

Coming soon to Google Play Installation guide

Questions

Can HView block ads in YouTube or other apps?

No. HView is a launcher, not an ad blocker. It only controls your home screen.

Does HView track me?

No ad tracking and no analytics libraries. It sends a one-way device digest for the licence and a small daily usage report tied to a random ID. The privacy policy lists everything.

Will the old home screen’s ads still run in the background?

The stock home screen stays installed but you no longer look at it. Switching off ad personalisation in your TV’s settings still helps.

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