The 2019 Shield TV “tube” only has 2 GB of memory, and the Google home screen used a good share of it. After the Pro (covered here), Claude cleaned up the tube with cleanyourtv: 48 apps disabled, a light home screen, and memory going from “critical” to “moderate”.
The problem
The tube is plugged into a Hisense projector, and Android reported a “critical” memory state on it. The Google home screen, the Assistant and a dozen NVIDIA services ran all the time for the few apps actually used.
What was done
Same method as on the Pro: full backup, then three batches approved one by one, disabling without uninstalling.
- Telemetry and factory services: NVIDIA statistics and diagnostics, factory test tools, file sharing, first-setup welcome app…
- Unused apps: Google Assistant, Netflix, Prime Video, Kodi, VLC, YouTube, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Play Movies, Play Games.
- Secondary NVIDIA services.
YouTube is replaced by SmartTube. Claude checked the release’s hash on VirusTotal before installing it, since the project had reported tampered builds in the past.
Before and after
Measured by Claude with dumpsys meminfo, right before the cleanup, then the same evening, 9 hours after the last reboot.
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory state reported by Android | critical | moderate |
| Used memory | 1,519 MB | 1,102 MB |
| Free memory | 447 MB | 684 MB |
| Home screen (resident memory) | 349 MB (Google) | 195 MB (cleanyourtv) |
| Google Assistant in the background | 176 MB | 0 |
| Disabled apps | 0 | 48 |
That’s about 400 MB of memory given back, out of 2 GB in total.
The “Open apps” tile
The projector’s remote only sends arrows, OK, Back and Play: no double press on Home to see open apps. Claude wrote a small app that opens that screen from a home screen tile. It uses a minimal accessibility service, with no access to the screen or the keys.
Takeaway
On a box with 2 GB of memory, the stock home screen and the Assistant alone weighed about 500 MB. Switching them off matters more than any setting. And since everything is disabled rather than removed, one command is enough to roll back.