In August 2020, Google started rolling out the new ads for Android TV, at the time the NVIDIA SHIELD TV was exempt from these ads. That changed this week as ads started appearing on the SHIELD TV. But you can kind of, get rid of them. And here’s how.
Thankfully, there is a way to get rid of them, for now. This method isn’t going to work for long though. So enjoy it while it lasts.
The ads aren’t really that intrusive, and you likely won’t even notice that they are on your TV. But for many, they don’t want to see ads period, which is understandable. They appear at the top of the screen, above your list of apps. And make it easier to find some new shows to watch on apps that you may or may not have installed on your TV already.
How to turn off Android TV ads
The new ads, are also called “Highlights” and are located in the most recent Android TV Home update.
So, in order to kill these ads, head to Settings.
Then select apps.
Now select See all Apps.
You are going to need to select Show System Apps as well.
Now scroll down to find Android TV Home.
After you have found that app, click on it.
Then click on “Uninstall Updates.”
This is going to revert it back to a previous version of the launcher, but it will also get rid of the ads.
Now, the reason why we say that this method will not work for long, as Google will (at some point) make it so that you cannot revert back to an older version of the Android TV Home launcher. This is a pretty common thing actually, and is done with most apps as well. It’s normally done for safety and security. But in this instance, it might be to force everyone to see ads.
There is likely going to be another way to remove ads altogether, which may involve some trickery. But as for now, it’s just this simple, which is quite nice to see.
None of us like ads, but it is a necessary evil. Ads are what keep the internet free, without ads, many of the things that we use and enjoy for free right now, would not be free. So keep that in mind here. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more ads pop up on Roku and Amazon Fire TV as well. Roku kind of already has them in the lower right-hand corner of the home screen. And those are pretty unobtrusive as well, as they are out of the way, and you probably don’t even notice them.