Debloat the Philips 50PUS8517

Android TV 11 · 41 apps on the list · tested on a real set

This Philips set ships with TP Vision analytics that report channels watched, HDMI devices, viewing times and Ambilight settings, and that estimate your region from your internet address. The home screen also carries Philips promo rows and a storefront of extra apps such as MEGOGO and Deezer. Google's voice assistant, Play Games, YouTube Music and the stock YouTube app are on the list too.

This list is for one board and one firmware, so check that your set matches before you use it. The app names were read from each app's own label, and the list was checked by watching the TV's log while it sat idle. Two services that keep the sources menu and the TV engine working are left enabled. TidyTV turns the rest off from your phone over Wi-Fi, with a backup first and nothing deleted.

Download the free APK Star on GitHub

Apps TidyTV can turn off on the Philips 50PUS8517

Grouped as the tested list groups them. In the app each one has a switch, so you choose. Apps marked your call are extras the list leaves on.

TP Vision telemetry 3

org.droidtv.gel runs inside the candeebug process (android:process="org.droidtv.candeebug"), so disabling candeebug alone leaves a process with that name still running and looks like a failure. Disable both.

Droidtv candeebug"DAC" analytics uploader: channel watched, resolution, HDMI-CEC devices, viewing times, Ambilight config; uploads to AWS Firehose/S3 and geolocates the public IP via ipinfo.ioorg.droidtv.candeebug
Droidtv gelmetrics collector sharing candeebug's process; no INTERNET permission of its ownorg.droidtv.gel
Boot statsorg.droidtv.usagelogger

Philips content promos and the app gallery 12

"Top Picks" content promotion roworg.droidtv.nettvrecommender
Its headless backendorg.droidtv.recommendation
"Smart TV Collection" app storefrontorg.droidtv.nettv.market
ARTEorg.droidtv.nettvapp1814
MEGOGOorg.droidtv.nettvapp4546
Alacarta RTVEorg.droidtv.nettvapp4633
Deezerorg.droidtv.nettvapp4655
Free Games by PlayWorksorg.droidtv.nettvapp4932
Toon Gogglesorg.droidtv.nettvapp5326
Fishing TVorg.droidtv.nettvapp5512
Couchplay Gamesorg.droidtv.nettvapp20004410
Fitness Buddyorg.droidtv.android.fitness

Philips features this owner does not use 5

Check each against your own setup.

Alexa bridgeorg.droidtv.amazonalexa
DLNA/UPnP server and rendererorg.droidtv.dlna
LAN control of volumeorg.droidtv.ipcontrol
"Demo me" retail demo modeorg.droidtv.demome
M7 satellite operator promoorg.droidtv.m7opapp

Google telemetry and first-setup leftovers 5

Google FeedbackMarket Feedback Agentcom.google.android.feedback
Partner referrer / attributioncom.google.android.partnersetup
Runs once at first setupcom.google.android.onetimeinitializer
Second Screen Setup Auth Bridgecom.google.android.sss.authbridge
Google Calendar synccom.google.android.syncadapters.calendar

Google apps this owner does not use 5

Google AssistantAssistant and voice search, ~101 MB across two processes. Kills the remote's mic button, "Hey Google", on-screen voice search and the mic icon inside YouTube and Play Store search. Settings and tvsystemui guard their calls into it, so nothing crashescom.google.android.katniss
Play Gamescom.google.android.play.games
Google TV storeGoogle TV / Play Moviescom.google.android.videos
YouTube Musiccom.google.android.youtube.tvmusic
TalkBackcom.google.android.marvin.talkback

Preinstalled streaming apps 9

All of these sit in /data/app rather than on the system partition, so unlike the vendor packages above they are ordinary user-installed apps.

Netflixcom.netflix.ninja
Prime Videocom.amazon.amazonvideo.livingroom
Apple TVcom.apple.atve.androidtv.appletv
Disney+com.disney.disneyplus
WhaleLivecom.zeasn.whalelive
Boosteroid cloud gamingcom.boosteroidtv.streaming
Vodafone TVcom.witsoftware.ir.vodafonetv
Sweet TVtv.sweet.tvplayer
Rakuten TVtv.wuaki.apptv
Android TV home screen your calllauncher/build-and-install.sh disables the stock launcher itself, after Home has moved # 190 MB resident, the single heaviest process on this TVcom.google.android.tvlauncher

Stock launcher and its content engine, replaced by launcher/ (or Projectivy) 1

ORDER MATTERS: disable the launcher FIRST. com.google.android.tvlauncher holds a stable ContentProvider reference on tvrecommendations/.NotificationContentProvider, and ActivityManagerService kills a client holding a stable ref when the provider's process dies — so disabling tvrecommendations first force-stops the live 190 MB launcher process. tvrecommendations is also the only resolver for the system notification panel (OPEN_NOTIFICATIONS_PANEL and friends), so that panel is gone device-wide, not just from the stock home screen. That is a conscious trade, not a side effect.

Google recommendations"Android TV Core Services" despite the name: recommendation rows, channels, notification panelcom.google.android.tvrecommendations

Stock YouTube, replaced by SmartTube (ads and sponsor segments) 1

119 MB resident vs ~35 MB. Philips remotes of this generation often carry a dedicated YouTube key, which is bound to this package and will stop doing anything. The remote on this particular unit has no such key, so that was not a factor here -- check your own before you decide this matters.

YouTubecom.google.android.youtube.tv

What always stays on

The sources menu, the HDMI inputs and the TV engine behind them
The Live TV app
Chromecast built-in, which this firmware keeps running
The TV control port on 1925 and 1926, used by TV control tools

Good to know on this model

The notification panel goes with the Google recommendation service, so it is gone on the whole TV, not just the home screen. This is a deliberate trade.
Two background services in the TV engine must stay on. Turning off one makes the sources menu vanish, and turning off the other makes the engine retry in a loop.
Chromecast built-in cannot be switched off on this firmware. It turns back on about half a minute after each restart.
Some Philips remotes have a dedicated YouTube key. Once the stock YouTube app is switched off, that key stops doing anything, so check your remote first.

How to do it

Turn on developer options On the TV, open Settings › System › About and select the build number 7 times. Then turn on USB debugging, and Network debugging if you see it.
Tap your TV in TidyTV Your phone finds the TV on the Wi-Fi. Tick "Always allow" and press Allow when the TV asks.
Review, then tidy TidyTV saves a backup, shows these apps with switches, and turns off the ones you pick, checking each one.

Questions

Will the voice button still work on my Philips 50PUS8517?

Not with the default list. It turns off Google Assistant and voice search, which the remote's mic button uses.

Does casting still work?

Yes. Chromecast built-in stays on, because this firmware will not keep it switched off.

Will it stop the ads on the home screen?

For the most part. It turns off the Philips Top Picks row and its backend, the Smart TV Collection storefront, and the Google recommendation service behind the stock home screen.

Source: the philips-50pus8517 list in cleanyourtv by Gathin (MIT), tested on this model. TidyTV re-checks every app against its own protected list before each change.