Google TV is supposed to make watching TV better, but instead, it makes the experience slower and more frustrating.

If you have used any Google TV-powered device, whether it’s a TV or a projector, you probably know what I mean. You turn the TV on and then wait. And wait. It can easily take close to a minute for the interface to become responsive enough for you to open apps or start watching something. Compare that to the so-called dumb TVs many of us grew up with. You pressed the power button, and the screen came alive almost instantly. Whatever device was connected started playing right away.

Somewhere along the way, TVs stopped being simple displays and started behaving like overloaded computers. They now connect to the internet by default, pull in ads, run dozens of apps, and ship with layers of software you may never use. All of that adds weight to the system, and the result is a television that is slower and more annoying than the ones that came before it.

There's a strong case for bringing back the idea of a "dumb" TV. Not in terms of hardware, because modern TVs still offer excellent picture quality, sound, and features, but in the way they behave. Imagine having the option to strip away the unnecessary software, disconnect the TV from the internet, and simply use it as a display for whatever device you want. Well, it turns out there’s a hidden setting that lets you do just that.

Google TV already has a hidden “dumb TV” mode

You just need to reset your TV once

Smart TVs don’t have to stay connected to the internet and run a full operating system all the time. Google TV includes a lesser-known option called Basic TV mode, which lets you use your Smart TV offline.

The only catch is that this option appears during the initial setup process. If your TV is already configured with the full Google TV interface, you'll need to perform a factory reset first. Note that doing this erases everything on the device, including installed apps, login information, and any changes you may have made in the settings.

The reset itself can be done directly from the settings menu. Open Settings, go into All Settings, then scroll down to the System section and select About. From there, choose the Reset option and confirm when prompted. Once the reset completes, the TV will restart and begin the setup process again, asking you to pair your remote and go through the usual onboarding steps.

During setup, you will eventually be asked how you want to configure the device. Instead of selecting the standard Google TV experience, choose Basic TV. Some versions of Google TV may still try to push you toward connecting to Wi-Fi at this stage, but since our goal is to keep the TV simple, skip the network setup and continue the process offline.

As you'd guess, there are a few tradeoffs. Basic TV mode removes most of the features that normally define the Google TV experience. You can't install apps from the Play Store, access your Play Library, cast content from another device, or use Google Assistant to search for shows. Anything that relies on signing in with a Google account is disabled.

Switching back to the full smart experience is possible, but it's not a simple toggle. From the home screen, you can start the Google TV setup again and follow the prompts to enable the full interface. However, if the device was originally configured as a standard Google TV system, returning to Basic TV mode again will require another factory reset.

Basic TV Mode is not for everyone

You need to own a lot of content already

Once I switched to Basic TV mode on Google TV, the first thing I noticed was how “dumb” the interface felt, in a good way. The TV stopped pushing content at me and started behaving like a display again. I could power it on, switch to an HDMI input, and get straight to what I actually wanted to watch without waiting for the homepage to load.

But it’s worth noting that this setup doesn’t make sense for everyone. If you don’t have your own content to play, the TV will just turn into a showpiece. I've been using a laptop via HDMI to watch movies and shows I've stored on my device for more than a decade. It was a good experience, and I could watch whatever I wanted without being pestered by ads.

It also works well if you still use physical media. I know people who still buy Blu-rays of every good movie that comes out, and I can see them appreciating this feature. Connecting a Blu-ray player or a PlayStation 5 turns the TV into a simple screen. You power it on, switch inputs, and you are in, without any extra layer trying to recommend content or pull you into apps you are not using. The same applies if your setup revolves around a set-top box or antenna. The smart interface adds very little here and often slows you down before you reach the input you actually want. Removing that layer keeps things fast.

Make TVs fun again

TVs have been going downhill for a while now, but there are ways to fix that. The simplest option is to use a streaming device like the Apple TV 4K, which lets you bypass whatever OS your TV ships with. It gives you a cleaner, faster interface and removes most of the clutter that comes with platforms like Google TV, Tizen, or LG webOS, none of which really age well.

If you don’t want to buy extra hardware, you can still improve things by switching launchers. Apps like ATV4K can reshape the interface to resemble Apple TV’s layout. While you’re at it, fix your smart TV’s settings, because most ship with the wrong configuration out of the box.