I can’t imagine the direct tv box being much different from Xfinity Xfinity boxes. Assuming there is not much difference there should be no issue. I don’t think you can remove all the apps but there is a way to set the tv so that the tv channels come up instead of the app screen. It took me a bit to figure but is possible. My main reason is I didn’t like getting annoyed by the app screen and doing what felt like 50 steps(exaggerated) just to watch tv. The direct tv remote should be no problem to pair with the tv or the other way around depending on set up.