If you go the android route turn on Apps Only Mode in the settings. It gets rid of the home screen ads for the most part and disabled a lot of the “features” that Google tries to push.
I’m kinda new to the scene so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have jellyfin running on a laptop and I use a roku stick to stream through. Not perfect by any means however it does what I need to do. I’ve been told using a raspberry PI would be a great budget option with more feature.
Given the recent issues with ads, I wouldn’t recommend anything Android/GoogleTV based. A USFF PC will give you better performance for less money, especially if you buy used. You can find 1L X86 boxes for $30-60 on eBay that are perfect for the job.
OSMC makes some good Kodi boxes under the Vero name if you don’t need proprietary streaming services. I use the jellyfin plugin to read from my JF server, works great. Supports 4k, HDR, audio passthrough, many codecs, all the good stuff.
I’ve got a couple of them. They work great. I actually got a Chromecast with Google TV as well, but have since quit using it because the Onn works better in my opinion.
Turning on Apps only mode requires you to navigate to the Settings page from the home screen of your Chromecast or other Google TV device, then select Accounts & Sign In. From there, tap your profile and enable Apps only mode.
Kodi / LibreELEC has add-ons available to most of the most popular streaming services. The trouble is that it hasn’t the necessary licenses for playing content in the best resolutions (the same goes with most browsers). I myself have a Homatics R 4k Plus (which is a licensed box) and installed CoreELEC. When using Android I can stream my content in the highest resolutions (Star Plus, HBO Max and Disney Plus) but when using CoreELEC I can’t.
Thanks for clarifying. I recalled seeing something about 720p caps for certain streaming services when using non-DRM platforms, but I wasn’t sure which.
I’ve tried a lot of different things before settling on a old (windows) laptop with a wireless mouse and keyboard… I just cba with any of the streaming boxes anymore, and the laptop will always be compatible and performant.
No, but Amazon decides what you see on the top half of the main screen unless you install a custom launcher. You can use your own photos for the screen saver. You can side load android apps. I use one called “smart YouTube tv” which blocks YouTube ads and has sponsor block built in.
If you have Apple users in your household, the current generation of Apple TV 4K 128GB is a solid device that’s going to offer the best integrated experience, along with capability of Thread. If not, it’s probably a bit overpriced compared to the other solutions.
It doesn’t offer AVC1 decoding; so if that matters to you, skip it. If it doesn’t (and it absolutely doesn’t for the vast majority of users) then it’s not only best-in-class, it’s alone in its class. The nVidia Shield Pro is the only other device with as much power in it and that’s been eclipsed by the newest AppleTV iteration. They’re really just that good.
You can buy a lifetime license for Infuse. Alternatively the Jellyfin app is available too (as Swiftfin on the Apple TV App Store, but displays as Jellyfin on the Home Screen).
Not sure how but I’ve missed Swiftfin and was using Infuse on my Apple TV for past few months. Made a quick test and it seems that Swiftfin suffers from the same issue as Plex does - crappy connection makes crappy experience. Don’t know how Infuse makes it but with the same network settings movies looks way better.
Can’t say I’ve noticed video differences, but Infuse has had the fewest audio sync issues for me. However the Plex layout simply fits my brain better. Especially the ability to reorder media and use collections, and integrate my OTA antenna.
Is it still true that only the Shield Pro does Atmos for my own media?
I second the roku, they are economically priced, they perform very well, minimal ads. My friends and family use them to stream from my jellyfin server over the internet to their homes.
I’ve been using an Nvidia Shield TV Pro for a while, and hardware-wise it’s still amazing. But with the way the OS is going, I can’t recommend it to anyone anymore, not for that price. I basically had to stop updating any of the system stuff so it doesn’t plaster my TV screen with ads.
Yes, there are (so far) ways to get around it for more technically skilled people, but you also have to sacrifice some features like the home screen channels (or updates). But you shouldn’t have to do that on a device in that price-segment, and I don’t want to support a product that employs such anti-consumer tactics with my recommendation.
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If you go the android route turn on Apps Only Mode in the settings. It gets rid of the home screen ads for the most part and disabled a lot of the “features” that Google tries to push.
Might as well load a 3rd party launcher gets rid of the rest of the ads. Not using the extra features at that point anyway.
I’m kinda new to the scene so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have jellyfin running on a laptop and I use a roku stick to stream through. Not perfect by any means however it does what I need to do. I’ve been told using a raspberry PI would be a great budget option with more feature.
if i was to build one, i would go for a thinkcentre. easy to get for cheap and perfectly able to stream video (with linux, of course).
Maybe something running Kodi? I don’t use streaming services but I do use Kodi on a single board computer.
Stay away from cheap Chinese TV boxes. They are full of malware
I have Xiaomi TV stick 1080p (android) and I’m happy with it. I know its not popular solution, but its cheaper and I had 0 issues so far
I’d vlan anything cheap and Chinese. It’s pretty much guaranteed to phone home and send as much info about your environment as possible.
Yeah it’s not like Roku/Chromecast/fire stick do that too, only the Chinese ones, right?
The cheap Chinese ones have malware installed.
Given the recent issues with ads, I wouldn’t recommend anything Android/GoogleTV based. A USFF PC will give you better performance for less money, especially if you buy used. You can find 1L X86 boxes for $30-60 on eBay that are perfect for the job.
OSMC makes some good Kodi boxes under the Vero name if you don’t need proprietary streaming services. I use the jellyfin plugin to read from my JF server, works great. Supports 4k, HDR, audio passthrough, many codecs, all the good stuff.
Between that and my PS5 it covers all the bases
Gotta be careful with osmc. It has so much choice that breaking is entirely possible to do accidentally. I absolutely love my little 4k box.
You can grab an Onn Google TV 4k Streaming Box from Walmart for about $20.
I saw one of these. Have you used it? Does it work okay?
I’ve got a couple of them. They work great. I actually got a Chromecast with Google TV as well, but have since quit using it because the Onn works better in my opinion.
It works pretty good but every once in a while it’ll hard lock and blast loud static out of my speakers until I unplug it and plug it back in
Did it have Google TVs home screen that has a bunch of ads on it? The breeder l newest version is atrocious.
You can put Google TV in apps-only mode, which helps significantly. It’s not a perfect fix, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Thank you so much!
For anyone else:
From: https://www.androidpolice.com/google-tv-apps-only-mode-visual-tweak/
It has the same basic UI as the Chromecast
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
2 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 5 acronyms.
[Thread #305 for this sub, first seen 27th Nov 2023, 07:25] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
A kodi distro, such as LibreElec would be my vote, but I don’t believe it does streaming services very well, if at all.
I am so done with streaming services.The local library has more TV and films than I’ll ever have the time or inkling to actually watch.
Kodi / LibreELEC has add-ons available to most of the most popular streaming services. The trouble is that it hasn’t the necessary licenses for playing content in the best resolutions (the same goes with most browsers). I myself have a Homatics R 4k Plus (which is a licensed box) and installed CoreELEC. When using Android I can stream my content in the highest resolutions (Star Plus, HBO Max and Disney Plus) but when using CoreELEC I can’t.
Thanks for clarifying. I recalled seeing something about 720p caps for certain streaming services when using non-DRM platforms, but I wasn’t sure which.
I’ve tried a lot of different things before settling on a old (windows) laptop with a wireless mouse and keyboard… I just cba with any of the streaming boxes anymore, and the laptop will always be compatible and performant.
Just get a firestick
Are firsticks bad? (Genuinely asking)
No, but Amazon decides what you see on the top half of the main screen unless you install a custom launcher. You can use your own photos for the screen saver. You can side load android apps. I use one called “smart YouTube tv” which blocks YouTube ads and has sponsor block built in.
If you have Apple users in your household, the current generation of Apple TV 4K 128GB is a solid device that’s going to offer the best integrated experience, along with capability of Thread. If not, it’s probably a bit overpriced compared to the other solutions.
It doesn’t offer AVC1 decoding; so if that matters to you, skip it. If it doesn’t (and it absolutely doesn’t for the vast majority of users) then it’s not only best-in-class, it’s alone in its class. The nVidia Shield Pro is the only other device with as much power in it and that’s been eclipsed by the newest AppleTV iteration. They’re really just that good.
What’s the state of apps like kodi or other methods of local streaming on Apple TV?
I use infuse for local streaming to the ApleTV from my Jellyfin server. It works well but you have to subscribe to get the good features
That’s annoying. Part of the reason for local media is reducing the amount of monthly bills
You can buy a lifetime license for Infuse. Alternatively the Jellyfin app is available too (as Swiftfin on the Apple TV App Store, but displays as Jellyfin on the Home Screen).
Not sure how but I’ve missed Swiftfin and was using Infuse on my Apple TV for past few months. Made a quick test and it seems that Swiftfin suffers from the same issue as Plex does - crappy connection makes crappy experience. Don’t know how Infuse makes it but with the same network settings movies looks way better.
Can’t say I’ve noticed video differences, but Infuse has had the fewest audio sync issues for me. However the Plex layout simply fits my brain better. Especially the ability to reorder media and use collections, and integrate my OTA antenna.
Is it still true that only the Shield Pro does Atmos for my own media?
I’ve been very happy with roku tvs at home and a roku stick “to-go”. Very simple interface with minimal ads that you can block.
I second the roku, they are economically priced, they perform very well, minimal ads. My friends and family use them to stream from my jellyfin server over the internet to their homes.
I’ve been using an Nvidia Shield TV Pro for a while, and hardware-wise it’s still amazing. But with the way the OS is going, I can’t recommend it to anyone anymore, not for that price. I basically had to stop updating any of the system stuff so it doesn’t plaster my TV screen with ads.
IIUC you can flash LineageOS on the shield (if you try, let us know how it goes)
I use the shield with an alternative front end/launcher.
Yes, there are (so far) ways to get around it for more technically skilled people, but you also have to sacrifice some features like the home screen channels (or updates). But you shouldn’t have to do that on a device in that price-segment, and I don’t want to support a product that employs such anti-consumer tactics with my recommendation.