4 ms·

You would be surprised. I've always found the interfaces for AppleTV/FireTV/Roku to be extremely clunky and not user friendly in the slightest. There's no reaso

You would be surprised. I've always found the interfaces for AppleTV/FireTV/Roku to be extremely clunky and not user friendly in the slightest. There's no reason not to use your phone that has interfaces that are much better designed and easier to navigate (a swipe of the finger to type some text, versus a hundred button presses to navigate an awful on-screen TV leopard). I think using remotes is pretty old-school and we're going to see them phased out pretty fast. AppleTV's interface is especially jarring, the Netflix app is borderline unusable.

vollmond 11y ago
I like choosing media from a phone/computer, but I love having my Roku's physical remote. Instant access to tactile playback controls is huge. I can pick up the remote in the dark and find the pause button with no effort at all. If I could have that on Chromecast, I'd be sold. Last night, I was watching something on Netflix on my Chromecast (using the Android app) and somehow the app and the CC got out of sync. It thought it wasn't casting anymore, so it took away my playback controls and I had no way to pause my show. IIRC, eventually I had to turn off the TV (and thus the CC).
- TranquilMarmot 11y ago
  I've definitely had that happen with my Chromecast as well. Not sure if the bug lies in Netflix's app, or the way Netflix and the Chromecast communicate. My TV also detects when the Chromecast starts casting and automatically turns on and changes to the input. Great if you want to watch something without finding the TV remote, but I've woken up numerous times in the middle of the night to find my TV on, just showing the Netflix title screen even though no devices are casting. Never had that happen with YouTube or Plex or anything else I use, so I wonder if it is just Netflix. A physical remote for the Chromecast for pausing/fast-forwarding/rewinding is a pretty good idea. I wonder how difficult it would be to interface with the Chromecast and make a WiFi remote? Or would it have to emulate the signals that the app sends over WiFi to the Chromecast? I wonder if you could sniff the packets for pause/play/rewind and emulate them? (I smell a good idea for that dusty ol Raspberry Pi that I have on my shelf)
  - vollmond 11y ago
    Hmmm, there is the HDMI-CEC stuff (where you supposedly can control your CC from the TV remote -- my TV doesn't have it, so I can't try it). Given that, I wonder if you could make a pass-through dongle, HDMI male-to-female, and put some play/pause/rewind HDMI-CEC endpoints in it with some arbitrary wifi/bluetooth control api.
Splines 11y ago
It depends on the user scenario. My family has a Roku and it's great - our kids don't have smartphones, and we can also choose a video to play by looking at the TV screen. Also note that the Roku has an Android app that allows you to completely avoid any on-TV UI, if you so choose.
- TranquilMarmot 11y ago
  True, Chromecast only works in a world where it's assumed that everybody has a smartphone (and a decent in-home WiFi setup...) I hadn't thought about children no having smartphones or tablets, of if grandma comes over and doesn't know how to use a smartphone so she can't watch Netflix. Can you cast to Roku through Netflix/YouTube/etc? It's not the on-TV UI that I don't like as much as it is that I like browsing through Netflix on my phone much more. I know with the Xbox One (and the 360) you can cast Netflix and YouTube to it just the same as you would to a Chromecast, so it wouldn't surprise me if other devices implement the same functionality.
  - Splines 11y ago
    The Roku can be casted to, although I haven't played all to much with this functionality. I've done it through the youtube app on my phone. Haven't tried it with Netflix though, but I suspect it would work.

vollmond 11y ago

I like choosing media from a phone/computer, but I love having my Roku's physical remote. Instant access to tactile playback controls is huge. I can pick up the remote in the dark and find the pause button with no effort at all. If I could have that on Chromecast, I'd be sold. Last night, I was watching something on Netflix on my Chromecast (using the Android app) and somehow the app and the CC got out of sync. It thought it wasn't casting anymore, so it took away my playback controls and I had no way to pause my show. IIRC, eventually I had to turn off the TV (and thus the CC).

TranquilMarmot 11y ago
I've definitely had that happen with my Chromecast as well. Not sure if the bug lies in Netflix's app, or the way Netflix and the Chromecast communicate. My TV also detects when the Chromecast starts casting and automatically turns on and changes to the input. Great if you want to watch something without finding the TV remote, but I've woken up numerous times in the middle of the night to find my TV on, just showing the Netflix title screen even though no devices are casting. Never had that happen with YouTube or Plex or anything else I use, so I wonder if it is just Netflix. A physical remote for the Chromecast for pausing/fast-forwarding/rewinding is a pretty good idea. I wonder how difficult it would be to interface with the Chromecast and make a WiFi remote? Or would it have to emulate the signals that the app sends over WiFi to the Chromecast? I wonder if you could sniff the packets for pause/play/rewind and emulate them? (I smell a good idea for that dusty ol Raspberry Pi that I have on my shelf)
- vollmond 11y ago
  Hmmm, there is the HDMI-CEC stuff (where you supposedly can control your CC from the TV remote -- my TV doesn't have it, so I can't try it). Given that, I wonder if you could make a pass-through dongle, HDMI male-to-female, and put some play/pause/rewind HDMI-CEC endpoints in it with some arbitrary wifi/bluetooth control api.

Splines 11y ago

It depends on the user scenario. My family has a Roku and it's great - our kids don't have smartphones, and we can also choose a video to play by looking at the TV screen. Also note that the Roku has an Android app that allows you to completely avoid any on-TV UI, if you so choose.

TranquilMarmot 11y ago
True, Chromecast only works in a world where it's assumed that everybody has a smartphone (and a decent in-home WiFi setup...) I hadn't thought about children no having smartphones or tablets, of if grandma comes over and doesn't know how to use a smartphone so she can't watch Netflix. Can you cast to Roku through Netflix/YouTube/etc? It's not the on-TV UI that I don't like as much as it is that I like browsing through Netflix on my phone much more. I know with the Xbox One (and the 360) you can cast Netflix and YouTube to it just the same as you would to a Chromecast, so it wouldn't surprise me if other devices implement the same functionality.
- Splines 11y ago
  The Roku can be casted to, although I haven't played all to much with this functionality. I've done it through the youtube app on my phone. Haven't tried it with Netflix though, but I suspect it would work.