4 ms·

Android TV is a surprisingly bad system anyway. Barely apps, I can access maybe 100 games from my TV. The far majority absolute, and filled, trash games. I sudd

by herbst 5y ago

Android TV is a surprisingly bad system anyway. Barely apps, I can access maybe 100 games from my TV. The far majority absolute, and filled, trash games. I suddenly found myself locked out of thousands of things I used to watch because the browser, if even enable-able, sucks and so many sites/services have no interest in having an app. Owning a TV still feels like a step down for me, since I was used just streaming on my computer. Without the kodi app I would see no reason to recommend a android smart TV over any cheap TV and a small Kodi box.

cf100clunk 5y ago
The entire Android TV experience is one of constant tweaking of F-Droid, Aurora Store, and Bromite System Webview app updates with upstream adblocking, firewalling, and rooting in an attempt to stymie this sort of crap from Google and other big, bad corporations. I ditched all of that and now run Libreelec (Kodi) on a Pi4.
wlesieutre 5y ago
My parents have an Android TV and often have to reboot it to for the internet connection to work. Makes all the streaming apps a pain to use.
- herbst 5y ago
  I don't think that's specific to android tho. I got a Xiaomi one explicitly because they have good WiFi chips. This was one of my main worries, and I never had issues so far
  - yorwba 5y ago
    How do you find out which ones have good WiFi chips?
    - herbst 5y ago
      I honestly don't know. Thing is I have had Xiaomi devices before, and they are my only smart devices that do not have connection issues (for me) and work in my back garden. My new Xiaomi phone is the only of our phones that streams in hd in my backyard. So yeah just personal experience and bad experiences with things like Samsung
  - wlesieutre 5y ago
    No wifi issues, it's connected to ethernet
mikelward 5y ago
What apps do you need? I use mine for watching video, and the video apps (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, Prime Video, ESPN, etc.) work well for me.
- herbst 5y ago
  Most stuff I/we care about is regional things. Most German TV stations run their own 'netflix' (some free, some paid) all of which someone made a Kodi app for, none for Android. Also: - Porn (it's annoying to depend on your phone for that, and many good sites don't have push to TV yet). Kodi has those apps :) - 'illegal streaming' which is huge in German speaking countries and legal here in Switzerland. No streaming apps on Android, plenty and more on Kodi Also I don't count the original android YouTube app. With the amount of ads it is basically not useable.
dannyr 5y ago
My experience is different. I love it especially now that I can install VPN. I can access US-version of Netflix, Disney+, etc while traveling.
- herbst 5y ago
  I am not saying smart TVs are bad. Just that android really isn't the best example. You can do this with Kodi or any alternatives too. Even my dump smart TV has VPN. Also taking your TV put to travel definitely is a rare edge case ;P Edit:// wait? Was that just a subtle Nord placement?
  - dannyr 5y ago
    Oh I don't travel with my TV. I'm referring to the OS in the newest Chromecast. It's Google TV which is built on top of Android TV.
  - notsureaboutpg 5y ago
    I think he means he can access US Netflix in hotels because I had a similar experience somewhere. You can get pluggable Android TV which plug into HDMI ports in Hotel TVs and things like this. Last few times I brought my laptop and HDMI cable to a hotel and it was nice. We usually go to places for outdoorsy things and in the night there's not much to do
ferdowsi 5y ago
My Nvidia Shield experience has been great. I can basically use it as another computing device: - since it easily mounts external hard drives over the network, I can use it as a NAS for backing up photos from my phone via SMB. - Likewise, the Plex server has made it easy for me to make good use of my huge library of music on my external hard drive. - GameStream is awesome. Streaming games from my PC to my TV is trivial and is much more enjoyable than sitting at my desk. - I don't get the complaints about the interface. It's the perfect level of intuitive for my entire family. TV on, my entertainment system + Shield switches on quickly via CEC, getting to Netflix/Amazon is trivial.

by herbst 5y ago

cf100clunk 5y ago

The entire Android TV experience is one of constant tweaking of F-Droid, Aurora Store, and Bromite System Webview app updates with upstream adblocking, firewalling, and rooting in an attempt to stymie this sort of crap from Google and other big, bad corporations. I ditched all of that and now run Libreelec (Kodi) on a Pi4.

wlesieutre 5y ago

My parents have an Android TV and often have to reboot it to for the internet connection to work. Makes all the streaming apps a pain to use.

herbst 5y ago
I don't think that's specific to android tho. I got a Xiaomi one explicitly because they have good WiFi chips. This was one of my main worries, and I never had issues so far
- yorwba 5y ago
  How do you find out which ones have good WiFi chips?
  - herbst 5y ago
    I honestly don't know. Thing is I have had Xiaomi devices before, and they are my only smart devices that do not have connection issues (for me) and work in my back garden. My new Xiaomi phone is the only of our phones that streams in hd in my backyard. So yeah just personal experience and bad experiences with things like Samsung
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  No wifi issues, it's connected to ethernet

mikelward 5y ago

What apps do you need? I use mine for watching video, and the video apps (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, Prime Video, ESPN, etc.) work well for me.

herbst 5y ago
Most stuff I/we care about is regional things. Most German TV stations run their own 'netflix' (some free, some paid) all of which someone made a Kodi app for, none for Android. Also: - Porn (it's annoying to depend on your phone for that, and many good sites don't have push to TV yet). Kodi has those apps :) - 'illegal streaming' which is huge in German speaking countries and legal here in Switzerland. No streaming apps on Android, plenty and more on Kodi Also I don't count the original android YouTube app. With the amount of ads it is basically not useable.

dannyr 5y ago

My experience is different. I love it especially now that I can install VPN. I can access US-version of Netflix, Disney+, etc while traveling.

herbst 5y ago
I am not saying smart TVs are bad. Just that android really isn't the best example. You can do this with Kodi or any alternatives too. Even my dump smart TV has VPN. Also taking your TV put to travel definitely is a rare edge case ;P Edit:// wait? Was that just a subtle Nord placement?
- dannyr 5y ago
  Oh I don't travel with my TV. I'm referring to the OS in the newest Chromecast. It's Google TV which is built on top of Android TV.
- notsureaboutpg 5y ago
  I think he means he can access US Netflix in hotels because I had a similar experience somewhere. You can get pluggable Android TV which plug into HDMI ports in Hotel TVs and things like this. Last few times I brought my laptop and HDMI cable to a hotel and it was nice. We usually go to places for outdoorsy things and in the night there's not much to do

ferdowsi 5y ago

My Nvidia Shield experience has been great. I can basically use it as another computing device: - since it easily mounts external hard drives over the network, I can use it as a NAS for backing up photos from my phone via SMB. - Likewise, the Plex server has made it easy for me to make good use of my huge library of music on my external hard drive. - GameStream is awesome. Streaming games from my PC to my TV is trivial and is much more enjoyable than sitting at my desk. - I don't get the complaints about the interface. It's the perfect level of intuitive for my entire family. TV on, my entertainment system + Shield switches on quickly via CEC, getting to Netflix/Amazon is trivial.