5 ms·

Can anyone recommend a hackable/open Android TV device which doesn't phone home and supports running Jellyfin, Tailscale? If possible, I'd like to get rid of an

Can anyone recommend a hackable/open Android TV device which doesn't phone home and supports running Jellyfin, Tailscale? If possible, I'd like to get rid of any bloatware and only install the aforementioned apps plus Netflix and Amazon Prime.

stiltzkin 3y ago
The best is still the Nvidia Shield Pro.
tenebrisalietum 3y ago
if the TV supports DLNA you can play stuff on the TV via DLNA, controlling Jellyfin (which is controlling your TV) via phone or tablet.
- codethief 3y ago
  The TV is precisely the issue – it supports almost nothing. ;) Besides, I want to be able to switch TVs without having to worry about the TV's built-in software every single time.
ajot 3y ago
There are official LineageOS ROMs for a couple tv boxes, namely the Nvidia Shield, Google ADT-3 and Dynalink Tv-box. The latter is not only cheap, but it seems to keep its DRM working after installing LineageOS, at least that was mentioned some time ago in the corresponding subreddit. There are also some unofficial ROMs in XDA for other devices, and some dev also offers ROMs for Raspberry Pis in his website.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
  I tried LineageOS on the shield recently and ran into issues like gboard not working (not showing up on textbox selection), voice typing not working, and other jank. I regrettably switched back to the Nvidia stock image. I curiously still don't have the horrible Android TV home screen with ads but I did immediately change the system DNS to my own with AdGuard.
  - codethief 3y ago
    Thanks, that's good to know! How is the Nvidia stock image beyond the home screen?
    - 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
      It's been solid for years and does everything that I need. I wish it would never change.
Matsta 3y ago
The problem is that most of the cheap Chinese (minus all the adware) don't have Widevine support, so you won't be able to use Netflix in HD. Also, if you are sideloading apps, you'll need to do a lot of fiddling to get stuff working. The Nvidia Shield is probably your best bet on the least amount of crap on there that still gets regular updates. You can change the luancher to hide the ads and lock down as much of the phone home with Adguard. Also when you look at majority of Android TV devices, none of them get any update. The only ones that seem to do are the Chromecast TV and Nvidia Shields. If you're in Murica, you can pickup the new Onn box for $20 but being that cheap it will probably be phoning home more. End of the day you just want your TV to just work. If you start having to sideload Netflix/Prime/Hulu, you're gonna encounter sooner or later spending hours just to fix it.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  They also asked for Jellyfin, which is one way to overcome to DRM requirements. No need to bother with DRM if you just rip the media you watch. My phone and computer don't get high res Amazon prime content either and I'm not going to bother with workarounds if downloading torrents is just as easy.
  - Matsta 3y ago
    Read it again "only install the aforementioned apps plus Netflix and Amazon Prime." Agree having Jellyfin/Plex you primary way to consume media makes life a lot easier.
- poxrud 3y ago
  Another good option and one that I’ve been using for years is a FireTV box (or stick). It can do Netflix and allows you to sideload apps like Kodi.
  - aembleton 3y ago
    Have you managed to replace the launcher? When I do, after a few weeks it seems to get replaced back to the default Amazon launcher so the can show me ads.
jeroenhd 3y ago
There are some custom ROMs that'll work for the cheap Amazon crap. These boxes often come rooted out of the box (useful for the malware they ship with) so if you find a good ROM and buy a box for that, you should be golden. DRM support will probably be broken, though. 480p will be all you get, so you'll need to expand your Jellyfin library. The easiest method I can think of is to just get one of those Android TV Chromecasts. They're not much more expensive than the Amazon TV boxes and the software actually works and gets updated.
aftergibson 3y ago
Not Android but highly recommend https://osmc.tv/vero/ https://osmc.tv/vero/
- codethief 3y ago
  Thanks, hadn't heard of OSMC before but it looks like a Kodi "distribution"? Does OSMC support Netflix, Prime? And do you happen to know how well Kodi<>Jellyfin integration works? A quick search brought up either crickets (Jellyfin) or long-winded discussions such as this one: https://discourse.osmc.tv/t/how-to-all-platforms-can-i-use-netflix-on-osmc-post-4/54741/652 https://discourse.osmc.tv/t/how-to-all-platforms-can-i-use-n...
  - aftergibson 3y ago
    Can't speak to the Netflix/Prime integrations but Jellyfin is perfect. Also the YouTube extension(after some FAFF setting it up) is a far nicer, ad free YouTube experience.
y-c-o-m-b 3y ago
I don't know if Roku counts under the "phone home" umbrella, but my Roku has Jellyfin installed on it.
- codethief 3y ago
  Thanks! Do Netflix & Prime work on Roku? I also can't find any information about running Tailscale on Roku, beyond putting it on a different network and routing all traffic through a RaspberryPi or something.
  - sphars 3y ago
    Yes, Roku boxes are probably the most popular streaming boxes (besidess fire TVs and Chromecasts), so they work with all the major streaming services. Tailscale does not run on Roku, unless you find a way to jailbreak it and side load a custom ROM, which I'm unaware of any. You would have to route all your stuff through a separate network device like a pi. But a Roku will connect to your local network, so you should be able to access anything that way. I run Plex and Jellyfin on my home server and can connect either by local IP or through my reverse proxy domain.
dbtc 3y ago
Why android and not a small linux box, raspberry pi etc.?
- codethief 3y ago
  I'd be fine with that, generally, as long as I won't need to spend days on getting Netflix/Prime/Jellyfin integration working.
codethief 3y ago
Follow-up comment, since one of the comments mentioned Nvidia Shield: I just realized LineageOS can be installed on various Nvidia Jetson devices: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#nvidia https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#nvidia (In fact, there are also inofficial LOS builds for Raspberry Pi, too: https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/ https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/ ) This seems to match my requirement of "hackable" quite well, though Nvidia Jetsons are obviously not "fully open" or anything and a quick search yields various threads of people struggling a bit to get LineageOS runnning. But it does seem possible! (Not sure whether Netflix or Prime would run, though.)

stiltzkin 3y ago

The best is still the Nvidia Shield Pro.

tenebrisalietum 3y ago

if the TV supports DLNA you can play stuff on the TV via DLNA, controlling Jellyfin (which is controlling your TV) via phone or tablet.

codethief 3y ago
The TV is precisely the issue – it supports almost nothing. ;) Besides, I want to be able to switch TVs without having to worry about the TV's built-in software every single time.

ajot 3y ago

There are official LineageOS ROMs for a couple tv boxes, namely the Nvidia Shield, Google ADT-3 and Dynalink Tv-box. The latter is not only cheap, but it seems to keep its DRM working after installing LineageOS, at least that was mentioned some time ago in the corresponding subreddit. There are also some unofficial ROMs in XDA for other devices, and some dev also offers ROMs for Raspberry Pis in his website.

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
I tried LineageOS on the shield recently and ran into issues like gboard not working (not showing up on textbox selection), voice typing not working, and other jank. I regrettably switched back to the Nvidia stock image. I curiously still don't have the horrible Android TV home screen with ads but I did immediately change the system DNS to my own with AdGuard.
- codethief 3y ago
  Thanks, that's good to know! How is the Nvidia stock image beyond the home screen?
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
    It's been solid for years and does everything that I need. I wish it would never change.

Matsta 3y ago

The problem is that most of the cheap Chinese (minus all the adware) don't have Widevine support, so you won't be able to use Netflix in HD. Also, if you are sideloading apps, you'll need to do a lot of fiddling to get stuff working. The Nvidia Shield is probably your best bet on the least amount of crap on there that still gets regular updates. You can change the luancher to hide the ads and lock down as much of the phone home with Adguard. Also when you look at majority of Android TV devices, none of them get any update. The only ones that seem to do are the Chromecast TV and Nvidia Shields. If you're in Murica, you can pickup the new Onn box for $20 but being that cheap it will probably be phoning home more. End of the day you just want your TV to just work. If you start having to sideload Netflix/Prime/Hulu, you're gonna encounter sooner or later spending hours just to fix it.

jeroenhd 3y ago
They also asked for Jellyfin, which is one way to overcome to DRM requirements. No need to bother with DRM if you just rip the media you watch. My phone and computer don't get high res Amazon prime content either and I'm not going to bother with workarounds if downloading torrents is just as easy.
- Matsta 3y ago
  Read it again "only install the aforementioned apps plus Netflix and Amazon Prime." Agree having Jellyfin/Plex you primary way to consume media makes life a lot easier.
poxrud 3y ago
Another good option and one that I’ve been using for years is a FireTV box (or stick). It can do Netflix and allows you to sideload apps like Kodi.
- aembleton 3y ago
  Have you managed to replace the launcher? When I do, after a few weeks it seems to get replaced back to the default Amazon launcher so the can show me ads.

jeroenhd 3y ago

There are some custom ROMs that'll work for the cheap Amazon crap. These boxes often come rooted out of the box (useful for the malware they ship with) so if you find a good ROM and buy a box for that, you should be golden. DRM support will probably be broken, though. 480p will be all you get, so you'll need to expand your Jellyfin library. The easiest method I can think of is to just get one of those Android TV Chromecasts. They're not much more expensive than the Amazon TV boxes and the software actually works and gets updated.

aftergibson 3y ago

Not Android but highly recommend https://osmc.tv/vero/ https://osmc.tv/vero/

codethief 3y ago
Thanks, hadn't heard of OSMC before but it looks like a Kodi "distribution"? Does OSMC support Netflix, Prime? And do you happen to know how well Kodi<>Jellyfin integration works? A quick search brought up either crickets (Jellyfin) or long-winded discussions such as this one: https://discourse.osmc.tv/t/how-to-all-platforms-can-i-use-netflix-on-osmc-post-4/54741/652 https://discourse.osmc.tv/t/how-to-all-platforms-can-i-use-n...
- aftergibson 3y ago
  Can't speak to the Netflix/Prime integrations but Jellyfin is perfect. Also the YouTube extension(after some FAFF setting it up) is a far nicer, ad free YouTube experience.

y-c-o-m-b 3y ago

I don't know if Roku counts under the "phone home" umbrella, but my Roku has Jellyfin installed on it.

codethief 3y ago
Thanks! Do Netflix & Prime work on Roku? I also can't find any information about running Tailscale on Roku, beyond putting it on a different network and routing all traffic through a RaspberryPi or something.
- sphars 3y ago
  Yes, Roku boxes are probably the most popular streaming boxes (besidess fire TVs and Chromecasts), so they work with all the major streaming services. Tailscale does not run on Roku, unless you find a way to jailbreak it and side load a custom ROM, which I'm unaware of any. You would have to route all your stuff through a separate network device like a pi. But a Roku will connect to your local network, so you should be able to access anything that way. I run Plex and Jellyfin on my home server and can connect either by local IP or through my reverse proxy domain.

dbtc 3y ago

Why android and not a small linux box, raspberry pi etc.?

codethief 3y ago
I'd be fine with that, generally, as long as I won't need to spend days on getting Netflix/Prime/Jellyfin integration working.

codethief 3y ago

Follow-up comment, since one of the comments mentioned Nvidia Shield: I just realized LineageOS can be installed on various Nvidia Jetson devices: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#nvidia https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#nvidia (In fact, there are also inofficial LOS builds for Raspberry Pi, too: https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/ https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/ ) This seems to match my requirement of "hackable" quite well, though Nvidia Jetsons are obviously not "fully open" or anything and a quick search yields various threads of people struggling a bit to get LineageOS runnning. But it does seem possible! (Not sure whether Netflix or Prime would run, though.)