I bought a android tv device (NVIDIA shield) and just assumed it was open source like android, turns out it's not and they force ads on the home screen, if you jump though a ton of hoops to roll back some updates, you can turn them off, but it will re-enable them after a while. does not feel like a device I own. Even NVIDIA cannot turn off the google ads on the NVIDIA shield. you can add other launchers but they don't make it easy and they regularly get removed as the default launcher.

At this point I'm just considering just making a mini PC with linux https://plasma-bigscreen.org/ that will stay connected to my TV. OSMC is another option; however, it does not work well with DRMed content, so I gave up on that as well; even though it's an awesome project. Some android TV boxes are compatible with Lineage OS so that might be another option.

[–] LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Believe you can also remove the stock launcher on the Nvidia Shield. Have not done it myself, but have also never had my launcher automatically change like you mention. I'm using ProjectIvy🌻

[–] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I've been using flauncher for a long time and have never had it revert. I had to do some adb commands to set it as default, but was pretty simple to do. https://gitlab.com/flauncher/flauncher#:~:text=FLauncher%20is%20an%20open%2Dsource,on%20Chromecast%20with%20Google%20TV

[–] Hanrahan@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

I swaped to Flauncher on my Shield as the Launcher. Need a few "do once" tricks to get there to/allow it though.

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Would pi hole block the ads? Works to block my Roku ads.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have a Chromecast and a pihole. It doesn't block ads for video and movie rental and doesn't block youtube ads.

It also has a "feature" for showing newly added or new movies on streaming service, but for some reason it only works for streaming services you aren't subscribed to. Mostly Disney+. Hmmm I wonder why lol. That also isn't blocked.

[–] Mountaineer@aussie.zone 1 points 9 months ago

pihole blocks ads by refusing to return dns results of known ad hosting URLs.

Chromecast ignores your DHCP supplied dns UNLESS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 are inaccesible.

People who's bothered to do this have added static routes to make all requests on port 53 go to the pihole.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/comments/uaov2a/how_can_i_override_chromecasts_hardcoded_google/

[–] haych@lemmy.one 1 points 8 months ago

No, but it's easy to install a custom launcher. I changed it and had 0 problems.

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Any particular reason you feel this way? We're always looking for feedback to address and prioritize issues.

[–] bbuez@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Roku support posting???

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I'm one of the programmers on the Roku client. I've found I get the absolute best user feedback by simply asking people directly.

[–] bbuez@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Thats actually amazing! In that case I'll risk sounding like a walking advertisement and mention how I was actually talking with a friend that its probably the only integration app and client that I've had the absolute pleasure of using, and that a new Samsung TV already works slow and doesn't have the same app selection (Not even peacock or jellyfin!) doesn't live nearly up to roku is abysmal. Wish I had some more constuctive feedback, just keep up the good work over there!

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For me it is that things I am watching suddenly jump ahead large chunks. If I exit the app and reenter, it goes back to the right place. I have both a roku and tivo stick. This only happens on roku.

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For me it is that things I am watching suddenly jump ahead large chunks

Just to ensure I'm understanding. You're watching a video and during playback it jumps forward in time?

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Only the video you see. The time marker doesn't jump.

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 2 points 9 months ago

I've never heard of such an issue. My mind first goes to is you server hardware beefy enough to serve what you're watching, but more info would be needed.

I'd suggest posting this to the Troubleshooting forum. There are tons of great peeps over there who can help diagnose all kinds of issues and get them sorted out.

https://forum.jellyfin.org/f-troubleshooting

[–] Fribbtastic@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

as a player, Streaming boxes that have an Android OS are great but Google Supplies Android TV as the default launcher with those devices which has gone downhill for a while now.

80% of your UI is now covered with Ads.

So if you switch to something like an Nvidia Shield or something like that definitely use a different launcher instead of Android TV. I currently use the Projectivy Launcher which is so god damn clean and only contains what I want to see.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 months ago

What we need is Jellyfin TV. I think that would be so cool

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The Roku app is coming along too. Developers are pretty active.

If only the Swiftfin app would have a new release…. (It’s been years).

[–] venoft@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I just wish they fixed the subtitles, then I would actually use it. In most situations It's totally unreadable unless you turn on the black background, which is ugly. How hard can proper shadowing be? Everyone else does do it correctly.

[–] FabulousAardvark@lemmy.ml 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Interestingly I don't have a problem with how subtitles look, but the fact they are always on by default is my biggest headache!

[–] Shimitar@feddit.it 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Easy user setting, set to disabled and there you go.

Take few seconds to find, then stays that way forever.

[–] FabulousAardvark@lemmy.ml 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

So I have it set to disabled within the user, and as an overall setting, but they still show as default. I'm not sure why

Edit: looked through the settings again and realised I didn't have them set to "none" they were set to "default". Switched that setting and all working correctly now.

Thanks for helping me solve a year long problem!

[–] Shimitar@feddit.it 1 points 9 months ago

You are welcome! I didn't do anything, but happy I helped!

[–] witx@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I have no issue with subtitles on android or computer ....