I’ve been looking for something to replace the google chromecast that is attached to our TV.
I’ve tried Kodi out, but the main use case for the TV set is a 70+ yo person watching netflix and there is just no way they will be better off with Kodi than with the stock netflix app.
Besides supporting netflix, being easy to use, and providing significantly better privacy than the chromecast does, the device would ideally:
- support other mainstream streaming (amazon, disney, …) for when my people get tired of netflix
- support a DVB-T2 usb stick (directly, or through IPTV: I can put the stick in a different machine)
- support youtube without ads (through an adblocker and possibly sponsorblock, or maybe using invidious)
- possibly, support local public TV streaming (eg. BBC)
I have a PC set aside that should be more than capable enough (intel N100), but I’m open to getting new hardware if needed. Also, it doesn’t matter if the system is not very user friendly to setup (eg. if it needs to be nixos), but once it’s setup it should be easy to use and relatively straightforward to update/maintain.
I guess a FOSS android TV would be ideal, but… is there any? (I see Lineage supports the Google ADT-3, but that is basically unobtanium, at least where I live).
What about one of the Chinese TV boxes? For example = https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005533473983.html
Most don’t support HD streaming due to lack of certification, the UI is mobile not AndroidTV, and many can include malware
I have a box (X96 Max+), with a custom ROM, comes with only the essencial, but AndroidTV itself is not FOSS, the launcher and other services are proprietary, without it is just AOSP.
You can check the supported devices on the site
https://slimboxtv.ru/As much as I dislike Google spying on my relatives, I’d rather them be spied by Google than by some Chinese entity (BTW: their spying would probably not be on top of Google’s)
The original(2021) walmart streaming box is like $20, it has custom roms for it. It has the same specs as the 4k Chromecast with androidtv. The 2023 version doesnt seem to have any roms(at least on xda), but can still be rooted.
I’m also currently looking for one as we really want to ditch our Nvidia Shield Pro. However the shield has so many features and codecs that I’m unsure if there’s such thing.
You should be able to run Lineage on the shield (double check the specific model)… maybe you can try that and re-flash the stock OS if it doesn’t work for you.
I had this same problem. I ultimately just put a Linux computer on my TV with standard Ubuntu.
I gave up
I have the same, but Netflix is then a miserable experience on my 4K TV.
Louis Rossmann made a video on this. It’s called why I dtopped paying for Netflix. Of you have a smart tv, they want you to use the native app or else they limit your definition.
What additional software did you end up installing? Something like kodi? Anything for live TV/OTA?
And how easy is your setup to control with a TV remote form factor?
Raspberry Pi 4 + Konstakang LineageOS TV
I think it will come for RPI 5 too but as for now there’s only for the 4
For the ad-less YouTube I use SmartTube
How would this work with Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-X , DTS-HD, etc? Would you need an AVR for that?
I have no clue, to be honest. Maybe you can find more info on Konstakang’s site.
I never asked myself those questions because I have literally the cheapest TV with an HDMI port I could find
I use my Chromecast with ATV home pro & disabled the home screen entirely. Then I used smart tube next for ad free YouTube and Plex for anything else.
