What are /r/AndroidTV's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Rightfully so!

I've been running ATV Launcher Pro on the CGTV since it got this garbage layout last year (long before any asinine users left sus comments) did the same thing to my Shields last week.

Not a dumb question. Many people are confused and its unfortunate that these android "tv" boxes existed before Google decided to rebrand "Google TV" to "Android TV"

Here is Android TV

Biggest difference to me is the UI. Leanback UI is sexy and appropriate for the big screen. App shortcuts are nice big tiles with proper sized font. UI navigation is conducive to using a simple d-pad remote.

In addition to a beautiful 10ft interface, there is global search, which allows you to search apps for content right from the main screen (provided individual apps develop this integration). This global search can be done via voice and is my preferred method of use. Additionally, there is a global recommendations bar on the home screen that shows content from apps that have integrated it. You can select the content from here and jump right into the action.

Theres also a great, highly underutilized app called "Live Channels." The name is a bit of a misnomer. Its not necessarily live tv, but the UI is similar to what you would find in a regular cable experience. With this app, content is aggregated from participating apps to create "channels" and present them in a traditional tv guide UI. Again, the focus here is ease of access to your content.

And the final big feature I will touch on is built-in google cast functionality. Basically, every official Android TV device (none of boxes you see on Amazon) can be used just like you would use a Chromecast device. This is great for apps/developers that have not gotten around to updating their apps to support the Leanback UI in Android TV.

Really, it comes down to it that its just a better, smoother more optimized experience for typical use with a TV.

Hate to break it to you, but you didn't buy an Android TV.

https://www.android.com/tv/

Amazon lists that thing as $160. For a little bit more you could have a shield TV, the most powerful streamer on the market IMO.

Stop looking at specs and comparing "power." If you want raw power get a shield. For everything else, you get the MDZ 16AB, as its the only one that actually runs Android TV.

The others run AOSP Android, designed for mobile devices. They can't even do HD netflix, let alone 4K. They are basically software duct taped to hardware, usable only as a mediocre Kodi device.

If you want to watch these channels on your Android TV still, my app lets you authenticate with your cable provider and watch them: FitzyTV

Here's how to fix this issue.

Apparently this feature relies on the latest version of Plex Media Server being installed on the Shield.

You can see your version by going to System apps -> Plex Media Server.
Mine was 0.9.17.1.238. This is an old version.

To force update, go to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb&hl=en and install to SHIELD.

Once updated it should be now running v 0.9.17.1.256 (smb).
Now go back to the Storage & Reset menu and you should see the option to to access shield folders on PC.

Start here: https://www.android.com/tv/

Android TV boxes are basically the Android version of Fire TV or Apple TV or Roku. Not to be confused with the shitty Android boxes, often pre loaded with Kodi and other shit that will break eventually and otherwise give you hassles with mediocre hardware/customer support.

Only good Android TV box on the market right now is the Nvidia Shield TV (also the best streamer out there, hands down). Nexus Players can be found on ebay for a premium. Xiaomi has a box that would be a slight upgrade from the NP coming out soon^TM. The Forge is shit. All of the Android "TV" boxes you see on amazon are shit and should be avoided.

Fire TVs aren't terrible if you don't want to splurge for a shield or hunt for a NP or wait for the Xiaomi.

I jumped ship and use MiXplorer now. Love it! Has a great interface, works well on Android TV with my remote too. Very customizable; the dark theme just looks great. Full LAN browsing built in just like ES had.

The only downside is that MiXplorer isn't on the Play store, but it notifies you of updates and you can download the update and install the update from right within the app.

Edit: I stand corrected, there's a paid version on the Play Store now: MiXplorer Silver

Uninstall any antivirus, antivirus on Android and iOS are scams. Google Play Store integrates a virus scanner out of the box.

Which apps did you install that needed so many permissions? Most of the apps I have don't require any permission at all, except for the microphone for the voice search.

Also, you can fine tune the permissions on the Android apps, so if you think an app doesn't need a specific permission you can just prevent it from accessing it.

More info: https://www.quora.com/Do-Android-phones-need-antivirus-or-internet-security-apps

Thanks /u/Waggmans! I'm the developer behind FitzyTV - let me know if you have any feedback. Working on the roadmap now so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in the next release.

Here's the direct link to the app for anyone that's interested in checking it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fitzytv.android

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Also I've been working on a way to get the word out, but I'm hardly a marketing expert. If anyone here has any ideas please let me know. Thanks!

Actually, not plenty of VPN services does allow you the functionality you are talking about. However, you can attempt to configure "StrongSwan" to connect to a VPN server. NordVPN even has a tutorial for that And the StrongSwan app does allow you to exclude applications from the VPN tunnel. Hope this helps you.

The Android TV twitch app is abandonware.

Use the app SoundTV instead, its miles better than the official app and has active development.

I buy Sony TV's because I prefer the picture quality over the competition. Yesterday I ordered a Sony 65" X900F knowing full well that the Android TV experience is going to be complete garbage, just like it has been on my Sony 55" X850D.

As someone else mentioned, you can update the OS with a USB drive. But even with the latest Android OS my X850D still has a bloat-filled, laggy interface. Using ADB commands to clean it up has helped but it still lags.

I gave up on the Android TV experience over a year ago. My solution is to plug in an Xbox One X and use it with (<strong>THIS</strong>) remote. The combo of the Xbox and that remote makes the Xbox a fabulous media center. The Xbox houses all of my streaming apps (Hulu Live, HBO, Netflix, Amazon prime Video etc.) and has a very snappy/intuitive interface. And with the Xbox setup using HDMI ARC for TV and my surround sound, powering the Xbox on with the remote turns the TV/surround sound on and gives me full audio control over the surround sound. Turning the Xbox off with one click shuts everything else down as well.

With the above setup I haven't even seen the Android TV experience in over a year and honestly forget it's there.

With that said, you can accomplish essentially the same thing with the nVidia Shield, if you prefer that over Xbox. Just keep in mind that there is no Hulu Live app for Android TV, so if you use that for your live TV streaming (like I do), the nVidia Shield won't be a good solution for you.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.bouyguestelecom.remote

This is a two part app. Part one linked above is installed on your phone/tablet. Part two is installed on your Android TV device. This method adds CEC volume control, device rest mode, direct app controls. This app on an old tablet has become my go-to control on my Nvidia shield.

A decent file explorer that isn't the miserably bad ES File Explorer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop) - we just want something that can map out NAS or network server so we can launch videos stored there. Thanks for asking

And as somebody that uses NordVPN and has for the past 2 years, never had any of these issues. Especially with the faking of servers (bear in mind that not all of their servers have dedicated IPs, as it states on their server page).

Speedwise, I get speeds of around 100Mb through my gigabit connection, and ping (haven't got exact figures) generally isn't bad - at all. Sometimes servers get congested – which I believe their apps subjugate anyway. I've only hit congested servers when using OpenVPN.

Just thought i'd share an alternate review

• Download X-Plorer directly on Mi Box (no sideloading required)
  
• Start it
  
• Navigate to "WiFi Server" on the right panel and enable it
  
• On your PC, in a browser window type the address and port that's displayed in X-Plorer

That's the simplest for PC access: you download directly from the box, or upload directly from PC, no intermediate steps required.

However it also supports Cloud Storage services like Dropbox and Gdrive if you already have files there

Featured apps and extra notifications are Sony bloat added to Android TV. To remove:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62218798&amp;postcount=69

Otherwise try a fully customizable launcher like HALauncher. You can set this as the default launcher too.

Edit: ninja'd

The the play store on the Shield is the full Android TV Google Play Store. The only reason you don't see "all" the apps you're used to seeing is the fact that the developers have to list their app's compatibility with ATV. There's usually a good reason (at least to the developer) for the app not to be listed that way if it's not already showing up.

You can often sideload the app (if it's free) from someplace like APKMirror. If it runs, it runs. If not, oh well....

If you rooted the Shield and and edited the build.prop file to say you were not a Shield TV (running ATV), you could theoretically see the whole GPS for the version of Android you're running, but that's not for the "faint of heart".

The Twitch app has been abandoned on Android TV. It hasn't been updated in a very long time.

You should use this app instead. It's being actively developed and is much better than the official app. It should solve all your problems.

If you want 1080P HD Netflix, stay away from all of those android boxes on Amazon. HD Netflix is only going to be on The Nvidia Shield TV and The Nexus Player. Those boxes with the Mali gpu and amlogic, rockchip and allwinner processors are no longer compelling devices. They lack the DRM to play HD content from premium subscription services like Netflix.

Edit: this has the info on official android tv devices. https://www.android.com/tv/

Note: The Razer Forge TV which is an official android tv does NOT support Netflix

None of those boxes run the official "Android TV" OS that this forum is dedicated to.

The list of boxes running Android TV can be found here: https://www.android.com/tv/

I recommend the Shield if you can spare the extra money, or game a lot, or require 4K. The Nexus player is a great box that can be found for as low as $50. There may be a new Nexus player announced this coming Tuesday when the new Nexus phones get announced, but we're not sure yet.

I made an app for this exact reason: FitzyTV. Give it a shot - would love your feedback.

If you're looking for an android box I would recommend the Amazon Fire TV Stick. I use NordVPN on it, it's easy to set up and I haven’t noticed any issues while using it with Netflix, everything works as you would expect.

Not every content out there is in 4k. To get 4k contents from Netflix you need premium plan. Amazon has some 4k content. You can find some 4k videos on youtube or try playing your local media/

Literally one week after Kodi posted about these boxes on their website.

I own one of these boxes (bought it before the real Android TV was really a thing, for the HEVC-capable chipset) and let me say these work like shit. No updates, if something goes wrong you're f*cked unless you have a good knowledge of Android modding / hacking. The promise of free TV is actually a modded Kodi (buggy version) loaded with a bunch of shady add-ons without any support, who will just stop working without a warning. I could go on and on describing how shitty the software is.

The author of this article is completely misinformed. It actually just looks like a very nice marketing campaign for these pirated boxes resellers. I can't believe CBC won't take this misleading post down very soon...

I suggest you writing a review on the product page of your android tv manufacturer and also here (app responsible): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.tvlauncher

It doesn't have a leanback icon so you have to launch it via voice or install something like Sideload Launcher to select it.

Just a heads up if you install SPMC (Kodi fork) instead of Kodi the voice search will work inside of Kodi. Makes searching for movies and tv shows much easier.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc16

You can download other Daydreams (or Screen Savers since it's been renamed in N), and you can change it from the default Google Cast background. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to find something like what you linked, but here is a kinda cool one that works with Android TV: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codingbuffalo.aerialdream

There's my open source project Cumulus TV, which allows users to add and play any HLS stream: https://github.com/fleker/cumulustv

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felkertech.n.cumulustv

You can still sideload the new versions and they have android tv support built in to the app still. So they just delisted them.

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/comedy-central/comedy-central/comedy-central-4-5-release/comedy-central-4-5-android-apk-download/

Since it looks like you'll have to wait until the official release date (this Tues?) to buy a Mi Box anyhow, you may want to purchase it via Walmart.com and then go pick it up at your local store. Doing it that way looks like it will net you three free movies on Vudu (Taken, Cast Away, & Horton Hears a Who) plus two free months of Sling TV. https://www.walmart.com/cp/sling-vudu-free-offer/4038581?povid=1229631+%7C+contentZone1+%7C+2016-09-15+%7C+1+%7C+LN-VuduSlingStreamingDevices_Browse

Well, it is running Android. But it is not running AndroidTV. Android TV is a subset of Android, has a different user interface, apps optimized for it, etc

This is Android TV: https://www.android.com/tv/

Your box is running a slightly older version of Android (4.4) and is not truly designed for tvs. The manufacturer simply took Android and put it on a box just as they might on a phone or tablet. The difference is that box can hook up to your TV.

Oh, how the ratings are dropping for Android TV Home right now... And rightly so. Google fucked up and have absolutely ruined the Android TV experience with this change.

I tried to fight against this update and retain the original Android TV UI, but gave up and replaced Android TV Home launcher with Sideload Channel Launcher 3. The devs for that launcher have done an amazing job with it. You can even create channels for subreddits! It doesn't currently support any other types of channels yet though, but here's to hoping that support is added at some point!

My app HopWatch has a home screen channel. Currently you can choose to populate recommendations from /r/videos or /domain/youtube.com, but I'm working on allowing more customisation.

Here is one way to watch Reddit videos. Try Hopwatch for Reddit it may work for you if the videos are on a compatible web hosting site. It won't do a playlist like you mentioned.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ugglynoodle.hopwatch&amp;hl=en

Download the latest Google Play Services for Android TV APK from here: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-play-services-android-tv/

Copy the APK to a USB drive, pop it into the Mi Box, download a file manager like X-plore and install the APK from your USB drive. That should fix the problem.

While you're at APKMirror, you might also want to grab the latest version of the Google Play Store. That doesn't seem to update automatically on new boxes, either.

You might consider waiting for the next-gen Nvidia Shield or Mi Box. It's not clear if Google is going to produce another Android TV box or not. We do not recommend cheap imported non-Android TV devices. This subreddit is not associated with those. This subreddit is about official Android TV devices.

Get an OTA antenna for reliable, high quality HD video, for live events (SuperBowl/Olympics), news, or emergency weather/disaster situations. This is also a good way to offload your TV viewing from your broadband connection. DVRs are an option. Go to TV Fool and post a link to your report in /r/OTA for antenna suggestions. Be sure to mention if you want an indoor, outdoor, or attic antenna and if you want single or multi-room viewing or DVR suggestions.

Sideload Channel Launcher 3 is excellent but costs a few dollars. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dxidev.sideloadchannel3&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US

Otherwise HALauncher is fine.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.i.akihiro.halauncher&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US

This review sums it up perfectly. > Forcing "staff picks" with no option to disable it is not ok. I own this TV, you do not. My flagship OLED TV is not a free to play mobile game.

The Oreo home screen really has some bizarre quirks. Like you said, the strange sizes of icons, the inconstant scrolling behavior, etc. I think they could fix most of this easily, but it's just... fucking weird. More so than most Android weird UI decisions (of which Google has plenty of sins, in an otherwise excellent UI).

I've removed all of the channels/notifications/play next stuff. The favorites row is for the most common streaming services, then I used Sideload Channel (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dxidev.sideload.channel.launcher) for games and "category" specific rows. It's not perfect, but it's better than the default.

AirPin Pro - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waxrain.airplaydmr2&amp;hl=en_CA

Works great, and I've never had an issue sending audio and/or video to android from iOS (I use a Shield TV, but it would work the same on a MiBox). It's a paid app, but there's a demo version as well (I bought the paid version and it's $ well spent).

Watch TBS

They have full leanback UI and control, but there's a bug where they don't add a homescreen tile. Will probably be fixed in the next (and hopefully soon) update.

Are you using a harmony hub or just

I managed this (similar) on my old Shield TV with a harmony hub but haven't set it up on my new one yet (got a 2017).

The reason you could do it with netflix is that tv mfgrs have deals with Netflix to provide a button on their oem remotes so Sony had to bake in support for that in their Android TV OS version.

To do it for other apps, use an app called Multilanguage Keyboard Redefiner on your TV. Configure it launch an app on a certain key press.

Then add a new device to your Harmony, a generic Windows PC. Then when harmony asks you to pair the Bluetooth keyboard to you PC, go to your TV's Bluetooth settings and pair to the harmony keyboard.

Now in your Harmony settings add the windows pc to your activity and configure the button you want to use for launching YouTube to press the key you set up as your shortcut in MKR.

The best working Mario Kart is the one for N64.

It's quite easy to set up. I'm using Mupen64plus fz. You download the Mario Kart ROM, put on your Android TV or a USB drive and can start.

In addition the are Mario Karts for GameCube and Wii you can emulate with dolphin. But it's hard to set up and not working very well.

For specific questions I would head over to /r/emulationonandroid.

Sorry, maybe it wasn't clear. PuppetMaster.TV is an app native to Android TV and seen here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.puppetmaster.redux

It is not derived from Kodi which is not native to Android TV but the most popular Android TV app available on the market with nearly 50 million downloads and featured at the top of the free apps category on Google Play for Android TV.

Yes it does. Just tried it myself by installing from the Play Store website:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome

BUT, there is no Leanback shortcut for it. Opening it requires going to Settings - Apps - Chrome - Open. Or by using a sideload launcher like HAL.

It has something to do with Ethernet. You have probably connected internet over Ethernet cable on your Android TV.

Ethernet Icon

That's not Android TV. It's just running Android. A quick Google search shows it is still on 6.0 Marshmallow so based on that I would say it's unlikely. The devices listed here are much more likely to see Oreo and some already have it like the NVIDIA SHIELD and MI Box. https://www.android.com/tv/

I use Blokada on my MiBox3. You will have to sideload the app and use an app launcher because the file will not show in the main menu for sideloaded apps. You can get a launcher in the google store. Sideloading is just a fancy term for putting the file on a drive and manually uploading it to your MiBox. Or you can install a web browser and install blokada from the website directly onto your MiBox. I hope this helps. http://blokada.org/index.html

Had the same problem. I downloaded an app called "Bluetooth Auto Connect" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bluetooth.auto.connect&amp;hl=en_IN&amp;gl=US

This force connects the last known BT device

So did Amazon leak the price of the new Shield and the release date?

$199.99 and January 16th. Kind of disappointed that they didn't lower the price. https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-TV-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B01N1NT9Y6

Also note how Amazon Video is shown in the list of apps in the picture below.

As a gen1 Pro owner my take is that the only reason to get the Gen2 Pro is if you are running Plex Server on it or you require the IR receiver. You can expand the internal storage with a USB3.0 flash drive. The old specs listed a 128GB limit. The new specs mention a specific 128 drive as a recommended model but do not mention a storage limit. Still for $28 on Amazon you can have 144GB storage.

It actually is. Look up Google TV in the app store. It'll replace Google Play Movies

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.videos&amp;hl=en_US

There are several apps that can do it, actually. I use this one and it works great:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.furnaghan.android.photoscreensaver&amp;hl=en_US

But yeah, it should be built-in.

Use this app instead, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.s0und.s0undtv&amp;hl=en_US

I have Pihole setup on my network so I don't get ads in official app either but S0undTV is much better.

Here's the app, if you're interested https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.furnaghan.android.photoscreensaver&amp;hl=en_GB

Lets you add various other sources too, such as 500px, Flickr and Apple TV screensavers.

It's the first link in the second paragraph. The text says "NBC Sports app". The link is posted a second time also, at the bottom of the article saying "Check out NBC Sports on the Play Store"

Here's the link.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nbcsports.apps.tv

Sideload channel / application launcher is probably the one you want. You can create your own rows of apps etc..

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dxidev.sideload.channel.launcher&amp;hl=en_IE

I’m in the USA and use NordVPN and it works decently for the BBC iPlayer and the BBC News apps on my Nvidia Shield. I sideloaded the iPlayer and News apps from APKPure and used Sideload Channel Launcher 2 to add them to my Shield’s homescreen. Buffers occasionally but not bad.

I have been using Private Internet Access for nearly 4 years and cannot recommend it enough. They recently released an AndroidTV compatible version that works as seemlessly as their mobile and desktop apps. I have the service running 24/7 for 2 years on my Linux based Plex, Deluge, Radarr, and Sonarr server and it has had basically 100% uptime with no speed throttling on my 100mbps connection.

That's exactly what they did. Sony and Philips also switched to the Play Sore version a couple of months ago.

Installs are 1,000,000+ now

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.amazonvideo.livingroom&amp;hl=en

To check what quality Netflix plays at, you can search for a video called "Test Pattern" and it'll tell you the bitrate, bit depth, resolution and you can tell.

Check out this tool to check the DRM on your shield, it should detail your HDCP too. My TV is only 720p so I see HDCP 1.X despite the rest of my equipment being HDCP 2.2

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidfung.drminfo&amp;hl=en

Edit: I also now realize you probably don't have a Shield TV yet so hopefully someone with a Shield and a 1080p screen less lazy than me can answer your question

Sorry but that is an incorrect assumption.

Android TV Chromecasting simply is not as good as using Google's own Chromecasting Hardware period. I believe not enough testing is done on the various Android TV hardware platforms compared to the reference Casting Hardware that Google actually sells themselves.

The Marshmallow equipped - Mi Box has numerous problems with Googlecasting. It is slightly improved with Beta Nougat Firmware. The Shield I've heard is better - but still not 100% compatible vs Google's Chromecasting hardware.

You only need to look at the Googlecast Receiver Software problems on various Android TV devices to get some idea:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.mediashell&amp;hl=en

Link to app

Interesting. I don't think their lineup really fits what I want, but it's always nice to see more competitors in this space.

Cool! Will this update make its way to the Google Play Store too? Wondering if it'll auto-update or if I should install this manually.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc16

Good post. I was just doing some searches myself for this as well. Unfortunately not cheap but the Jackbox Party Pack games get good reviews.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jackboxgames.TJPP3Loader

My university has a similar issue. The interesting thing is that this type of authentication is supported in the Android OS but it's not exposed in Android TV's UI.

I built an app which uses the underlying API to add and connect to these networks: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felkertech.ussenterprise

Android TV should support VPN even if there's no UI specifically for TVs. It's still Android.

So far you're doing alright. As far as apps not optimized/built for Android TV, they won't show up in the home rows if the dev didn't add leanback support. There's a couple apps that can help out with this, one of them can create a tile by cloning an app that's hiding, and the other is basically its own launcher for the hidden apps.

The app store on the device itself will feel pretty sparse. It's kind of just experimentation as far as finding an app that you use on another device and then seeing if it works with a remote on your Mi Box. It might be a good idea to look into a gamepad or KB+M if you find that you're using a lot of regular Android apps that aren't optimized for a remote control.

Opera has a web browser designed for Android TV. Beware though, the company was just purchased by a Chinese company.

This has worked better for me than ES File Explorer:

X-plore File Manager

Also has DropBox, Google Drive and OneDrive support.

About 2 weeks ago I tried X-plore File Manager and I love it. I uninstalled the crappy ES. After using ES for months, this feels so natural and easy.

I will try Solid Explorer when it eventually comes out but for now I'm happy.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore

You don't have to give up your privacy with any device. Set up a separate email address for sign up purposes and you'll be fine. Obviously any device you are setting up will have to be connected to your internet, so from that perspective you will give up *some* privacy - the device will know and record the IP address of your internet. Other than that, though, nothing else needs to be divulged to any device. Firestick requires an Amazon signup, use that second email you made up to sign up for Amazon without giving any of your information to it, and you can use the Firestick with that email address. Same with Tivo Stream 4k, Chromecast w GGTV, and so forth.

Sign up for services like Sling TV, Philo, Youtube TV, Hulu TV, using your second non-informative email account. If you have to pay for a service you can use Paypal to "hide" your actual credit card information, or use a site like privacy.com to generate new credit card numbers with limited or no information attached once you link your real card to it. Some credit cards also come with virtual card number service (like Capital One), so if you have one of those you can use that service for your purchases.

~~https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2wsZQG8BJO9X01CdHM2cnJhTkE/view?usp=docslist_api~~

Its live on apkmirror

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/hbo-now/hbo-now-hbo-now/hbo-now-hbo-now-1-5-0-release/hbo-now-1-5-0-android-apk-download/

I'm just warning of a potential pitfall of the device, considering that it doesn't support all the capabilities of Android TV and app compatibility might be problematic considering its unofficial, hacked nature. I don't know why you seem to have a problem with that.

Since you're on Android.com, you probably noticed that Google doesn't have Mecool listed as one of their partners, so again, that poses a problem for current and future support.

Google TV is NOT a monthly paid service, it's a content aggregator service for different streaming providers. Check the official website at https://tv.google/

In Android TV it's the main app now, that's why people refer to it as the new UI of Android TV. However, the same service is available for phones too.

Most BT setups on these boxes don't come with APTx Low Latency codec ... i.e. there will be a delay between the person speaking on screen and the voice you hear.

Also the range is less for onboard BT mostly.

Get something like this : 1Mii B03 Long Range Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter Receiver for TV Home Stereo BT ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D1JJBJR/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_tw\_dp\_9WM6WK57NFW15KBXBGM1?\_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1 via @amazon

It plugs into the audio aux out / headphone jack and transmits to 2 BT headsets in AptX Low Latency and AptX HD technology (if your headsets support this codec) and has a 100+ feet range ...

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plus you can plug it into different devices (TV etc..)

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Minus: another devices and power cord to worry ...

I've had no problems with this one from Amazon: Plugable USB 2.0 to 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN Wired Network Adapter for Macbook, Chromebook, Windows 10, 8.1 and Earlier, Surface Pro, Wii, Wii U, Linu https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00484IEJS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_WNPNa6POX637P

Worked right away, and never disconnects. My only issue with the Mi Box so far is that every few days Google Play movies won't work until I reboot. Not a big deal though.

Good luck!

Also the game controller bundle is also on sale for $179.99 (the original price of the streaming bundle).

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-shield-tv-16-gb-streaming-media-player-with-controller-black/5709686.p

It's only $20 off. But if you're thinking about gaming even a little bit, or want always listening Google Assistant, it's cheaper than buying the streaming bundle and adding a controller later. The controller by itself retails for $60, and I don't think I've ever seen the controller go on sale.

Edit: Amazon has the same price for the controller edition. But not on the one without the controller. https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Streaming-Player-Controller/dp/B01N1NT9Y6?crid=AINDDPS7JGVE

I've used them all. Also used to use ES File Explorer before they were bought out and went malware. I much prefer X-Plore File Manager. Two pane, great dark theme, built in previews for media, can be used fully with Android TV remote, plus many more features. It has awesome connectivity options, I use it most often to connect/explore Windows shared folders.

You can try my app FitzyTV - It lets you link your cable / satellite / OTT subscriptions and view a program guide for all of the live streaming channels you can access, plus Cloud DVR.

Check out my app, HopWatch for Reddit - not a full featured client, but supports simple browsing of images, GIFs and videos on Reddit.

I use HopWatch. It does all images/videos, not just GIF. You can add any sub you want and sort a few ways (hot, top hour/day/week/etc).

It is $1

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ugglynoodle.hopwatch

An alternative is https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.furnaghan.android.photoscreensaver It has more settings, but lacks the smart album and simplicity in configuration. Besides that it works great!

You can try this app out. I used to use it for YoutubeTV to force it to be landscape when it was a sideloaded APK.

Haven't used it in a few months though

I've been using the same generic MXQ android TV box I bought in 2016 up till after I purchased mi box 4 last month. And how wish I discovered Android TV earlier. The video quality much better. Regular updates (while the generic stuck at Android 4.4.2 with no work around).

Sure Android TV apps are very very limited. But hey it's a TV box, all I need is NordVPN, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and 3rd party streaming apk like CinemaHD etc. which all working like a charm. Puffin browser so far so good at being Chrome replacement.

My only frustration for Android TV is the remote control buggy. I am looking for remote control replacement online, no rushing though. And my favorite TeaTV app can be pain in the ass. I can't skip the ad before the movie starts (I could skip at the ads on generic box with just pressing back button). In all it's a good investment to spend more for Android TV. You'll never bother to look those cheap tv box again, just like I did

Honestly, I found NordVPN to be one of the better VPN on the market. While not the fastest, I hardly had any issue finding servers and their price is amazing. Plus, my reduction in speed wasn't as bad others I tried.

Mi Box is not officially supported. Don't have any TV to test if 4K is available. 1080p works fine. This is from Google Play store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.amazonvideo.livingroom)

>What's New

>- Use the Android TV Remote Control app or your Bluetooth keyboard to search for TV shows and movies including award-winning Prime Originals.

>- Use your number pad to input your purchase-restriction or parental-control PIN.

The retroarch experience for actually playing is just halfassed on all platforms which is why many people like 'launchers' or frontends

RetroX as a frontend for libretro instead of striaght retroarch gives the best experience for you and non-techie people as far as getting it all setup and launching the games, finding the games in your library you want to play, getting your controller setup properly etc...

Dig is the best free one, other paid ones people like are ArcBrowser

I would install RetroX trial and try it out then go try Dig or straight retroarch

p.s. I have worked in tech industry 20+ years and tinker/hack all the time with my bad sw dev skills, but when I play I just want to enjoy without all the friction

I have the same Harmony setup with a Mi Box. You can customize what each button does for each activity either in the Harmony app or desktop software. This only applies to things on your original device remote, like Shield volume etc. So if you wanted to bind the Shield volume to the vol buttons on the Harmony while in the Movie activity, you can do that via the Harmony app.

If you want to setup a button to open a specific app, like the red/yellow/green/blue buttons, then I installed this app from the Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homebutton&amp;hl=en That let me map the color buttons to open Netflix, Plex etc. If you want to set one of your activity buttons (e.g. the Movie button) to open up Netflix when it starts, you'll have to add whatever button you mapped Netflix to with the Movie activity start sequence. So your Harmony activity sequence would look something like this Turn On TV --> Turn on Shield --> Turn on Denon --> Set inputs etc. --> Command Red Button (or whatever you mapped Netflix to etc.)

If you only want to control it while on the same Wifi, BiglyBT has a 'secret' ability to access it remotely (only from your local network). You can use any Transmission compatible remote you want, you just need to setup the remote client to connect to your TV's wifi ip address (probably 192.168.<number>.<number>), with a port of 9093, no username/pw.

Of course, I recommend BiglyBT as your remote app too, but there's plenty more good ones out there (like TransDroid, Torrnado, TorrentToise, Gear Shift, etc)

BiglyBT is on the Android TV store, but it's hard to find with the word 'torrent' being blacklisted. You can either install it to your TV from the link above when you are on a desktop computer, or you can search for 'BiglyBT' on your Android TV and it should show up.

Disclaimer: I wrote the android app for BiglyBT ^ _ ^

There's no problem. Go into your settings menu & look for the app within the 'App' section of the menu, it'll be listed there alphabetically.

It didn't show up on your screen/main app tray because you sideloaded the apk.

For future reference, install something like this to have all your sideloaded apps in one easily accessible place from your home screen/leanback launcher.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=innerlife.keyboard.multilanguagekeymapredefiner&amp;hl=en

That app will let you map certain buttons to launch apps. On the Harmony hub you can pair the shield as a computer (I think Windows PC) and the hub will act as a bluetooth keyboard. You can then map button on the remote or the harmony app to launch any app you want. This will mess up the onscreen keyboard though if you use that.

Are you referring to this it's about to get a big update tomorrow too crosses fingers hope it's creating shortcuts to files next ;)

Edit: here's a screenshot of my home screen and as you can see TV App Repo generated shortcut apks (tiny programs that act as a short cut to a sideloaded app that is then placed on the lean back launcher) Chrome and Instashare are both sideloaded and here they are on my home screen ;)

http://imgur.com/5duvbZb

Ever since ridding myself of ES I moved on to Total Commander it's free, there are no ads, and no BS. You'll have to sideload it using the Google Play Store on your phone to install it on your ATV but it's android TV compatible :) if you want more features there are first and third party plug ins you could use. I've been using this file manager for awhile and haven't looked back :)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ghisler.android.TotalCommander&amp;hl=en

Being a shield owner myself, i would recommend it together with the shield remote. However if you are willing to wait for a while, xiaomi is coming out with its own android tv box, and maybe asus would release an updated version of the nexus player soon.

There is also an ongoing promotion for the razer forge at $99 but many of us in this subreddit would advise against it.

For the m3u8 stream, you can try cumulus tv, created by a redditor I think

the remote app from google themselves works well: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.tv.remote&amp;hl=en_GB

Although I think its lacking volume controls, I'm not sure what app supports that I'm afraid.

Archos video player buy the full version then add the codec pack which is free. Best video player I have used on ATV

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.archos.mediacenter.video&amp;hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.m4rk3t.libcopy2&amp;hl=en

The only ones I use are ePSXe and Snes9x EX+

Other than that, I just play Steam/PC games on the SHIELD. Oh and some Android native games.