Can’t we just have small Linux boxes with Plasma Bigscreen or something with cec support setup so the tv remote still works already :sob:
I just bought a Dell Optiplex 990 for 50 bucks on eBay. I lucked out in that the listing came with 8 GB of RAM. Just threw in a previous SSD, loaded Fedora Kinoite, and am currently playing with Podman/Docker Compose for an Arr stack. By next week, I should be able to move it from the corner where the router is, and then finally deliver on the promise that I made my girlfriend back in February, when I bought the HDMI projector and a speaker set.*
That said, I’m all for your idea, especially if it comes with an IR receiver, too.
If I get another Optiplex (that one for homelabbing), I’ll look into COSA and Butane/Ignition files more seriously. That’s a very solvable issue, after all.
* We had to move since then and I cannot find the front right speaker, for some reason. The company, whose name looks like the antagonist of FF8, doesn’t seem to sell replacement speakers, either.
well, the bigscreen matrix chat does see activity, so, one can hope
Where are the dividends in that? Buy our new stick.
Projectivity is another great option, especially if you want a few more options without anything you don’t want.
I also use Projectivity on my NVIDIA shield. No ads, no recommendations, just the apps I want. Everyday I’m glad I installed it.
I’ve been using Flauncher as the replacement dash for years on all my android TVs and Chromecasts
https://gitlab.com/flauncher/flauncher
It makes a massive difference and I strongly recommend it
Would I be able to watch Plex with this? (Haven’t made the switch to jellyfin yet)
Don’t see why not. It’s just a front end launcher. If you can install the app…this will launch it.
PS: I like Jellyfin but I’m a fan of Nova-Player too. Simpler is sometimes better.
Yes - it replaces the launcher (your home page, I guess you could say), but you can still download apps from the Google App Store and use them (such as Plex).
I have used FLauncher and now use Projectivity, and it is a great way to get rid of all the ads and bloat while keeping the TV fully functional.
What do you see that makes a difference? Lack of ads or is performance also better?
All of that. Lack of ads, more performant etc. Plus (and depending on the device), you can set it up in such a way that you don’t need to sign into your google account, yet still have ability to watch YouTube (Smartube), install apps (side load plus use the Fdroid TV store … name escapes me at the moment… Flicky I think?).
Even if you need to be signed in for some reason, it’s a smoother experience.
Its just…better. You’ll lose some of the prettiness (for some reason, mine no longer displays backgrounds from upsplash, only solid colours) but its more than worth it.
EDIT: Yes, it IS Flicky
https://f-droid.org/packages/app.flicky/
No ads, better performance, customizable
I also tried Projectivy in the past but I don’t remember why I switched away from it. I think there was a performance bug that was causing it to crash. Both may be good options now
I recently swapped back to FLauncher after using Projectivy for a while. Projectivy uses a lot more resources (cache + RAM) and my TV only has like 4GB of storage.
I can also recommend Wolf Launcher. Been using it for years.
I’d love a stick that has Hoopla support, but of course that’s going to be hard to come by because Big Entertainment doesn’t make billions of dollars off of it.
Roku, Android TV (ONN), Apple TV, etc. all have Hoopla support. The app doesn’t even have a way to browse titles, but if you know what you want to watch their app works.
If any apps, preferably open source, could do a search of services to see if one has “American Beauty” (or whatever) streaming for free AND launches the app directly I’d have no need for my stock launcher.
Somebody once tried to sell a box that would cancel all your streaming services and only fire the account back up for a month at a time when you wanted to stream something. It was a phenomenal idea with a genuine problem worth solving, completely torpedoed by the fact of the box costing $400 up front and I think requiring its own subscription.
Great, now do iOS, Roku, and whatever Amazon is pushing these days. Oh, and raspberry pi and NVIDIA shield.
Dude just switched the launcher, should be doable on most Android TV devices.
Raspberry Pi can run Android TV, so you probably could run this launcher. Nvidia Shield is already compatible.
The others are closed systems I assume, I have no experience with Apple or Amazon devices.
Streaming sticks shouldn’t have apps. The Chromecast Ultra is the last good streaming stick. Just cast, and it plays. End of story.
Its nice to be able to use it with a remote instead of fumbling around with your phone.
Also performance, decoding support, not burning your phone’s battery, etc
Chromecast doesnt use your phone for decoding. It just tells the stick to play the video, and it plays it directly. It shouldn’t drain your phone at all.
The remote is a personal preference, but I was happy for the phone to be the remote. Having a second remote didnt gain me anything.
To be fair, I haven’t used Chromecast in a long time. Maybe even 10 years ago now.
I remember having connectivity issues, where I’d go to pause the content and realize it disconnected again. So maybe the battery drain was because of poor connections, or poorly designed apps
There were definitely some shitty Chromecast apps. ABC in Aus had a terrible one. There are also some pretty shitty TV apps as well :/
Ultra was good for connectivity, as it has an Ethernet port. Relying on wifi on a streaming stick behind a TV was tough. My TV behaves as a signal blocking wall, anything WiFi behind it is a dead zone.
I also haven’t tried the new Chromecast with google TV in a few years, but it was so terrible I returned it immediately and started scouring eBay for another Ultra. I am very sad Google killed the plain Chromecast line.
