this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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139
Alternatives to Roku/AppleTV for Jellyfin Client (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by nix98@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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My jellyfin collection has finally become large enough that I have been able to cancel all my streaming services. My issue now is that I want to get rid of my Roku's that are hooked up to each TV.

Is there a good alternative? It MUST be family approved, meaning:

  1. It is not visible (no desktop/laptop hooked up)
  2. It is low power
  3. It has a simple remote control
  4. It supports Jellyfin
  5. It is relatively cheap (< $150)

I am sure I could build something out of a raspberry pi, but:

  1. I don't need another project I have to fiddle with
  2. It MUST support new codecs (h.265/AC1/aac/...) as I want direct play from my server
  3. If it stutters/buffers once, it goes into the trash!

I've generally been mostly happy with my Roku, and my pi.hole blocks most of their analytics, but last week, I pressed the home button on my Roku and it started play a video add with audio. Completely unacceptable (That has happened twice in the last week). And in general, the more of this crap I can get out of my life the better!

(page 2) 43 comments
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[–] Chef6652@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Way over-budget for your taste I guess but I still wanted to make a note here for representation sake. Look into the brand Zidoo. I have Zidoo Z9X 8K, it's the best client I could dream of! ~250$

Cons:

  • Android based (outdated AF but still)
  • Maybe not so secure (http server always on while the device is on, atm)

Pros:

  • Very good support of Dolby Vision, 4K (8K maybe?)
  • Very pretty, both hardware and software very polished IMO
  • The remote is glorious, tactile with backlight
  • Lots of other cool things
  • Very snappy Android experience
  • it just works™
  • The audio downmixing works great, compared to the Google TV which was very bad
  • First party Jellyfin support among others
[–] sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 4 points 2 days ago

I use Chromecast with android TV, it's about perfect with jellyfin, and if I were to domit again I'd probably spend the little extra for the 4k model even though my TV is 1080p (more horsepower). You can run a different homescreen to somewhat degoogle it.

Probably not what you're looking for given what you've lined up here, but I live and breathe with it every day and it's great, and as an added benefit you can cast from a lot of services or websites as well.

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago

👋😢

[–] Gabadabs@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

I've personally been using a raspberry pi with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I just run jellyfin in Firefox and navigate with the mouse - the keyboard rarely ever being necessary. I was able to increase the icon size so it's acceptable on a tv and bookmark any streaming websites I use. It's certainly not as clean as using something like an apple tv, but it's serviceable and I don't have to fiddle with plugins like when I tried Kodi. Honestly though, apple tv probably fulfills what you're looking for like others have said.

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago (5 children)

It's surprising how slow open source is on replicating Roku. So many manufacturers could be using Linux to bypass androidTV and RokuOS bullshit. I suppose AndroidTV is good enough even despite that.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago

I think it's a chicken and egg problem. A FOSS Roku-replacement needs apps to make get popular, and manufacturers won't port their apps until it's popular. Basically, manufacturers need someone with a big marketing budget to help them feel comfortable investing in a platform, but that's not going to happen with a nice FOSS platform.

Maybe if we collectively raise like $100M or something, we could put together a big enough marketing budget to convince some of the bigger names (Netflix, HBO, etc) to take the risk, and the rest will follow if it's popular enough. Maybe.

[–] Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me 4 points 2 days ago

Both use Linux under the hood. You can even install LineageOS on some TVs.

The only reason AndroidTV is bullshit is the manufacturers because casual users want shit like Netflix and Prime preinstalled. Google TV in particular comes with a lot of crap and the ads, which believe it or not some users take as a feature.

But that's not inherent to Android TV as an OS, it's exactly like Android phones and manufacturers preloading a bunch of crap to make an extra buck. If your run AOSP you get none of that crap, and it's fully open-source.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My plan is to use the $20 Onn (Walmart store-brand) Android TV box LTT recommended as being eminently jailbreakable about a year ago, but I haven't actually gotten around to hooking it up yet so I can't authoritatively endorse it.

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[–] enemenemu@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)
  1. If you do not want stuttering, use a graphics card. Higher energy consumption but you can play everything
[–] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If they have a 5th gen or newer Intel CPU, Quicksync will work excellently for transcoding. No discrete GPU needed.

[–] enemenemu@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

For how many devices?

[–] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As many as most GPUs without all the extra cost and power draw. Nvidia sets a transcode limit of 2 sessions unless you disable it. You really shouldn't ever be transcoding 4k content. Most people will duplicate 1080p and 4k content and not share the 4k library for remote streaming/external users to avoid transcoding, and 1080p transcodes are no sweat. Furthermore, the goal should be to avoid transcoding wherever possible, so it's unlikely that you'd have multiple people doing intensive transcoding simultaneously if you follow the above advice. You'll want everyone to direct play as much as possible.

[–] enemenemu@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

how many 4k streams?

[–] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As many as your hard drives or upload bandwidth can handle since they would be playing directly and not transcoding.

[–] enemenemu@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago

Thanks, it's good advice that you do not need a gpu if you watch movies in 1080. It's sufficient for 99% setups anyway

[–] wckring@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If it's an option, the Xiaomi mi box it's a cheap android TV device that plays probably everything. Costs around 60 euro in eu. If not you coul always go for Google TV with a custom launcher to block stock android launcher ads.

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[–] primemagnus@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It seems like the most obvious answer is to build your own with a Pi. Run Linux and then install any player you want. You could even use the Pi as the head then network your storage.

Also, FWIW, the latest Apple TV hasn’t seen an upgrade in about 3-4 years, so if you do go that route, bear that in mind. A new model is coming sooner than later (hopefully this year).

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