Selfhosted
A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.
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If you go the android route turn on Apps Only Mode in the settings. It gets rid of the home screen ads for the most part and disabled a lot of the "features" that Google tries to push.
A RaspberryPi with a Flirc case is silent
I've been very happy with roku tvs at home and a roku stick "to-go". Very simple interface with minimal ads that you can block.
I second the roku, they are economically priced, they perform very well, minimal ads. My friends and family use them to stream from my jellyfin server over the internet to their homes.
A Shield TV is probably overkill for you and the recommendations of a pi would do just fine, but if it's in budget I say go for the Shield TV. Mine is nearly 8 years old and I haven't had a single issue, streams 4k HDR, and runs so much better than any of the crap that comes with even the newest of TVs.
Given the recent issues with ads, I wouldn't recommend anything Android/GoogleTV based. A USFF PC will give you better performance for less money, especially if you buy used. You can find 1L X86 boxes for $30-60 on eBay that are perfect for the job.
I've been using an Nvidia Shield TV Pro for a while, and hardware-wise it's still amazing. But with the way the OS is going, I can't recommend it to anyone anymore, not for that price. I basically had to stop updating any of the system stuff so it doesn't plaster my TV screen with ads.
IIUC you can flash LineageOS on the shield (if you try, let us know how it goes)
I use a beelink nuc, put on Linux and just connect it via HDMI to my tv, this way I have no real restrictions and I can keep it up to date easily.
What ui do you put on? Kodi? Or do you just run a full fat deskop environment?
I just run a full desktop and either use a browser for things like youtube and I have jellyfin media player for other media
I do the same. I have Debian with KDE and Kodi autostart on boot. Use Kodi most of the time but can tab out if needed.
If you have Apple users in your household, the current generation of Apple TV 4K 128GB is a solid device that’s going to offer the best integrated experience, along with capability of Thread. If not, it’s probably a bit overpriced compared to the other solutions.
It doesn't offer AVC1 decoding; so if that matters to you, skip it. If it doesn't (and it absolutely doesn't for the vast majority of users) then it's not only best-in-class, it's alone in its class. The nVidia Shield Pro is the only other device with as much power in it and that's been eclipsed by the newest AppleTV iteration. They're really just that good.
What's the state of apps like kodi or other methods of local streaming on Apple TV?
I use infuse for local streaming to the ApleTV from my Jellyfin server. It works well but you have to subscribe to get the good features
That's annoying. Part of the reason for local media is reducing the amount of monthly bills
You can buy a lifetime license for Infuse. Alternatively the Jellyfin app is available too (as Swiftfin on the Apple TV App Store, but displays as Jellyfin on the Home Screen).
Why not use a pi or some other sbc?
I've done this in the past. I was mostly interested to see what others have done
Maybe something running Kodi? I don't use streaming services but I do use Kodi on a single board computer.
Stay away from cheap Chinese TV boxes. They are full of malware
You can grab an Onn Google TV 4k Streaming Box from Walmart for about $20.
Did it have Google TVs home screen that has a bunch of ads on it? The breeder l newest version is atrocious.
You can put Google TV in apps-only mode, which helps significantly. It's not a perfect fix, but it's a step in the right direction.
Thank you so much!
For anyone else:
Turning on Apps only mode requires you to navigate to the Settings page from the home screen of your Chromecast or other Google TV device, then select Accounts & Sign In. From there, tap your profile and enable Apps only mode.
From: https://www.androidpolice.com/google-tv-apps-only-mode-visual-tweak/
I saw one of these. Have you used it? Does it work okay?
I've got a couple of them. They work great. I actually got a Chromecast with Google TV as well, but have since quit using it because the Onn works better in my opinion.
I have Xiaomi TV stick 1080p (android) and I'm happy with it. I know its not popular solution, but its cheaper and I had 0 issues so far
I'd vlan anything cheap and Chinese. It's pretty much guaranteed to phone home and send as much info about your environment as possible.
I've tried a lot of different things before settling on a old (windows) laptop with a wireless mouse and keyboard... I just cba with any of the streaming boxes anymore, and the laptop will always be compatible and performant.