Skip Navigation
Privacy @lemmy.ml
gomp @lemmy.ml

Looking for FOSS android TV (or something like Kodi, but dumber)

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).

46 comments

  • 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

    • I am looking to use Android tv and Kodi for offline use in an RV and I think this is what I’ll try next. Didn’t want to have to buy another shield pro just to do that.

    • 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

  • 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 don't want to be rude but I don't think Netflix is Foss in the least.

    • My friend, someone can be a FOSS enthusiast and still consume things that are proprietary.

      • FOSS stands for free/libre and open source. For something to be libre it has to meet the 4 freedoms. Proprietary software doesn't do that.

        I don't mean to start a holy war but FOSS doesn't mean DRM streaming services. I appreciate the sentiment but I wanted to take the time to explain why many will disagree with your statement

    • You are 100% right: netflix not being open is less than ideal, both from a freedom standpoint and for the privacy implications of it.

      However, my 70+yo relative does not care about FOSS or even about their own privacy for that matter... since I, however, do care about their privacy, I'd like to pragmatically find something that may be better than a chromecast privacy-wise, while not being so much worse (or radically different) from it that they'll ask me to "put the old thingy back - I can't use this nerdy shit" :)

46 comments