What is everyone using as a HTPC?
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Shield, mine is very stable, never crashes, doesn't lag
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If you go this route I recommend installing Kodi + Jellyfin Plugin + Kore App. You can control everything from your phone or laptop.
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I use PopOS too. Switched to Bazzite though for htpc. HDR works out of the box, and added Plex htpc as a "game" that I launch from steam.
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None at all? If so how? My friends with Apple TV get an obnoxious amount of ads in their YouTube app for example.
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Regarding DRM, Netflix (and probably others) require the Widewine library to play back DRM content. This works perfectly fine on a normal Ubuntu PC, but does not work on the Pi because the library does not support ARM, only x86.
So Id just get any normal PC. Used enterprise mini PCs can be had for quite cheap, and they are small and efficient, and high quality. Search for HP, Dell or Lenovo mini PCs , or 1 litre PCs.
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I think they mean no ads in the UI. There are still ads in the YouTube app since Google needs that revenue. Ads don’t take up approximately 50% of the home screen though like they do on a Roku TV.
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I ran into issues with this function on my shield pro, it would randomly reopen the smart tube app continuously until I disconnected my phone.
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I'm not a home theater power user, but this is good info to make sure my setup is future proof for when I finally get a new TV. All these different standards get really confusing.
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Yeah I'm not super surprised... It used to work well when I bought it back in '17 but it's become worse and worse with updates.
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The Shield can supposedly be updated with LineageOS instead of stock, but I haven’t tried it. I also have a couple Onn 4K streamers that I debloated and swapped in FLauncher, and it’s on my TODO list to do the same with the Shield. My concern with stock OSes is of course any telemetry I’m not aware of or can’t disable. I usually setup Netguard, although I still get ads on my Shield.
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I’ve also been meaning to do some debloating on my Shield as shown here, but probably worth disabling some of these first and testing a while instead of uninstalling just to make sure nothing important breaks.
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I haven't used Netflix on my Pi for a few years, but at least in the past it worked fine by pulling the DRM lib from Android. I used Netflix and Disney Plus on Kodi (with a plugin) for a couple years until we stopped watching on that TV (in the bedroom).
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What I don’t like about ATV and the Apple ecosystem in general is the lack of ease with sideloading. Ha, I’ve created throwaway accounts with fake emails in the past and then lost access to the email account followed by the Apple device basically being bricked a result. If it’s so “private” then why not let me install free apps from the App Store without an account?
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Android devices can do that too. I use steam link on my shield.
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I'm using a Ryzen Mini PC running Debian and Flex Launcher.
Works well as both a media consumption machine and light gaming rig.
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Laptop hooked up to the TV. Always felt more reliable than any other device to me. I also use rustdesk for a remote connection solution
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Bingo. And if you don't use apps with ads, like only using jellyfin, you get none at all.
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Have you tried a Factory reset?
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Ah, I didn't even consider ads in the UI would be a thing. How disgusting
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Oh cool, didn't know you could do that
