this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Privacy

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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).

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Take your PC that you set aside, install the Stremio FlatPak, sign up for a Debrid Service, and use the Torrentio plugin for Stremio.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No, for the same reason they would not get a C&D using a VPN+usenet/torrent.
The ISP can't see the contents of the data stream.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

??
I think you might have been reading too fast.
Torrentio is used to link Stremio to a Debrid Service.

Or maybe I'm not understanding what you're seeing?
Why would you want/need a VPN when you're using a debrid service?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Riddle me this. How exactly does one achieve "Privacy" when engaging with Disney? Netflix?

Presently, no streaming company knows what content of theirs I have consumed. Is that not privacy?
A data breech at Netflix will not reveal any of my personal information as they have none of my information. Is that not privacy?

You see, there's a great big blob where privacy and piracy intersect. Some might say it's a circle.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

These companies sometimes list their own movies on torrent sites and then record everyone who downloaded it from them. So, yes, they can see what you download if you don't mask your IP through some proxy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Do you know how a debrid service works?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Get a hardwire router that forces all traffic through a VPN.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I had this same problem. I ultimately just put a Linux computer on my TV with standard Ubuntu.

I gave up

[–] Dr_Evil 3 points 1 year ago

What additional software did you end up installing? Something like kodi? Anything for live TV/OTA?

And how easy is your setup to control with a TV remote form factor?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I have the same, but Netflix is then a miserable experience on my 4K TV.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To actually answer your question, the Banana Pi supports Lineage os. https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#banana-pi

I'm not sure if Netflix will work on Lineage os but it might be worth a look.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's a great tip! I didn't know lineage supported Android TV on SBCs

As for Netflix on Lineage: it does work (at least w/ microg - I just tried on my phone), but you won't find the app in aurora store so you'll have to source it on apkmirror or the like.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Not sure why Netflix wouldn't be on the Aurora store. Anyway, I did use android TV on an OdroidXU4 for a few months. It worked well with an air mouse and made it work like a regular android TV. Only issue I had with it sometimes was getting it to wake up after being asleep for some time, but that issue could have been ROM+odroid (or air mouse) specific.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When I still had Netflix I was only able to get 720p streams on lineageOS because of netflix's DRM checks (same with on a web browser)... does your method allow 1080p or even 4k streams or is it still the same deal?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Wow: they also go to great lengths to piss off their paying customers.

Anyway, I have no idea if it's 1080p or not: I can say it looks ok on my phone's screen, but IDK how to check what the video resolution is

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I use my Chromecast with ATV home pro & disabled the home screen entirely. Then I used smart tube next for ad free YouTube and Plex for anything else.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What happened to roku? Is it not open source?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It's closed-source AFAIK (also, not sure how it is privacy-wise)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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" :)