im using a chromecast right now and i want a similar experience to that, just more privacy friendly
although i have set up a google account just for my chromecast with its own email, it still doesn’t feel like its enough
im in the eu btw
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There are some android TV devices that you can run LineageOS on which is what I do. But they are few and far between, and require specific firmware versions which makes it pretty impractical. I have used a Raspberry Pi with LibreELEC before as a frontend for Jellyfin and that worked decently well.
My dream is for Plasma Bigscreen to be supported well enough that I can just use a standard Linux machine for my TV, and there are tons of options in that ecosystem for casting, airplay, etc. But last time I tested it the issues were too numerous to ignore, specifically around application stability and UI navigation
Offline Android device, e.g. video projector, with VLC on it that starts at boot. Content from a USB stick.
If I want something live, I plug my GrapheneOS phone on it with a USB-C to HDMI cable.
Basically keep the device as just a monitor.
Do you need works out of the box without a ton of work on your part but the privacy isn’t totally perfect? Then Apple TV 4k.
Do you use no major commercial streaming services and only your own hosted content from Plex/Jellyfin and you want to do some very light cloud gaming from the couch/bed? Then an Intel N150 mini PC or AMD equivalent (at present with RAM prices expect to pay at least $400 though if you want you can probably get a used SFF PC made recently (important for energy saving hardware decoding of video codecs) may work for you with either Jellyfin client or Kodi.
Caveat: HDR on Linux isn’t happening anytime soon and forget Dolby Vision. Also forget above 720p, maybe 1080p in Google Chrome for online streaming services.
Vero V by the OSMC people is also an option but won’t work with commercial streaming services though it is more private but you have to use your own content. It’s more plug and play than the mini-pc route and does support HDR and such. But unlike mini-pcs you can’t even open a browser to jankily watch commercial streaming services using it.
I have a Raspberry Pi 4 with Kodi on it.
Same. I’ve been using this set up for about a year. I was expecting it to be a bit clunky but it honestly feels more intuitive that my old Chromecast did.
I use a Linux machine that boots to a big picture interface with these apps:
- Jellyfin Desktop client (pirate everything)
- VacuumTube (YouTube TV interface with adblocking)
And I use a Flirc receiver so I can use a remote for all of it.
When you mention big picture mode, are you talking about Bazzite’s big picture mode or just any distro w/ Plasma Bigscreen, or something else?
I’m currently using Bazzite with Steam’s Big Picture mode, yes. I’d like to switch to Plasma Bigscreen, but I’m not sure it’s ready just yet. I keep trying it on my laptop every few weeks, but there are some crashes I keep running into.
I can’t wait to switch away from Steam Big Picture mode though, as it’s pretty tedious adding shortcuts and having to use a Decky plugin to download art for them. It’s very apparent that Steam isn’t meant to be used this way (even though once you set it up, it’s not bad). Plasma Bigscreen just reads the .desktop entries, which is a lot better.
ill check it out, thanks
I’m using my Steam Machine partially for the same purpose, but this is the first I’m hearing about this receiver. I got a shitty little PC remote that kind of works but isn’t great, I might give this a shot
The Flirc receiver is the best $25 I’ve ever spent. You can use it with basically any TV remote and turn it into a decent PC input device.
You can map any app with decent keyboard navigation support to work with up, down, left, right, enter, etc. and get a pretty seemless TV experience.
I think the newer raspberry Pis have CEC so if someone goes that route they wouldn’t even need a second remote
Also, hi AdmiralPatrick’s alt 🙂
You Kiwi Farms freaks need to update your wiki because /u/AdmiralPartick is deleted long ago. This is the main account, not an alt.
You’re sadly mistaken if you think the people that rightly don’t like your heinous behaviour are kiwi farmers.
But sure, everyone that doesn’t like you just happens to be bad people from a stinky Nazi forum. Whatever you need to tell yourself.
“I’m harassing you for different reasons than the Kiwi Farms people are” is not the moral high ground you think it is.
I’ve always found CEC to be insufficient. If you need to access anything more than directional nav, enter, and back, you can’t. I have CEC on my Linux machine, but I leave it off because it just can’t do most of what I need it to.
It’s appletv unless you’re willing to use a custom sbc with a taped together third party android version.
I don’t recommend the latter option because it fucking sucks and you seem like a psycho to others who may use it or watch stuff with you.
You can just host jellyfin from your pc (or a server in your closet) if you wanna get away from streaming services and it works good with either option.
I want to be clear as day that you cannot get a privacy friendly experience from any Android streaming device unless you load it yourself and make sure it’s something like the lineageos Android tv stuff linked by another user.
It’s probably worth it for you to put into words what you’re trying to accomplish, being as clear and explicit as possible.
I haven’t tested it but Plasma Bigscreen has apparently made a lot of progress, too.
im mainly trynna watch something like smarttube (youtube ykyk), jellyfin and some streaming services
There are a bunch of tvos smart tube apps in the store for free but I’d just build the client on github and load it.
Even on the most locked down device the qos involved in streaming gives enough information to track you. If your goal is to block ads that’s no problem but just bear in mind the feed isn’t one way, your device communicates back to the source to negotiate bitrates and buffers and that’s enough to do some very accurate measurements especially with a side channel of normal https communication in the mix which they all have.
It sounds like you just want to block ads and there’s nothing wrong with that, I just don’t want to lead you into thinking you’re actually in any way private when streaming. Every service is actively collecting as much information as they can in the process of sending you video.
Anyway don’t read any of that just try out the appletv and if you end up not liking it you can easily sell it to someone for 90% of what you paid.
There are a few options.
- A repurposed PC or SBC running LibreELEC (which uses Kodi as its interface and sole application). If you plan on using Kodi, don’t mind messing with Kodi addons, and don’t need Dolby Vision or HDR10+ support, this is a great option. HDR10 should be supported just fine, though.
- A repurposed PC or SBC running a Linux distro with Plasma Bigscreen. Note that Plasma Bigscreen is still in beta and the app ecosystem is not very usable at the moment. This option also does not support Dolby Vision or HDR10+ (though it does support HDR10).
- A streaming box or SBC running the Android TV version of LineageOS without Google services installed. This will probably give you the most flexability and would be my preference. Some options will also give you compatibility with HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+ depending on hardware. This is my preference at the moment because it has the most robust ecosystem currently, at least until Plasma Bigscreen and Linux on TV becomes more robust. I use SmartTube for YouTube and Nuvio for TV and Movies, though Kodi and Jellyfin are also available depending on your preference.
didn’t know you could put lineage on a tv box but it sounds really good!!!
If you are looking specifically at commercial ones only, I read that AppleTV is the least evil. https://www.tomsguide.com/tvs/apple-tv-4k-is-still-the-best-streaming-box-when-it-comes-to-privacy
Obviously there are better opensource options out there.
On the spectrum of convenience vs privacy I think this is closest to the sweet spot on the side of convenience. Use a commercial “monitor” (TV that doesn’t require smart features to work). The closest to the middle on the side of privacy is setting a PC up with your TV logged in to all your streaming services.
Uah not a big wife approval factor or kids approval or people visiting.
There is a guy making LineageOS Android TV builds for Raspberry Pi and other devices.
Its quite nice on a pi5. Paired it running VPN, and control d private dns (set using adb) for tracker/ad blocking. Side note, over 50% blocking shows how much spyware crap going on with tv apps. Add in a cheap Bluetooth air mouse and its very workable & solid.
For clarity, I only run Pluto TV, tubi, pipepipe and Fred TV. And its NOT for those looking for the smoothest experience, may not be family friendly . But been using a few years now, couldn’t be happier
2nd hand mini PC running Linux?
https://plasma-bigscreen.org/ looks nice, though I haven’t used it.The bigger privacy concerns are going to be from the streaming services you use, not the box itself, unless your using something like a SuperBox which is a known botnet.
might get some hate here for this one but my parents hooked me up with vseebox. Just don’t log any info into it. This is coming straight from a tech illiterate person so I don’t fuck around with Linux or anything
Congrats you’re part of another botnet.
Not quite sure what that means
C’mon, then why did you think you were going to get hate for this? And you don’t know what a botnet is?
Vseebox’s are part of a known botnet. Some of the original boxes were a part of a net called Badbox. After that was discovered, some modifications were made to the code, it was rediscovered and this version is called, unsurprisingly, Badbox 2.0.
Just in case you truly don’t know, by using these products you are contributing to the botnet, facilitating less harmful things like ad fraud, to much more harmful things like illicit proxy services, malware distribution, and DDoS offerings.
Vseebox’s aren’t the only devices that feed into this botnet either.
Oh. shit. Is the crypto mining thing true, too?
Not really, you’re just part of a residential proxy network and all the information that can be discerned about your network and the devices connected to it is being collected by the people who run that residential proxy network.
Is that any different or worse than like, google and apple?
Depends on your definition of worse.
On the one hand you’re 100% being used as a proxy for illegal activities that could get the cops sent to your door looking to do a search for csam and the defenses of equipment on your network are being probed and either directly exploited or catalogued and sold to the highest bidder. Cameras and microphones on compromised equipment are activated and used periodically to perform surveillance and monitoring and there is at least one documented example of someone being blackmailed as part of a pig butchering scam because of that.
On the other hand Google wants to sell your information to advertisers and apple wants to use it to advertise directly to you.
So it’s kinda six or one half dozen of the other.
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