Comment on “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen

AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• dugmeup@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Oh please do tell more

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  • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So, I use regex to block all Roku domains on my network via pihole:

    (ads|logs|cloudservices|image|images|web|prod.mobile|wwwimg|captive|customer-feedbacks|amoeba|amoeba2|sr|giga.sb|cs).roku(.admeasurement)*.com$

    Then, possibly overkill due to the above, I used OpnSense firewall rules to block all traffic from my Roku tv. I think I just got fed up with seeing Roku spam in my pihole, as the above regex seems to completely “break” Roku.

    After that, I set up FLauncher (following the method #2 instructions on the gitlab page) on my shield. This makes it so I only see the Roku launcher for a few seconds while the shield starts up, and then I’m dropped straight into flauncher. I chose flauncher because it’s very simple and barebones, so you might want to explore other options if you want more advanced features. I don’t really need those features since I’m usually using an app anyway.

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    • AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Shoutout to the PiHole team!

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    • amphy@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Had no idea FLauncher existed. Thank you so much

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    • dugmeup@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Thanks! I have nothing brand new as I am le poor :)

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• firadin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Is there any point in getting anything above the bottom tier Shield? Just trying to use it to replace my chromecast/stream tv and youtube

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  • AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Get an AppleTV.

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    • fishpen0@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      [deleted]

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      • firadin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I assume being Apple that it’s not possible to sideload apps not supported on the app store? In particular I’d like to use some kind of a SmartTube or other youtube app that is ad free

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  • consumptionone@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have been using an onn 4k streaming box, which runs Google TV. They’re $20. It’s pretty easy to disable the default launcher and have it boot to Flauncher. Then you can side load smart tube for an ad free YouTube experience asking with Plex, stremio, or whatever else you want to stream.

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    • grue@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I’ve got a couple of those that I bought shortly after the LTT video, but I’m still using my Roku because I still haven’t gotten around to jailbreaking and configuring them.

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      • consumptionone@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Do it. It’s very easy, and then you can ditch the Roku. There’s even an ADB app you can load to remove unwanted apps on-device.

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    • melfie@lemmings.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Same. I think it’s also possible to flash them with LineageOS, but swapping out the launcher and using adb to remove anything superfluous is all I’ve done so far.

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    • brbposting@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Any ideas for easy OTA on a Roku smart TV w/o using the built-in OS?

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  • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    You should not buy a Shield. They haven’t been updated since…2019? And there’s really no reason to. Get the $20 WalMart one.

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    • CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The hardware is 10 years old and it wasn’t even shiny at the time. Shield is a damned joke.

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    • FoD@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      They just put out a huge update for the shield. Mine still plays the vast majority of things perfectly, even hevc and 4k content. I am perfectly happy with my shield pro. I’d buy one again if the current one shits the bed.

      What are my other options? Apple TV and what else? Everything else is ad ridden underpowered and lacking licenses to play media.

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      • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        They just put out a huge update

        I obviously meant a hardware update.

        What are my other options?

        Anything that runs on Android TV?

        Everything else is ad ridden

        And the Shield doesn’t have ads? You can bypass all the ads by installing productivity launcher, same as on the Shield.

        underpowered

        How much power do you think you need to stream videos?

        and lacking licenses to play media.

        I don’t even know what that means.

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  • melfie@lemmings.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I haven’t really compared the specs of between them recently, but I have the Pro, and the main decider for me at the time was that it was $50 more and has Ethernet. That being said, I added a USB Ethernet adapter to an Onn device and it works, though the first one I tried didn’t work. It was worth the $50 at the time not to deal with that for the Shield.

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  • limonfiesta@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Nvidia has absolutely destroyed the stock Shield TV experience with ads, but it’s easy to install custom launchers like Projectivy. The underlying system is still a privacy nightmare, but I genuinely don’t care that Nvidia knows what TV shows I watch.

    I mean, I do care, just not enough to use something like Kodi as my primary TV interface. Maybe if I used any ad supported services I’d feel differently, but I don’t, so meh.

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    • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      That’s not Nvidia, that’s Google.

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      • limonfiesta@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Yes, Google is an inextricably linked to all Google TV issues, but they didn’t force Nvidia to ruin the Shield TV’S launcher with ads, and other bloat.

        At least, not as far as I know. If you have sources saying otherwise, I’d be happy to take a look.

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