Alternatives to Roku/AppleTV for Jellyfin Client

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨nix98@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨selfhosted@lemmy.world⁩

My jellyfin collection has finally become large enough that I have been able to cancel all my streaming services. My issue now is that I want to get rid of my Roku’s that are hooked up to each TV.

Is there a good alternative? It MUST be family approved, meaning:

It is not visible (no desktop/laptop hooked up)
It is low power
It has a simple remote control
It supports Jellyfin
It is relatively cheap (< $150)

I am sure I could build something out of a raspberry pi, but:

I don’t need another project I have to fiddle with
It MUST support new codecs (h.265/AC1/aac/…) as I want direct play from my server
If it stutters/buffers once, it goes into the trash!

I’ve generally been mostly happy with my Roku, and my pi.hole blocks most of their analytics, but last week, I pressed the home button on my Roku and it started play a video add with audio. Completely unacceptable (That has happened twice in the last week). And in general, the more of this crap I can get out of my life the better!

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TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you’re happy with the Roku hardware and you’re going to cancel all your other streaming services, why not just firewall block the Roku from reaching out of your local network?

If you do that, Jellyfin will still work fine, and you won’t have the ability to get posted ads or anything else from the Roku, so it’ll just become a Jellyfin box.

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- Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’ve taken this approach, sometimes these boxes will act up when they can’t phone home. Definitely worth trying though.
  
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  - TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Worth that at least before you start looking at different hardware.
    
    Otherwise, it’s the same thing if you have a smart TV, download the Jellyfin app, and then just completely stop it from being able to connect anywhere else.
    
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  - nix98@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Have you tried it with a Roku? My pi.hole blocks most things, but I haven’t yet tried to completely block it from the Internet. In the past, I’ve had to allow some domains through my pi.hole or things would be completely broken, but that hasn’t happened in a while…
    
    I suppose I’d have to occasionally unblock it to get updates to the jellyfin app, which is doable.
    
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- SquiffSquiff@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I have a Rocku streaming stick and it won’t work without an internet connection
  
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  - TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Oh, that’s absolutely horrible that they designed it that way. 🤮
    
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AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
AppleTV connected via Ethernet.

You’re chasing a unicorn with your requirements.

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- gray@pawb.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  This ^
  
  Simple, no ads, and handles HDR super well
  
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  - AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    And the Ethernet port is actually gigabit.
    
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- lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  We have a couple Apple TVs. As much as I dislike the walled garden, they are very good for what they are.
  
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hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
For my parents, I got a $150 N100 mini PC, installed Bazzite, installed Jellyfin, and got the Pepper Jobs W10 Gyro remote. You have to configure Jellyfin to know it’s running on a TV and to accept keyboard input (the remote acts like a keyboard), but then everything works great. It’s a little over your budget, with the added remote.

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- Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Excellent - thanks for the remote recommendation, it’s one thing I’ve been struggling to find.
  
  Not sure I like the gyro idea - I had a gyro presentation mouse in the past. Worked well, but how do your parents like the gyro element?
  
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  - hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    They don’t use it unless my dad is watching a perfectly legal sports stream in the browser. It works really well though. I have 3 of those remotes, cause I love them.
    
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- dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  But Bazzite is a gaming OS, isn’t that very user unfriendly? Or do you auto start Jellyfin on startup? Or are your parents just… not boomers?
  
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  - hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Bazzite runs the SteamOS interface. It’s extremely user friendly. It’s designed to look like a console.
    
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MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you don’t want ads creeping in everywhere, the only prebuilt option is appletv. otherwise you have to build it yourself :/

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- a_baby_duck@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Not true, unless by “build yourself” you mean install Projectivy Launcher on any Android box that supports it.
  
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  - MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    What boxes support this then?
    
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- primemagnus@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  The aTV will give you the best experience when it comes to dark patterns. But just note, a new model is on the horizon, so hold out a little longer.
  
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RealisticDoughnut@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Its AppleTV.

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- britneypeers@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  There is a working app there now? Infuse etc. do not support HW transcoding…
  
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  - RealisticDoughnut@lemmy.ml ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Swiftfin. Works great for me with transcoding.
    
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bigb@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I use the ONN 4K Pro and the ProjectIvy launcher. You can completely hide the standard Android TV OS and its ads. Button Mapper is another good app to have on Android boxes. The remote is full of app-specific buttons that I’ve either disabled or remapped to alternative apps

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.…

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homeb…

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- adhocfungus@midwest.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  This is my exact setup. The upgrade from the smart TV was night and day. Apps load instantly and Jellyfin works great. Most importantly the remote is easy to use and can control the TV.
  
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- Landless2029@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I second this setup.
  
  I have 3 ONN sticks and they do the job. Great for the price. Just sideload Kodi, new launcher, remap buttons.
  
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- nafzib@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I am about to switch over to this setup from a Roku myself. I had seen recommendations for Flauncher, but I’m glad to see another launcher recommendation. I will have to try out Project Ivy. Thanks!
  
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  - CCMan1701A@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Im on flauncher, works for my needs
    
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  - bigb@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Flauncher is a great pick too
    
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Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Nvidia Shield. The regular version is $150 US and from what I understand it gives flawless playback. I have the pro version which is more powerful, but that’s specifically for running games.

It’s Android TV OS, so app selection is great. You can load Smart Tube Next on there to get YouTube without ads, and there’s a very solid Jellyfin app. You can also use Kodi for local direct playback. Remote is perfectly functional, and you can use an app to rebind most of the keys.

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habitualcynic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I second the AppleTV recommendation based on your disgust with the Roku UI ads, I am completely on your side there, but my similar search has bought me to AppleTV.

I currently run Amazon Fire Sticks which also have UI ads but my pihole is catching most of them and it’s dirt cheap with h.265 support. Plus it runs various hacked apps like TVMob, Cinema, and Cyberflix. That’s what keeps me from moving to an AppleTV or an n100 box already.

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- nix98@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  How good is Jellyfin on AppleTV? My understanding was the app was a bit lacking…
  
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  - gray@pawb.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Use SwiftFin app instead on Apple TV, but better than the Jellyfin app.
    
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  - ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Swiftfin is the official Apple TV jellyfin app. Swiftfin is great on iOS, but hasn’t been updated on Apple TV for a while. It also lacks a lot of polish and features but it is being worked on. There should be an update soon.
    
    I’ve been using infuse on Apple TV. Infuse isn’t open source and needs a subscription to watch most 4k hdr content. I think it’s worth it if Swiftfin gets an update soon.
    
    Apple TV is definitely a better experience compared to Samsung and Android. Apps are nicer and there isn’t any ads, privacy controls and privacy statements are much better. Recommended content can also be disabled and only shows when your hovering over the relevant app.
    
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  - habitualcynic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Oh I haven’t made the leap yet due to the jailbreak apps but I’ve seen read that Jellyfin is decent on AppleTV, about as good as anywhere else. Probably not as polished as you’d expect on AppleTV but serviceable. I’ll update if I end up buying one!
    
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  - Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    The Swiftfin app is awesome
    
    github.com/jellyfin/Swiftfin
    
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- xnx@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Any guide you recommend for tvmob, cinema, and cyberflix?
  
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  - habitualcynic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    This worked best for me for Linux ISOs on my fire stick:
    
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- uzay@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  What filters are you using in pihole to filter the fire stick ads?
  
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  - habitualcynic@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Hagezi’s pro and above blocks the sponsored video ones which I found most intrusive: raw.githubusercontent.com/…/native.amazon.txt
    
    These usually break the UI but you can still access apps so it’s functional.
    
    unagi-eu.amazon.com
    
    ktpx-eu.amazon.com
    
    I’m using the hagezi list for now
    
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CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I use Kodi with the jellyfin plugin, but I can’t recommend that for ‘normies’ because the interface is not simple, and I still have glitches with it.

I’m also looking for a solution like yours, but wanted you to have that feedback.

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- CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I don’t know how Kodi still goes on for this long. I messed around with it over a decade ago and had all the same issues back then.
  
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  - CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I mean, it’s free and it does work, so I won’t complain, but I wouldn’t push this on any but my most technical friends.
    
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  - AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Some people want local serverless playback.
    
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- showmeyourkizinti@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’m kinda of lost with this. I run 3 librelec units on RaspberryPis velcroed to the back of TVs in my house and once I set them up they run easy as. I set them by setting what my network are ( I’m a bit of a data hoarder so I’ve got each tv series in their own folders and each movie and their filled in its own folders) and then hitting scan. Is it because of Jellyfin that you’re having problems? I tried setting it up but gave up when I realised I’d have to let it be a server and frankly I don’t trust my in-laws not to fuck up and post all my details on their Facebook to show off their new personalise steaming services.
  
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  - CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I guess you are saying you only run Kodi? Yes it is Kodi with the jellyfin plugin talking to a jellyfin server that is the source of the few woes I have with it. Honestly it works really well, but when something is wrong I would say due to the UI it’s beyond most non-technical people to sort it out easily.
    
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iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Nothing to add, but also interested in this same scenario. I could only think of the Nvidia Shield.

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- dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Nvidia shield is less user friendly than Roku I think
  
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  - CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    And it runs Google services, and it costs a fortune, and it hasn’t seen a refresh in 6 years.
    
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SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
LibreELEC on an old chromebook!

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SpatchyIsOnline@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’m currently using a raspberry pi 5 flashed with Konstakang’s Android TV image, it works pretty flawlessly and takes less than an hour to set up, assuming you have the APKs of everything you want to install. You don’t need to mess around with Google play services because most TV android apps are also designed to run on firesticks which don’t have it.

The one issue I have encountered is that the Jellyfin client very occasionally won’t play some 4k HDR media in the default player (all my 1080p stuff works fine) so I also installed MPV and I turn on alternative player in the Jellyfin settings in the rare case something doesn’t work.

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- haque@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I did not like the Rpi5 with Android TV as a jellyfin client. There is no support for Dolby Vision HDR content and playback of other 4k media was stuttering. With DV content I got the purple/green tinted picture. Sometimes the pi would only display a quarter of the picture.
  
  I used Konstakangs AndroidTV image with a flirc USB Dongle for use with a tv remote. F-Droid store apk for all necessary apps.
  
  If you have any recommendations how to fix stuttery 4k playback I would be interested. For now I just stick with the built in Android TV of my sony television.
  
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  - SpatchyIsOnline@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I remember trying the Android TV 14 image a while ago and it was basically unusable as you describe, the new Android TV 15 image has fixed virtually all those issues for me. YMMV but IMO it’s worth experimenting and seeing if it works for you, there’s a chance I just got lucky though
    
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demunted@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you are in the USA. The Walmart onn 4k (20$) and 4k pro (50$) are amazing for the price. The remotes are really good too.

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- billwashere@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It’s just a matter of time before those are enshittified as well.
  
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  - nix98@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Can you de-google these? I have a personal rule against any google accounts or google devices…
    
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Chef6652@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Way over-budget for your taste I guess but I still wanted to make a note here for representation sake. Look into the brand Zidoo. I have Zidoo Z9X 8K, it’s the best client I could dream of! ~250$

Cons:

Android based (outdated AF but still)

Maybe not so secure (http server always on while the device is on, atm)

Pros:

Very good support of Dolby Vision, 4K (8K maybe?)

Very pretty, both hardware and software very polished IMO

The remote is glorious, tactile with backlight

Lots of other cool things

Very snappy Android experience

it just works™

The audio downmixing works great, compared to the Google TV which was very bad

First party Jellyfin support among others
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merthyr1831@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It’s surprising how slow open source is on replicating Roku. So many manufacturers could be using Linux to bypass androidTV and RokuOS bullshit. I suppose AndroidTV is good enough even despite that.

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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I think it’s a chicken and egg problem. A FOSS Roku-replacement needs apps to make get popular, and manufacturers won’t port their apps until it’s popular. Basically, manufacturers need someone with a big marketing budget to help them feel comfortable investing in a platform, but that’s not going to happen with a nice FOSS platform.
  
  Maybe if we collectively raise like $100M or something, we could put together a big enough marketing budget to convince some of the bigger names (Netflix, HBO, etc) to take the risk, and the rest will follow if it’s popular enough. Maybe.
  
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- Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Both use Linux under the hood. You can even install LineageOS on some TVs.
  
  The only reason AndroidTV is bullshit is the manufacturers because casual users want shit like Netflix and Prime preinstalled. Google TV in particular comes with a lot of crap and the ads, which believe it or not some users take as a feature.
  
  But that’s not inherent to Android TV as an OS, it’s exactly like Android phones and manufacturers preloading a bunch of crap to make an extra buck. If your run AOSP you get none of that crap, and it’s fully open-source.
  
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- keyez@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  There are a couple of devices, a few months ago during a similar discussion on Lemmy I saved this but doesn’t seem to be many videos or reviews out in the wild
  
  www.pishop.us/product/vero-v/
  
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  - nix98@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    This is very interesting. Do you know anyone who has actually tried these?
    
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wckring@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If it’s an option, the Xiaomi mi box it’s a cheap android TV device that plays probably everything. Costs around 60 euro in eu. If not you coul always go for Google TV with a custom launcher to block stock android launcher ads.

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- iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Google TV forces its own launcher on top after every goddamn update. They’re becoming really obnoxious.
  
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sj_zero ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I use Chromecast with android TV, it's about perfect with jellyfin, and if I were to domit again I'd probably spend the little extra for the 4k model even though my TV is 1080p (more horsepower). You can run a different homescreen to somewhat degoogle it.

Probably not what you're looking for given what you've lined up here, but I live and breathe with it every day and it's great, and as an added benefit you can cast from a lot of services or websites as well.
Gabadabs@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ve personally been using a raspberry pi with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I just run jellyfin in Firefox and navigate with the mouse - the keyboard rarely ever being necessary. I was able to increase the icon size so it’s acceptable on a tv and bookmark any streaming websites I use. It’s certainly not as clean as using something like an apple tv, but it’s serviceable and I don’t have to fiddle with plugins like when I tried Kodi. Honestly though, apple tv probably fulfills what you’re looking for like others have said.

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slacktoid@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Get one of those miniPCs with the Intel N95 or Intel N100 chips. Install kodi. Install the jellyfin plugin and you’re good to go.

You can control it via one of those remotes on amazon with a USB dongle and it powers on the TV and the device.

You’ll have to install the artic theme on jellyfin and mess with the view options a bit for something more polished but once done it just works I’ve been using mine for 3 years and it’s been pretty solid.

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1hitsong@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
👋😢

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grue@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
My plan is to use the $20 Onn (Walmart store-brand) Android TV box LTT recommended as being eminently jailbreakable about a year ago, but I haven’t actually gotten around to hooking it up yet so I can’t authoritatively endorse it.

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- GroundedGator@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Been using Onn boxes for years and absolutely love them. They are about as pure android TV as you can get. I would definitely recommend the 50$ pro version over the 20$ original though.
  
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enemenemu@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you do not want stuttering, use a graphics card. Higher energy consumption but you can play everything
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- CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  If they have a 5th gen or newer Intel CPU, Quicksync will work excellently for transcoding
  
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  - enemenemu@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    For how many devices?
    
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primemagnus@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It seems like the most obvious answer is to build your own with a Pi. Run Linux and then install any player you want. You could even use the Pi as the head then network your storage.

Also, FWIW, the latest Apple TV hasn’t seen an upgrade in about 3-4 years, so if you do go that route, bear that in mind. A new model is coming sooner than later (hopefully this year).

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- Jarix@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Did you read far enough to see that didn’t want another project? Or did you just decide that needed to hear a suggestion they already rejected again because if YOU tell them they might listen to you?
  
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