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I have done some search and have be unable to find something like was I am looking for. Also I would like to start off by saying sorry if this is not the correct area to post this, but it was the area that made since to me.
On the Kindle Fire there are different applications for streaming video content that you can install, but currently the only one way, that i know of, for searching that content. That is that you go into their respective application individually and do a search one at a time for the movie you are looking for.
On the Google TV there is an application, called TV & Movies for Google TV, that allows you to search all your media sources for the movie/video you are looking for, called Google TV & Movies. I am sure it would not work on the Kindle Fire, but the idea is still one that amazes me.
I guess before I make this to long I should ask, is there an application out there that will do vertically the same exact thing? Is there a 'TV & Movies for Google TV' but instead for the Kindle fire?
It would be nice if it would search for the applications already installed (so it knows which ones to search and display videos from), display content in a nice and easy UI (similar to that on Google TV), and of course take you right to the content with a click of a button or two. I don't know, maybe I am asking for two much... I just intend to use the fire as a primary personal Video consumption device (of course that is if I get one for Christmas... if not I will be saving up to get one on my own).
Thank you in advance,
ErdMutter
Hi all,
I am glad I found this great forum and I hope I am posting on the correct subforum.
I am considering getting a Fire TV. It is currently at a great price on Amazon.de (84 euro), but since I want to replace my WD Live that i currently use, I want to have xbmc on it. On ebay there are many pre-rooted Fire TV with xbmc and add ons. but at an average of about 150 euro, I think it is stupid to buy them now if I can do it myself and if I can avoid rooting even better.
My main needs for the Fire TV (in priority irder) are :
1. SInce I am a Prime User of Amazon, I want to use Instant Video of Amazon
2. Stream HD video from my libraries from NAS drives
3. Other streaming add ons on xbmv like xStream, Navi-X, Sportsdevil
4. Web browsing, emulators, amazon apps
So my questions are ;
1. If I buy right now a new Fire TV, can I install xbmc using one of the guides without rooting it ? Are there sepcific models/versions of Fire TV that won't allow it ?
2. Can I use the streaming and other add ons of xbmc without rooting , or are there specific ones that require root ?
3. Do any of the streaming add ons using Bittorent ? In Germany while you currently have no issues with streaming or download , using torrents will get you quick and easy problems with the law. Feedback of german members is highly appreciated here.
Sorry for a very long first post, I hope the questions are clear and easy to answer. Please feel free to add anything you think it might be helpful in my case.
Many thanks and cheers !
Nf13 said:
Hi all,
I am glad I found this great forum and I hope I am posting on the correct subforum.
I am considering getting a Fire TV. It is currently at a great price on Amazon.de (84 euro), but since I want to replace my WD Live that i currently use, I want to have xbmc on it. On ebay there are many pre-rooted Fire TV with xbmc and add ons. but at an average of about 150 euro, I think it is stupid to buy them now if I can do it myself and if I can avoid rooting even better.
My main needs for the Fire TV (in priority irder) are :
1. SInce I am a Prime User of Amazon, I want to use Instant Video of Amazon
2. Stream HD video from my libraries from NAS drives
3. Other streaming add ons on xbmv like xStream, Navi-X, Sportsdevil
4. Web browsing, emulators, amazon apps
So my questions are ;
1. If I buy right now a new Fire TV, can I install xbmc using one of the guides without rooting it ? Are there sepcific models/versions of Fire TV that won't allow it ?
2. Can I use the streaming and other add ons of xbmc without rooting , or are there specific ones that require root ?
3. Do any of the streaming add ons using Bittorent ? In Germany while you currently have no issues with streaming or download , using torrents will get you quick and easy problems with the law. Feedback of german members is highly appreciated here.
Sorry for a very long first post, I hope the questions are clear and easy to answer. Please feel free to add anything you think it might be helpful in my case.
Many thanks and cheers !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1/ No, you can install without need for root.
2/ No, addons install in XBMC does not require root.
3/ No, streaming protocol is different from bit torrent. You can choose to install an addon that acts as a bit torren client to download files and watch it, but it is your choice. No addons in XBMC will trick you into using bit torrent without your acknowledgment. If you are worry about piracy,you are better off paying for Hulu and such since using primewire or 1channel is the same as illegal torrenting.
vi6s said:
1/ No, you can install without need for root.
2/ No, addons install in XBMC does not require root.
3/ No, streaming protocol is different from bit torrent. You can choose to install an addon that acts as a bit torren client to download files and watch it, but it is your choice. No addons in XBMC will trick you into using bit torrent without your acknowledgment. If you are worry about piracy,you are better off paying for Hulu and such since using primewire or 1channel is the same as illegal torrenting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for your answer :good:
Ordered it today, still at the same good price, but I have to wait a week for delivery as the demand was probably high (until 2 days ago it was next day delivery). They also had the Logitech K400 keyboard at a reduced price today so I added this as well, from what I read through the forum it is well supported. I have to search a bit more about game controller though.
I downloaded ADB, xbmc Gotham 13.2, copied all video files from various HDD to the NAS drives, and now we wait....
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
jpage101 said:
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am quite excited to be honest, amazon also send me an email that it will arrive today instead of Monday as originally planned (so now I have to find somewhere to send my wife and the kids until I set everything up , a day pass at theme park probably )
The lack of Amazon Video and the speed was the main reason for me too. Especially after the root on WD to use Movie Sheets for the movies it became slower that death ...
As I am not familiar with xbmc, if I have a movie file , named after the movie (as it appears on imdb), is there an add on that creates a movie sheet (info, thumbnail, etc) or do I have to create them manually ? Any link will also help.
Cheers
Really enjoying it so far !
Everything runs smooth and I found the answer for anything xbmc related in the xbmc forums.
Sideloading apps was extremely easy following one of the guides found, the only issue (if you can call it "issue") was the command :
adb install blahblah.apk
it failed because of multiple devices. I run adb devices and it was an emulator-5554. Did some research you can either kill it or use this command :
adb -s <Fire TV IP: Port> install blahblah.apk instead and it works like a charm.
Hope it helps if someone faces this issue.
Cheers !
jpage101 said:
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious how you use this as a replacement local streamer over WD TV Live.
I have WD, it's UI is terrible, BUT. I need full non transcoded blu-ray video(H.264,VC-1), 7.1 DTS-MA and True-HD sound. Am I missing something or is none of this really possible with Fire?
Not trying to be a jerk, but want to make sure I am not missing something about the Fire. If so PLEASE fill me in.
gottahavit said:
Curious how you use this as a replacement local streamer over WD TV Live.
I have WD, it's UI is terrible, BUT. I need full non transcoded blu-ray video(H.264,VC-1), 7.1 DTS-MA and True-HD sound. Am I missing something or is none of this really possible with Fire?
Not trying to be a jerk, but want to make sure I am not missing something about the Fire. If so PLEASE fill me in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As local streamer, I use xbmc and NAS drives and it works perfectly. I don't have the same needs in sound, so I am more than ok with the formats supported. H.264, VC-1 is supported afaik.
Cheers
Nf13 said:
As local streamer, I use xbmc and NAS drives and it works perfectly. I don't have the same needs in sound, so I am more than ok with the formats supported. H.264, VC-1 is supported afaik.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting specs say vc1 but ...
according to this http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV it dont work nor does dtsma passthrough. Too bad.
Hello Guys,
I've recently bought a Fire TV box with the original intention of using it to replace my HTPC in the bedroom to run my XBMC and also as a player for my Netflix streaming. It's been running KODI flawlessly. Interestingly, I've been an Amazon customer for close to a decade, yet have never considered joining their Prime membership. After owning the FTV, I looked more into it and finally decided to cancel my Netflix subscription and signed up for Amazon Prime; I figure all the perks included in it is worth the whole deal. Anyways, I've been tinkering around with the Prime Instant Video (PIV) on the FTV the last couple days and notice some inconsistencies between the video libraries in the Amazon page on my browser versus the accessible titles on the FTV app itself. So my question is....are we able to search/browse the whole PIV library from the FTV as we could from the browser? The GUI of the FTV seems to only list out some featured movies or tv shows.
I haven't noticed any differences to be honest. If I see something while browsing online, I use the search function to find it on my FTV later. Or, just add it to my watchlist while in my browser and it shows up on FTV watchlist.
I'm in the UK though, so maybe in your region it's different. If you have any examples, I can check mine to see if it's the same issue. I know Hulu in the US have different streaming rights depending on the platform/app, so may well be the case with Amazon as well, but I would be surprised.
Got here in germany also different lists on the browser and in the AFTV GUI. You have to use the search function to search through the complete list.
esc0rpi0n said:
Got here in germany also different lists on the browser and in the AFTV GUI. You have to use the search function to search through the complete list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I guess the best method to use is either to search it or just view it on the computer when I have time and save it in the favorites list. Have a good weekend!
Hi - I know I can change my country on the respectively Amazon website to download the apps onto my FTV, but I was wondering if there's somewhere I can just download and sideload them?
Apps that have such geo-specific restrictions: ITV (UK), UKTV (UK), NHK World TV (JP)
Or perhaps there's a thread in here somewhere I just missed?
My experience is that's it's not that simple to rip an official Fire TV app from Amazon without having a rooted Fire TV. Sideloaded APK app versions that rely on a usb wireless keyboard / mouse or bluetooth keyboard work without issues. Tried my Android phone and Nexus 7 to get the official apk version that works with the Fire TV off those devices and sideloaded to my FIre TV, but it would always take me to Amazon underground and install it directly without leaving an APK version of it to transfer to the Amazon Fire TV.
If you want to download the apk versions of those channels from one location, you could sideload the aptoide app store, but it can be keyboard dependent as sometimes it'll use a web browser ( I've tried boat browser, firefox, maxthon...take your pick and download them through aptoide ) looking for the apk file of the app you are interested in.
If you go in another direction, you'll find the most efficient way is to install these channels through Kodi using the add-ons for the respective channel. Call Kodi a one stop shop app for all your channel viewing. It saves the hassle of downloading say the ITV apk app and avoids having to use a keyboard to make it work. Highly recommend you familiarize yourself with Kodi if you haven't already. Another official channel on the Fire TV is the MediaHHH app. It's available on the Amazon Fire TV app menu ( At least for U.S viewers ). That's basically all the U.K freeview live channels on an official app and it works perfectly well without a proxy or vpn required which you'll need if you use either the sideloaded apk version of an app or run the add-on channels using Kodi.
My observation is that if you switch say Amazon locations on your Fire TV and download a regional official APP like the BBC iplayer, you'll lose it when you log back in to your local Amazon Fire TV account, but if all you want are the apps in that location then you shouldn't have a problem as long as you add a geo-proxy to your network or VPN access added to your router.
If someone knows how to pull off a rip of an official Fire TV app without root or knows how to get a ripped version from their Android phone / tablet of an official Amazon Fire TV app, not the universal apk ver, I'm all ears on how to do it.
callanish said:
My observation is that if you switch say Amazon locations on your Fire TV and download a regional official APP like the BBC iplayer, you'll lose it when you log back in to your local Amazon Fire TV account, .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know for a fact that this not true. You can go it amazon content settings and change your locale to UK. Doing so, will allow you to search and download UK apps to your Fire TV. Once done switch it back to US and you can now search for US apps. The US and UK apps reside side by side and can be launched without issues (assuming you have SmartDNS).
None of the above can be accomplished on a Roku - which is why I really love this device.
Strange. Every time I've tried this in the past, the U.K apps disappeared ( 2 Fire TV's ver 1 and 1 Fire tv stick ), but that was a while ago. Maybe they've changed something in their firmware that allows you to do this now, because I remember hitting a brick wall a while back. and gave up Thanks for the heads up. I'll try it again and see if I can make it work now.
vulcan195 said:
I know for a fact that this not true. You can go it amazon content settings and change your locale to UK. Doing so, will allow you to search and download UK apps to your Fire TV. Once done switch it back to US and you can now search for US apps. The US and UK apps reside side by side and can be launched without issues (assuming you have SmartDNS).
None of the above can be accomplished on a Roku - which is why I really love this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
callanish said:
Call Kodi a one stop shop app for all your channel viewing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you can help me - I use a LG smarphone to download apps from the Playstore and sideload to AFTV2. My issue is that since its a smartphone, the APKs it downloads is suited for a phone screen and not for the TV. Is there a way within Kodi to download different variants of the same APK. Google Playstore URL is the same on any device - except the APK that is made available on the page is dependent on the device requesting the download.
---------- Post added at 04:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 PM ----------
callanish said:
Strange. Every time I've tried this in the past, the U.K apps disappeared ( 2 Fire TV's ver 1 and 1 Fire tv stick ), but that was a while ago. Maybe they've changed something in their firmware that allows you to do this now, because I remember hitting a brick wall a while back. and gave up Thanks for the heads up. I'll try it again and see if I can make it work now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bear in mind that the approach I used did not involved signing out of my Amazon account. All the downloads happens with my single account (only the locales are switched).
I'm not quite sure what kind of experience you've had with Kodi, but Kodi basically is the hub. The channels aren't apps, they're addons from repositories that run content. When kodi is installed, you either rely on the repository that comes with kodi or you continue to add repositories to increase your content options. Those repositories usually come in Zip form and you can sideload them over to Kodi then install them under system / addons. Another way is to type in the URL for the repository directly. Kodi will then add the repository and after that you can install the plugins from that repository. I'm not quite sure if that even remotely answered your question, but just know that Kodi manages and automatically updates content through the repository and that content is universal, so whatever you add to kodi doesn't require an app to function, so you'll never come across a problem with installing phone vs tablet apps
Okay, if I understand you correctly you're looking for the non-phone apk version of an app. The easiest way is probably just to sideload the aptoide app on to the fire TV and download and install the apk apps from there. Aptoide can be browser dependent if it can't find a version of the app you are looking for and will open up a browser to find the apk file somewhere else for download ( In other words download a browser to the Fire TV - Boat browser for tablets is a good one ). You could try just installing the aptoide app on your LG phone and transfer the apk file to your Amazon Fire TV. I've done that before and all versions were non-phone apps. Downside with the standard APK apps on the Fire TV has always been that most of them are keyboard / mouse dependent requiring a usb / bluetooth - keyboard / mouse or app with a keyboard / touchpad that works with the fire tv.
http://www.aptoide.com/page/apps or look up the aptoide.apk file in google to download it and then sideload it. I've had no issues with aptoide and I've been using it for years.
P.S I'll look into what you mentioned. I've been signing into another Amazon account from the U.K, thus losing all my U.S apps. If I manage the settings on the same Amazon U.S account and do a country change to the U.K, maybe from there I can install the U.K official Amazon Fire TV apps directly to the Fire Tv box without losing my U.S content. That's probably where I was going wrong before.
Edit............That was the problem. The solution was not to sign out and re-sign in. As you mentioned, you just have to change the country under the same Amazon account. Downloaded U.K official Fire TV apps and running great without the need for a keyboard / mouse. Thanks for the tip.
Info for the original poster of this thread. Try this link
http://www.eyeondemand.com/2014/10/24/how-to-combine-us-uk-and-de-apps-on-the-amazon-fire-tv/
vulcan195 said:
Perhaps you can help me - I use a LG smarphone to download apps from the Playstore and sideload to AFTV2. My issue is that since its a smartphone, the APKs it downloads is suited for a phone screen and not for the TV. Is there a way within Kodi to download different variants of the same APK. Google Playstore URL is the same on any device - except the APK that is made available on the page is dependent on the device requesting the download.
---------- Post added at 04:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 PM ----------
Bear in mind that the approach I used did not involved signing out of my Amazon account. All the downloads happens with my single account (only the locales are switched).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vulcan195 said:
I know for a fact that this not true. You can go it amazon content settings and change your locale to UK. Doing so, will allow you to search and download UK apps to your Fire TV. Once done switch it back to US and you can now search for US apps. The US and UK apps reside side by side and can be launched without issues (assuming you have SmartDNS).
None of the above can be accomplished on a Roku - which is why I really love this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the technique is change the settings on the amazon website or on the ftv?
jarayn said:
So the technique is change the settings on the amazon website or on the ftv?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You change the country settings on the Amazon Website, purchase / add the apps, then re-sync content on the Amazon Fire TV if required. One of the apps, I think it was the ITV player didn't show up immediately, but since I purchased it ( right term if it's free?? ), I could do a search on the main fire tv menu for the ITV player app and then I downloaded it. With all the U.K apps downloaded, I switched the country settings back to the U.S.
Thanks, got BBC and itv now. BBC is perfect but itv seems to require mouse still.
jarayn said:
Thanks, got BBC and itv now. BBC is perfect but itv seems to require mouse still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if you've tried this, but did you try deleting the app and then re-installing it. i've noticed just installing it over the one you already have won't replace it. The official itv player app doesn't require a mouse, so it must be either reinstalling the apk mouse version, or it hasn't synced the official app to your fire tv.
P.S You could try the STV ( Scottish television version of the Itv Player ) app. Pretty much the same content. One thing I noticed is you give up live content with the official ITV player, whereas you could get that with the mouse version. You can always get the live content of ITV through Kodi anyway.
Thanks, good idea. No live though is crazy, thats the only thing i would want itv for.
I don't want to install Kodi because I have no idea about the security rating of the repositories and packages. So far I only install from Amazon or Google Play (sideloaded).
I now have a single platform access to UK and US apps. Very happy. Cannot do this with any of the other devices.
vulcan195 said:
I don't want to install Kodi because I have no idea about the security rating of the repositories and packages. So far I only install from Amazon or Google Play (sideloaded).
I now have a single platform access to UK and US apps. Very happy. Cannot do this with any of the other devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, it's a great device and what's so great about it is just how open the platform is to allow us to do the things we can do with it. From an Ex-pat point of view, I just wanted to offer some various options that I've been using for receiving U.K content and thankfully you helped me solve one of those problems with getting the official U.K apps. If Kodi isn't your thing, then fortunately there are other ways to watch U.K content without having to go down that road. Alway good to have options, that's what I always say
The official ITV Player app on Fire TV is just a temp solution. It will soon be replaced by a new app called ITV Hub, which will have on demand and live tv for all the ITV channels
neil0129 said:
The official ITV Player app on Fire TV is just a temp solution. It will soon be replaced by a new app called ITV Hub, which will have on demand and live tv for all the ITV channels
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. Thanks for the info.
Hi all
I have the stick & the pro and have been using for IPTV, Netflix, YouTube etc mainly but I have moved house and have a lack of aerial so my old BT box that I used for freeview and recording is of no use. There is a satellite dish and LNB.
So I was wondering if I can use the shield for this either by connecting the LNB somehow or via an IPTV player that records. So a couple of questions...
As I understand it there is no way to connect the shield to the LNB and use it like that, is that correct? If I am wrong how do I do that please?
Secondly if I cannot do the above, or even if I can, would an IPTV player app or similar with the facility to record be a better option. If so does anyone have any recommendations please? I do not mind paying for the app as long as it works, I have read good things about the 'IPTV Tuner' app but cannot find anywhere if it records or just for viewing!
I've seen this but it has not been commented on for some time:
nVidia Shield Android TV
nVidia's Shield Android TV is an Android TV based set-top box, targeted at both home entertainment and gaming. The nVidia Shield Android TV was released in May 2015, and is the third-generation Shield hardware device. It can output 4K resolution to TV over HDMI and supports high definition...
forum.xda-developers.com
Thanks to all for reading.