[Q] Use mic to enter text? - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Just got my Fire TV and fiddled around a bit. I noticed that the built in microphone of the remote only works for the Amazon content search.
Can it somehow be used to dictate text? Searching on Youtube would be nice for example!

murr4y said:
Just got my Fire TV and fiddled around a bit. I noticed that the built in microphone of the remote only works for the Amazon content search.
Can it somehow be used to dictate text? Searching on Youtube would be nice for example!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure but I believe it only processes for a voice search. They have an Android app that has a virtual keyboard that you can use to type stuff in for any app, I use that if I want to search in Netflix or XBMC and it works great.

Related

Hopeful for Spotify

Posting in the Apps section, hoping this will get some visibility.
I am anxious to find a version of Spotify that will work. I tried the standard version from the the Play store and also the tablet version for the Kindle Fire, but both launch to wrong orientation (sideways) and the remote doesn't work to move around the menu buttons.
Opening this thread up for continued development discussion on this.
There's some apps that fix the orientation problem, and you can try a mouse to navigate if the remote doesn't, i'm not a the house right now so I cant try it, i will try it later.
Fixed the orientation issue. It takes decompiling the APK (used apktool for that) then removing any android:screenOrientation="portrait" attributes from the AndroidManifest.xml file. For good measure, I also commented out any calls to setOrientation(I)V in the smali files (not sure that's required for the Spofity app, but found I needed to do disable setRequestedOrientation(I)V in other apps for the FireTV)
Unfortunately, apktool doesn't want to recompile the Spotify resources cleanly for the builds I was using, but read through the errors it throws and just clean up the offending lines. I used an attached keyboard/mouse to login, but now I just use the Amazon remote to click through things on my playlists (on some of the screens, it helps to push the the left before scrolling up or down). If you hit the search box, the on screen keyboard shows up... so while it's not ideal, you can get by with the standard remote.
I've posted a build if you want to try it out:
ht tp://d-h.st/Lel
you can try an app like this for the orientation
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.fameit.rotate
Ruinerror said:
I've posted a build if you want to try it out:
ht tp://d-h.st/Lel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked great. Thanks so much!
Spotify is now listed as "coming later this year" on the Fire TV product page.
Spotify working in AFTV?
markgriffioen said:
Worked great. Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sideloaded it and it does play music, but the AFTV remote only manages to play and pause. I cannot scroll up or down or move in any direction, that I have to do with a USB keyboard.
Did you get the AFTV remote to work properly with spotify?
alexaweb said:
I sideloaded it and it does play music, but the AFTV remote only manages to play and pause. I cannot scroll up or down or move in any direction, that I have to do with a USB keyboard.
Did you get the AFTV remote to work properly with spotify?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works fine for me, can scroll through playlist although you can't open the sidebar. I don't mind much as I only need to open it on my AFTV and then I use spotify connect to play stuff on it from my Tablet/Phone.
can't use the remote
Hi,
I installed your APK, and the app runs, however i ams suck at the first screen and can't log in, as the fire tv remote does not do anything. Am I doing something wrong?
any help welcome, cheers!
jobespierre said:
Hi,
I installed your APK, and the app runs, however i ams suck at the first screen and can't log in, as the fire tv remote does not do anything. Am I doing something wrong?
any help welcome, cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
meanwhile thete us a spotify app available from amazon for the fire tv. just lookbunder new apps in the ftv home.
Is the US version also only a Spotfiy Connect app?
APK file
kindly, could someone add the spotify APK file, so that i can use spotify in ther normal version (not remote one) thanks a lot.

Anyone know if Cheapcast works?

It would great to sideload the cheapcast app in order to turn the FTV into a remote Google Play Music streamer, and also to send the occasional youtube video over without having to manually search for something with the remote.
floepie said:
It would great to sideload the cheapcast app in order to turn the FTV into a remote Google Play Music streamer, and also to send the occasional youtube video over without having to manually search for something with the remote.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheapcast is pretty much broken since after Google released Chromecast SDK. The Allcast app by koush is supposed to be compatible with FTV.
adfurgerson said:
Cheapcast is pretty much broken since after Google released Chromecast SDK. The Allcast app by koush is supposed to be compatible with FTV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Allcast by koush is already on the Amazon app store, you can install it directly from the fire tv without side loading it, is under entertainment category.
2fastkuztoms said:
Allcast by koush is already on the Amazon app store, you can install it directly from the fire tv without side loading it, is under entertainment category.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look in playstore it lists ftv as compatible along with chromecast, xbox360, roku , appletv, etc. which would seem to indicate ftv can be used to receive content from another device. Side loading cheapcast would be done in order to receive on ftv also, but OP doesn't mention what device they want to send from.
adfurgerson said:
If you look in playstore it lists ftv as compatible along with chromecast, xbox360, roku , appletv, etc. which would seem to indicate ftv can be used to receive content from another device. Side loading cheapcast would be done in order to receive on ftv also, but OP doesn't mention what device they want to send from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat as OP and this thread seems to be going off the rails.
The reason we want CheapCast to work on FireTV is so that we can mirror tabs from a Windows or Mac laptop onto the Fire TV. AllCast does not help here at all.
The question is can you install CheapCast on FireTV and use it to mirror a Chrome tab to the Fire TV from your laptop.
Well, I was hoping that Cheapcast could be run as a service in the background on the FTV to listen for casting requests from the various Android compatible apps just like the CC does. Essentially, it would allow the FTV to become an AppleTV in the iOS world, so that if you send something to the FTV, it would immediately stop whatever it was playing and directly play that which was casted (youtube vids, play music, etc.).
Thats fine but if you had of read the first reply, Cheapcast is practically dead! Google updated the sdk and since then cheapcast has had limited uses, there's a few apps still using the old sdk but as soon as they are updated they will no longer work as well. If chrome tabs are still working they wont for much longer.
The developers own post on the matter
floepie said:
Well, I was hoping that Cheapcast could be run as a service in the background on the FTV to listen for casting requests from the various Android compatible apps just like the CC does. Essentially, it would allow the FTV to become an AppleTV in the iOS world, so that if you send something to the FTV, it would immediately stop whatever it was playing and directly play that which was casted (youtube vids, play music, etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be worth a look.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waxrain.airplayer&hl=en
adfurgerson said:
This may be worth a look.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waxrain.airplayer&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, that won't solve the problem. We want to emulate a Chromecast dongle. This way we can still use the Chromecast features from our phones/tablets.
Chinpokomon said:
Nope, that won't solve the problem. We want to emulate a Chromecast dongle. This way we can still use the Chromecast features from our phones/tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I read that wrong. How bout this?
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/1...sic-pictures-and-video-to-any-android-device/
adfurgerson said:
Yep I read that wrong. How bout this?
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/1...sic-pictures-and-video-to-any-android-device/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. That's the same problem. With FireTV, you can't use Google services. So there isn't a way to use Play Music, or download apps from the Play Store, or stream movies from Play Movies and TV. Cheapcast looked like a was an app that looked like a Chromecast dongle, so in theory you could install the app on FireTV and have the best of both worlds.
Another 6 months went by, any update? Just got the fire tv stick, it's so cool, runs kodi perfectly. Would be good to have Cheapcast or similar running to imitate a Chromecast...

Time Warner TWC TV App - Info on Solutions for AFTV

Starting this thread to hopefully gather some steam for getting the TWC TV app working via sideload on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.
I've tried loading the most recent hacked version for Android, which was suppose to ignore the ADB request and also let you use the app away from home. It DOES sideload, but immediately alerts you that it's out of date. Then it takes you to the Amazon App store, and shows you the updated version of the app, but then says it's not compatible with the device.
I wondered if the version available for the Kindle Fire tablets is more compatible, but can't find the apk anywhere to test it.
I've also read it IS possible to sideload (not sure of what version) but requires root in order to use a keyboard/mouse (or emulator). That info was prior to the stick being offered AND the Fire TV Remote app being available. So I wonder if there's a way to use the keyboard option in the remote app instead of a USB mouse/keyboard IF we could get a working version of the app sideloaded at all?
Feel free to comment with other obstacles/possibilities/experiences. All the info I've found via MANY searches so far relating to this app and the AFTV specifically is spread among MANY different pages and threads - so I'm hoping we can at least aggregate that info here and save fellow AFTV users some trouble. Thanks in advance!
itbedave said:
Starting this thread to hopefully gather some steam for getting the TWC TV app working via sideload on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.
I've tried loading the most recent hacked version for Android, which was suppose to ignore the ADB request and also let you use the app away from home. It DOES sideload, but immediately alerts you that it's out of date. Then it takes you to the Amazon App store, and shows you the updated version of the app, but then says it's not compatible with the device.
I wondered if the version available for the Kindle Fire tablets is more compatible, but can't find the apk anywhere to test it.
I've also read it IS possible to sideload (not sure of what version) but requires root in order to use a keyboard/mouse (or emulator). That info was prior to the stick being offered AND the Fire TV Remote app being available. So I wonder if there's a way to use the keyboard option in the remote app instead of a USB mouse/keyboard IF we could get a working version of the app sideloaded at all?
Feel free to comment with other obstacles/possibilities/experiences. All the info I've found via MANY searches so far relating to this app and the AFTV specifically is spread among MANY different pages and threads - so I'm hoping we can at least aggregate that info here and save fellow AFTV users some trouble. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to be able to sideload the time warner app, if you get any info about this let me know.
is the latest version 3.6.6.6 . I just installed via aptoide market store and it goes to login screen no probs. I have aptoide installed on my fire tv
Latest version works for me after side loading. I use an air mouse for navigation.
bradwatson said:
Latest version works for me after side loading. I use an air mouse for navigation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is the air mouse an app or a real mouse? trying to figure out how to navigate.
xQuestx said:
is the air mouse an app or a real mouse? trying to figure out how to navigate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
F10 mele pro remote.
xQuestx said:
is the air mouse an app or a real mouse? trying to figure out how to navigate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey XQuest, would you mind elaboratinhg a bit on the integration with the FireTV, particularly with the TWC app? Also since you have it working, does the twc app output in dolby digital? thanks for your help
Buy this Airmouse, it works perfectly and is my primary remote now. Works perfect with the Twc app just that I also can't get the away from home to work.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261674186045&alt=web
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
Thanks for the suggestion, awesome. Do you know if the twc app on fire tv will put out dolby digital?
ok so side loading works and app runs so far. im using the wukong remote app. its pretty awesome. I figured out how to get around and play on demand content, but live tv is another story, i can't seem to get the channels to scroll, i can click on the last channel on the bottom and it switches to that channel and then repeat to move the list until i get to the channel i want, but i cant scroll the list to get to the channel i want. any ideas?
jrosaly said:
ok so side loading works and app runs so far. im using the wukong remote app. its pretty awesome. I figured out how to get around and play on demand content, but live tv is another story, i can't seem to get the channels to scroll, i can click on the last channel on the bottom and it switches to that channel and then repeat to move the list until i get to the channel i want, but i cant scroll the list to get to the channel i want. any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to know how to get scrolling to work also. I wish TWC would get this app working for Fire TV. If it can work for Roku, it shouldn't be that much for them to make it work on the Fire TV. The channels that show on the one page stream great.
You can scroll using a remote. That has mouse and a left click button.
Wukong remote's mouse or trackpad function does not behave the same as using an actual mouse (don't know about the remotes/keyboard/trackpad combos). When you use wukong, it shows an actual mouse pointer (traditional style), when you use an actual mouse, a yellowish circle shows up and it allows you to click and drag, best way I can describe it is that it mimics a finger tip.
It would be cool if wukong emulated this mode, but I don't know how to reach out to the developer, since its pretty obvious he's a native asian language speaker. I will say that the festure that allows you to launch any app on your firetv directly from the wukong app is awesome. My room mate thinks I'm crazy having 3 or 4 different devices to control my fire tv
anyone care to kinda give me a little bit of training as to how to remove all the checks like vpn, adb, etc. I had a working version which I could use over vpn, but now everytime I launch the app it tells me that I have to upgrade to continue. I imagine you have to decompile the code and modify code, which even though I'm not a programmer, I feel pretty confortable doing with my college programming classes. Any help or pointers is appreciated. Or if someone has the latest working version even better. Thanks.

Applications List for working apk files on Fire TV

Hey All,
I thought this would be a useful thread where we could list all the working apps that have been side-loaded via adb and also via other methods like aftv side loader etc ,
So the following apps work for me using a wireless keyboard and trackpad mouse.
TVCatchup
TVMC
BT Sport
4OD
ITV Player
Uno Telly
ChromeBeta
Please contribute to the list I will update this list when ive installed and tested more apps.
herohonda777 said:
I thought this would be a useful thread where we could list all the working apps that have been side-loaded via adb and also via other methods like aftv side loader etc ,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not against the idea. Others have done it. What I think would be *most* helpful is if we would CLEARLY differentiate between rooted and non-rooted. I personally have wasted a fair amount of time because I had to hit that speed bump first and then turn around.
On my box-stock Fire TV, I side-loaded:
adobe.flashplayer.apk
com.altusapps.firedtvlauncher-1.1.0.apk
ES_File_Explorer_3.1.2.apk
Firefox_28.0.1.apk
MacroDroid_com.arlosoft.macrodroid_3.1.4_314.apk
xbmc-13.2-Gotham-armeabi-v7a.apk
wellersl said:
I'm not against the idea. Others have done it. What I think would be *most* helpful is if we would CLEARLY differentiate between rooted and non-rooted. I personally have wasted a fair amount of time because I had to hit that speed bump first and then turn around.
On my box-stock Fire TV, I side-loaded:
adobe.flashplayer.apk
com.altusapps.firedtvlauncher-1.1.0.apk
ES_File_Explorer_3.1.2.apk
Firefox_28.0.1.apk
MacroDroid_com.arlosoft.macrodroid_3.1.4_314.apk
xbmc-13.2-Gotham-armeabi-v7a.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a sweet list!
I got Dolphin Browser to work but the biggest one I got Working the PS4 Remote play app -
Side Loaded Dolphin Browser and then loaded up the PS4 remote app hooked up the PS4 Controller directin to the AFT and connected the remote play - No Lag issues at all playing FIFA 15 on my other screen in the house now!
Also tested Firefox.apk this will open the browser but will just close after I search something in Google! not sure why it wont work
herohonda777 said:
Also tested Firefox.apk this will open the browser but will just close after I search something in Google! not sure why it wont work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd. Unless its butting heads with Dolphin?
This version of Firefox? http://www.mediafire.com/download/rq57ptp5dbj0gsr/Firefox_28.0.1.apk
Ok to add apk's for the Fire TV stick?
If so:
BS Player 1.22.176
ES File Explorer 3.2.4.1
Both working great on my Fire stick.
Jacksmyname said:
Ok to add apk's for the Fire TV stick?
If so:
BS Player 1.22.176
ES File Explorer 3.2.4.1
Both working great on my Fire stick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any issues with BS Player closing in the middle of a movie? I've had this happen a couple times.
VivianC said:
Do you have any issues with BS Player closing in the middle of a movie? I've had this happen a couple times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet, but I'll post back here if I do. I've been using it for several years on a 10" Samsung Galaxy Tab with no issues. Not even a single hiccup that I can recall.
Mizuu works very well with the stock remote. To play a file it is easiest to press the play button on the remote since the play button on the in the interface does show highlighting for selection.
goodhur said:
Mizuu works very well with the stock remote. To play a file it is easiest to press the play button on the remote since the play button on the in the interface does show highlighting for selection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having trouble getting Mizuu to see my files. I can connect to my NAS as a source, but it's not finding movies. I have them sorted in individual folders to work well with XBMC. Not sure if that's an issue or not. It's no big deal because I do use XBMC, but a second option is always nice. Other than the library issue, Mizuu works wonderfully.
xm41907 said:
I am having trouble getting Mizuu to see my files. I can connect to my NAS as a source, but it's not finding movies. I have them sorted in individual folders to work well with XBMC. Not sure if that's an issue or not. It's no big deal because I do use XBMC, but a second option is always nice. Other than the library issue, Mizuu works wonderfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It takes a long time to go through the update(scan). I was thinking it didn't work at first. It seems like it does nothing for like 5 minutes then the movies begin appearing. Under settings>identification & search enable the sub-folder search. This app works only on wifi for scanning UPNP (great for the stick), the box on ethernet won't find dlna (however I think if you just do wifi to do DLNA scanning the plug back ethernet it still works). Manual entry of SMB works on the box and stick.
Some of the unique APKs I have side loaded on my AFS
Vulkano Player 5.1.261-connects to my Hava Platinum cable box streamer
Viki 3.0 - the GoogleTV version ripped from my Logitech Revue
Dramafever 01.00.09- also the GoogleTV version ripped from my Logitech Revue
The Sony PS4 Remote Play port works (as does the Sony DS4 controller out the box without any rooting required):
RemotePlayPortV0.7.3.apk
With the Ps4 remote play what I find is after I launch a game or app it will basically crash!
Any ideas why this could be ?
Also using the opera beta browser on this and it's a brilliant browser for the fire tv!
Side loaded also shoebox which isn't great think I will stick with tvmc.
herohonda777 said:
With the Ps4 remote play what I find is after I launch a game or app it will basically crash!
Any ideas why this could be ?
Also using the opera beta browser on this and it's a brilliant browser for the fire tv!
Side loaded also shoebox which isn't great think I will stick with tvmc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like one of two things:
1. You're not using the latest version of the app
2. you've not paired the DS4 directly with the Amazon Fire TV BEFORE you've tried to launch the app
..

Youtube Alternatives

So I'm having extreme frustrations with the native Youtube app for my Fire TV Stick. It's often slow, randomly crashes, CONSTANTLY lags without fail, and I can't even use the Amazon Fire TV Android app to type to search. It's just not an overall well done app for the Stick at least. I can't speak about the Fire TV Box, which I might purchase due to some sluggishness with the Stick (i.e. Youtube, Kodi, etc) So, I've tried other alternatives on the Amazon Appstore. Namely OneTube. It works decently, but it doesn't look too pretty, is difficult to find things when I don't know what I want to watch, and no Cast/pair support.
The older Youtube for Google TV works well, but unfortunately, when using the remote, I can't click the search box to search anything lol.
I've used the Youtube for Android TV 1.0.5.5 app(sideloaded) and, minus the regular complaints about the app itself, runs great! No lag, videos work fine, and I can type to search with the Amazon Fire TV app on my phone. Downside is that I can't seem to find a pair device setting in the app itself :/ Now maybe I need to sideload google play services in order to get it to show up? I'm not sure, but I thought that was only necessary if you wanted to sign into your YouTube account.
So my question is are there any alternate YouTube players that work well, or is there a way to pair my device with the new Youtube for Android TV app?
The kodi YouTube app works very well and you could use yatse to cast videos to it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

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