Hi,
Is there a way to tell if a play store app is native to Android TV?
In addition to the great list posted in the forum.
Otherwise you can confirm if the emulator MD.EMU (payment) and My Oldboy! (payment).
Or Is File Explorer Manager PRO (paid) supported? The free is but I have read that it is not the case of the payment.
Thank you!
Android TV devices are certified devices that come with a special version of play store, that only work in android tv devices.
If the apps you mention are found there it means they are compatible.
There are apps that work and support both handheld and tv modes, but there are others that only have leanback code in them and the rest are handheld only which dont have the leanback interface.
If you cant find those apps in official play store for Android TV you can sideload them or install a 3rth party market app to download them, but the apps may or may not work properly due to the lack of some permissions in Android TV OS, and also if the apps are not properly updated to work in nougat in first place.
You also have another alternative to Android TV , check my signature.
Sent from my Tapatalk Hub
If I helped hit the Thanks button. Follow Me! ~ Buy Me a Coffee ~ Full Android for ShieldTV and Nexus Player
Emilia-tan said:
Hi,
Is there a way to tell if a play store app is native to Android TV?
In addition to the great list posted in the forum.
Otherwise you can confirm if the emulator MD.EMU (payment) and My Oldboy! (payment).
Or Is File Explorer Manager PRO (paid) supported? The free is but I have read that it is not the case of the payment.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so sure about the Oldboy App, as I have not heard of it. But, there are plenty of pay for Emus, including MD.EMU if that's your thing. The only pay for Emu I personally went for was the Real3DOPlayer, and that was only 'Cause I couldn't get it to work under RetroArch. Which is really, the only Emulator you'd ever need.
Besides, ouYabuse (Saturn), or Dolphin (GameCube, Wii), alas that Emu still needs some Work though.
But, on the whole of it as far as Emulation goes, as long as you keep it realistic. (e.g. pre-PS2 epoch), the sky is pretty much have the limit. Granted RetoArch is great for about 90-ish% of your needs. Otherwise there are plenty of bespoke paid apps to cover the last 10%, or so.
As someone who has ES File Explorer Pro. It's a funny case. It seems that the TV App Store has a major hardon for the Malware version of this, and not the Pro. So its very hard to get it to find it. I generally tend to just sideload the off an SD Card. Which isn't a problem as it's licenced to my account, and it works just fine with the Remote.
Ichijoe said:
Not so sure about the Oldboy App, as I have not heard of it. But, there are plenty of pay for Emus, including MD.EMU if that's your thing. The only pay for Emu I personally went for was the Real3DOPlayer, and that was only 'Cause I couldn't get it to work under RetroArch. Which is really, the only Emulator you'd ever need.
Besides, ouYabuse (Saturn), or Dolphin (GameCube, Wii), alas that Emu still needs some Work though.
But, on the whole of it as far as Emulation goes, as long as you keep it realistic. (e.g. pre-PS2 epoch), the sky is pretty much have the limit. Granted RetoArch is great for about 90-ish% of your needs. Otherwise there are plenty of bespoke paid apps to cover the last 10%, or so.
As someone who has ES File Explorer Pro. It's a funny case. It seems that the TV App Store has a major hardon for the Malware version of this, and not the Pro. So its very hard to get it to find it. I generally tend to just sideload the off an SD Card. Which isn't a problem as it's licenced to my account, and it works just fine with the Remote.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
My OldBoy It is an emulator for GB / GBC that at least normal Android is going great.
I was wondering if anyone had been able to look at it, since I do not have a Shield by hand, I would arrive in a week.
And regarding the File Explorer PRO I found it curious to read in the forum Geforce that only supported the version with malware and instead the payment was not.
Emilia-tan said:
Thanks for the reply.
My OldBoy It is an emulator for GB / GBC that at least normal Android is going great.
I was wondering if anyone had been able to look at it, since I do not have a Shield by hand, I would arrive in a week.
And regarding the File Explorer PRO I found it curious to read in the forum Geforce that only supported the version with malware and instead the payment was not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I kinda gathered that Oldboy, might have had something to do with the Gameboy etc... Alas pretty much anything pre-NDS-3D, is so well covered under RetroArch. I never saw much use in it. It's the stuff that should work under RetroArch... e.g. 3DO, and Saturn emulation, which don't under the Shield TV. That has driven me to support the pay for options.
I think the difference between the free, and the Pro version of ES-FE Pro. Is that the Pro version does not automatically pop into the AndroidTV PlayStore. In fact before you even go any further. Let us be very clear on this one point.
AndroidTV (PlayStore), ≠ Android (PlayStore). Blame Google! Because of that it's like >90% emptier than ye old Phablet Edition. This is due to those Apps being built with Phablets (i.e Touch), in mind. AndroidTV has made all touchy-feelly Apps VERBOTEN on the AndroidTV platform. Such as they no longer show up.
So I suspect that's kinda what's going on with ES-FE where the Developer never flagged it as compatible with AndroidTV. Leaving the ever Ad spewing (and perpetually Money maker) on the PlayStore. 'Cause they've already had my Money for Pro, for nearly Two Years now, and I'm not about to fund 'em some more. Probably answers why Google aren't including it in the ATV-PS.
It's like most of the Amazon Underground stuff. You can sideload that as well, and install a few Games. But, outside of the Goat Sims, Alto, and Riptide GT. A lot of those Games don't work correctly with the Shield Controller either. Best example, would be Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
So if you have that One app you just have to test it out by sideloading it first.
P.s. I'm starting to suspect that your "My Old Boy" App might be one of these Apps. As it is not showing up inside the ATV-PS. It seems to prefer Robert Broglia's Emulators instead. Now that may be 'cause he went back and compiled a specific ATV version of them. You might want to contact the Dev of My Old Boy, and request an AndroidTV version, which you can install off the PlayStore. Or, you can copy the *.apk off of your Phablet, and transfer it to the Shield TV. In which case you will also need to install something called Sideload Launcher. As most Sideloaded Apps do NOT tend to be displayed under Leanback Launcher.
I also have ex file explorer pro, but I found "xplorer" are easier to use with remote on Android TV, give it a try.
Related
I am so glad I returned my nook color and bought the elocity tab. I am having such fun playing with all the apps I've come to love on my galaxy vibrant and found a lot of new apps to play with. I recently updated the samsung to froyo which now allows wireless tethering. That is the best invention ever! I didn't even need to be in the same room as the samsung and it didn't lose the wireless connection on the elocity. I connected the elocity via hdmi to my hdtv and watched some online shows which was very cool. Discovering cool browsers like netfront has left me with about 5 browsers to choose from. I found a betterkeyboard.apk and shapewrite.apk and installed them both. I just like having options. Fun games like pinball, frogger, nintaii, etc makes the time fly by on my commute. I initially bought this to get back into reading via ebooks, but I've not read any of the free 70 books I've collected in the nook application.
There's not a lot of activity on this thread though. I guess that people are only posting when there's a problem. Oh well...happy surfin!
I like mine too. Thanks for listing that browser. I'll try it later.
I've been able to read so much more with the tablet. I returned the Nextbook 2 and 3 just before I bought this. I think this will suit my needs for a long time.
Perfect for reading and watching video.
nextbook
was hoping to find a fix to connect my next book via wireless router app on my sprint htc touch pro2.
I'm enjoying mine as well. I bought it mainly due to the HW specs and Android OS and it's been a pretty cool little gadget. I am still figuring out just how to configure things the way I like. And I'm still toying with the various browsers out there. I like the built in one but I've grown fond of Opera-mobile too. I gave Firefox mobile a test drive but it's not quite ready for prime time yet as they say.
I have a stand on order from Amazon and that'll make it easy on the hands while I read the news over breakfast each morning. It's really fun to see the new Dexter Mods as well. Seems like every other week a new flavor is ready. Pretty slick.
How did you manage to d/l & install the Nook app? On the B&N site it says the Nook for 'all' android devices is just for smartphones
Thanks.
Arlene in RI said:
How did you manage to d/l & install the Nook app? On the B&N site it says the Nook for 'all' android devices is just for smartphones
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are running dextermod its available in the market.
Dexter Mod???
netstat_EVO said:
If you are running dextermod its available in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is all new to me as of last Thursday when my Elocity A& arrived in the mail so please bear w/me and my probably annoying questions. So, what is dextermod and where/how do I get it???
When you say "it's available in the market" are you referring to the Nook app or dexter mod?
If I could get the Nook app on my Elocity then I think everything would be pretty perfect.
Thanks for all your help.
Arlene in RI
Arlene in RI said:
This is all new to me as of last Thursday when my Elocity A& arrived in the mail so please bear w/me and my probably annoying questions. So, what is dextermod and where/how do I get it???
When you say "it's available in the market" are you referring to the Nook app or dexter mod?
If I could get the Nook app on my Elocity then I think everything would be pretty perfect.
Thanks for all your help.
Arlene in RI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dextormod can be found in the elocity a7 development section, and the direction on how to install, be sure to read thread before installing to understand everything.
Our devices do not come with android app market, so you can not download most android apps with out the market, for example the nook app, which is proved in dextersmod
Here's the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=890042
Just finished streaming dexter season 5 from my A7 to my panasonic 50" amazing picture I love my A7. I use it to watch shows at work during breaks play emulators with 360 controller. Couldn't ask for more out of a single device!
I do not have the mod, but, I do have the latest Nook app on my A7. I installed it on my Android phone, backed the app up to the SD card in my phone. Transferred the app from the phone to my tablet and installed it. Works great!
Code:
[STRIKE]I just XBMC'd and rooted my Fire TV recently and sideloaded the play store successfully on my Fire TV.
However Google looks at the fire TV as TV device and thus does not show all apps or make them accessible (hulu android version (free content viewing))
I used this method but it looks like that Market Helper is crashing after step 1.
[url]http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-trick-google-play-store-into-allowing-all-apps/[/url]
Went to the dashboard and the new device is not showing up....any ideas? :(
[/STRIKE]
I'm thinking about editing the Build.prop but I dont know what to put to mimic a AT&T Nexus 7 in the USA
I want to fake my entire device so I can use hulu for android on it. As android you can view free content on a mobile device without a plus account. I'm thinking about editing the Build.prop but I dont know what to put to mimic a AT&T Nexus 7 in the USA. I have a non-carrier Nexus 7 2012 and I can get the information from that but I'm slightly cautious...I've seen HDX threads how this is safe but what about on the Fire TV? I don't want a brick ;__:
lol looking at the build.prop the code name for the Fire TV was...Bueller..Like Ferris Bueller
Thread Topic Changed
seriously? no one has tried this yet??
stanleyopar2000 said:
seriously? no one has tried this yet??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because your OP is confusing.
Okay, you want to spoof Hulu, that is what I am gathering from your post. I mean, who doesn't want to spoof Hulu so we can get some free entertainment?
Okay, the Hulu app, even though people seem to claim you can get free stuff on it, doesn't allow free stuff on it. So that leaves web browsers.
So far, my best luck has been Dolphin since you can change it to tell websites you are on a Desktop. Which is basically loads up, but I haven't been able to get it beyond that.
What we need is a custom browser for the AFTV that spoofs being a desktop (don't need to spoof the phone/tablet ****), that then layouts the page so it's useful for AFTV users. And that can, of course, actually play the shows, which I assume are flash crap, but I could be wrong.
nyder said:
Probably because your OP is confusing.
Okay, you want to spoof Hulu, that is what I am gathering from your post. I mean, who doesn't want to spoof Hulu so we can get some free entertainment?
Okay, the Hulu app, even though people seem to claim you can get free stuff on it, doesn't allow free stuff on it. So that leaves web browsers.
So far, my best luck has been Dolphin since you can change it to tell websites you are on a Desktop. Which is basically loads up, but I haven't been able to get it beyond that.
What we need is a custom browser for the AFTV that spoofs being a desktop (don't need to spoof the phone/tablet ****), that then layouts the page so it's useful for AFTV users. And that can, of course, actually play the shows, which I assume are flash crap, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hulu allowed android users to stream free content that they can get on desktop free on mobile. It's only android. Not iPhone Every other platform (even the Desktop WIndows 8.1 app) requires a paid plus account. I was watching a full anime series (BECK) on the official hulu app on my Note 3 with a free account via chromecast screen mirroring. Using the Hulu Plus app on my smartphone. FREE. It's possible. I can jump on my Nexus 7 and go to the hulu app with a free account and pop on attack on titan without any issues (well with ads of course)
http://blog.hulu.com/2014/07/30/sample-free-content-on-hulu-for-android-2/
It says so here.
My problem is...is that when android hulu app starts up. It looks at the build.prop to see what device and model it is...and if it doesn't match the criteria of an android smartphone or tablet, it will be denied the free login.
currently my XBMC'd Fire TV has a "bueller" code name and a AFTV in the model area. Which is telling Hulu it's not an official android phone or tablet. I already used market helper to get full range of play store apps but that's just for the play store. My theory is that, if I change the build prop model and build names to my nexus 7 (2012) would it trick hulu into thinking the AFTV was a Nexus 7? thus allowing free content "sampling?"
I've changed the build.prop on my other devices for various things and reasons in the past and I can do it now. But is it safe to do on a AFTV??
stanleyopar2000 said:
Hulu allowed android users to stream free content that they can get on desktop free on mobile. It's only android. Not iPhone Every other platform (even the Desktop WIndows 8.1 app) requires a paid plus account. I was watching a full anime series (BECK) on the official hulu app on my Note 3 with a free account via chromecast screen mirroring. Using the Hulu Plus app on my smartphone. FREE. It's possible. I can jump on my Nexus 7 and go to the hulu app with a free account and pop on attack on titan without any issues (well with ads of course)
http://blog.hulu.com/2014/07/30/sample-free-content-on-hulu-for-android-2/
It says so here.
My problem is...is that when android hulu app starts up. It looks at the build.prop to see what device and model it is...and if it doesn't match the criteria of an android smartphone or tablet, it will be denied the free login.
currently my XBMC'd Fire TV has a "bueller" code name and a AFTV in the model area. Which is telling Hulu it's not an official android phone or tablet. I already used market helper to get full range of play store apps but that's just for the play store. My theory is that, if I change the build prop model and build names to my nexus 7 (2012) would it trick hulu into thinking the AFTV was a Nexus 7? thus allowing free content "sampling?"
I've changed the build.prop on my other devices for various things and reasons in the past and I can do it now. But is it safe to do on a AFTV??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, with the recovery installed, I don't see why it's not safe to change the build.prop. Not the expert on it though.
nyder said:
Okay, with the recovery installed, I don't see why it's not safe to change the build.prop. Not the expert on it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for helping me so far! so install a custom recovery and backup and then change the build.prop and watch what happens?...I wish more people would weigh in on this.............
stanleyopar2000 said:
thanks for helping me so far! so install a custom recovery and backup and then change the build.prop and watch what happens?...I wish more people would weigh in on this.............
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did some searching, found this article about it: http://apcmag.com/how-to-fake-an-android-device.htm
Found this also, different direction then spoofing build.prop http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/problems-with-hulu-on-android-fix-it-with-two-simple-and-easy-apps/
nyder said:
I did some searching, found this article about it: http://apcmag.com/how-to-fake-an-android-device.htm
Found this also, different direction then spoofing build.prop http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/problems-with-hulu-on-android-fix-it-with-two-simple-and-easy-apps/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks much! I will definitely look into this!
Hi folks,
I've got a Fire Phone, with default Fire OS 4.6.1
I am not quite ready to get into rooting it and adding a new OS, as I don't have the time.
So in the interim I have the Google Play Store installed, along with a launcher that's more to my liking.
I have the issue that when I click on links in apps which, I assume, are intended to launch the Google Play Store, I get a message from Fire OS saying,
Continue to Amazon Appstore?
This app is trying to open a link with an external market that is not available on your device. Would you like to open this link with the Amazon Appstore instead?
[CANCEL] [CONTINUE]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I click cancel, then the link does not open. If I click continue it goes to the Amazon Appstore and can't find what the link relates to (obviously).
I saw someone else posting something about this, and they were advised to edit some settings in the Manage Applications settings, and also External Market settings. Since updating to 4.6.1 I don't seem to be able to find any Manage Applications settings, no External Market settings (not even sure if those existed on the pre-4.6.1 OS that was on here when I received it).
Is there a way to set this thing to allow Google Play to launch when Play links are clicked?
Cheers,
J
On an unrooted device:
- Go to "settings" and look for "manage applications", select "all", to see every app installed...
- Disable the "Appstore"
As long as the Amazon appstore is disabled, Play Store will intercept the links.
It's not very comfortable, I know. On a rooted device, I used a shortcut to dis-/enable the Amazon Appstore to get the job done faster.
As of now, there is no official way to set the "Play Store" as your default store (of course not, why would Amazon be interested in that option ^^).
Bingo Bronson said:
On an unrooted device:
- Go to "settings" and look for "manage applications", select "all", to see every app installed...
- Disable the "Appstore"
As long as the Amazon appstore is disabled, Play Store will intercept the links.
It's not very comfortable, I know. On a rooted device, I used a shortcut to dis-/enable the Amazon Appstore to get the job done faster.
As of now, there is no official way to set the "Play Store" as your default store (of course not, why would Amazon be interested in that option ^^).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Bingo,
Thanks for the help.
The thing is, since it updated to 4.6.1 (and I see that last night it updated itself to 4.6.3 on its own accord) the "Manage Applications" option that was there previously has gone. There is now just an "Applications" option. And that
Okay... at last I've figured out where "Manage Applications" went since 4.6.1 update. There is now just an "Applications" menu. Touching that expands it to show various options. One of those options is "Force quite or clear data for applications". This is now the way to access the "Manage Applications" screen. The first option on that expanded "Applications" menu is "Manage the settings for individual Amazon applications on your phone". The wording of this had me thinking that this had somehow replaced the Manage Applications option.
Cool. I've now disabled Amazon AppStore.
Thanks.
This Fixed My Issue
I fixed my issue by going to the Applications menu under Settings (little gear in dropdown menu) then going to Manage Applications, then selecting All Applications from the dropdown there. I found the Appstore, clicked on it, selected Force Stop and Clear Cache. That seemed to do the trick. I also have Allow 3rd Party Apps selected, which can also be found under Applications in settings.
I've been searching everywhere for this solution. Youtube and google, and yes finally someone who just needed google play apps to not be redirected to kindle appstore. It worked by disabling the appstore. <3 The ES File Explorer helped me to uninstall the updated version and now apps can be directed to google play. Thanks for saving me from having to root. I like the launcher option from google play. Don't have enough patience to root and then it possibly doesn't work. TOT! Ty for solution!
My 4.6.3 new phone seems to work well in this regard without any setting being made. Just disabled Amazon store auto update. At first I had that redirect to Amazon problem, but then some other Google store link just redirected to Google play app.
For me, clicking on Disable App Store doesn't seem to be doing anything. Unable to disable and blocking of external market link continues
Can someone please help, nothing in here worked.
I tried going to settings -> apps and games -> manage all applications -> All -> Appstore and pressed "clear cache", "clear data", and "force stop", and it didn't help.
I also tried going to settings -> Apps and Games -> Amazon Application Settings -> Appstore -> External Market Links -> Don't Open and now it says "External Market Links Disabled You can choose to open external market links with the bracketbracketAppstore_long_namebracketbracket. Update this option in the External Market Links section of the Appstore settings." (I had to type bracket instead of using [ because it said I was using BBcode and couldn't post)
I'm using a 5th generation fire running Fire OS 5.3.6.4
Fixed it
I just figured it out.
Settings, Applications & Parental Controls, Configure Amazon application settings, Appstore, External Market Links, Don’t Open
This will prevent the Appstore from trying to open links for external app markets. It doesn’t prevent the links from opening with the correct market, just makes that message stop popping up and click-jacking you into oblivion. So now when you click on a link, a little box will open with apps to choose from to open the link, like your browser or Google Play Store, for example.
I want to keep using this phone, because it’s potentially a good privacy phone, without all the tracking stuff installed. Sorry, that would mean no Google Apps...but I use some apps that apparently won’t get notifications unless GAPPS are installed. I heard MicroG can fix that but it doesn’t seem to work. Anyway if I could fix that and maybe upgrade the camera module to a better quality camera, it would be a better phone...almost perfect actually.
thanks for your helpful post
Ninja000 said:
I just figured it out.
......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for posting today!! So happy to see people still using this nice phone. I too want a simple "relatively" private phone, plus I actually preferred the Fire OS UI (which is much better version of Fire OS than we have on Fire tablets).
But I came here because I was fearful that Amazon has bricked my device. It suddenly became "de-registered" and the menus for registering to my Amazon account do not work -- I'm not able to register. And I'm not able to use ANY app that I got from the Amazon app store, and I lost ALL of my nice customizations (organizing my apps into folders, etc -- a huge amount of work because I have a ton of apps).
Probably I should start a new thread on this issue but I wanted to post here in gratitude that people still discuss this phone, plus it is an app store (and bigger...) issue, so it is not entirely unrelated. I will try some of the above advice because perhaps it allow me to launch apps without the Amazon App Store demanding log in.
dini77 said:
Thanks so much for posting today!! So happy to see people still using this nice phone. I too want a simple "relatively" private phone, plus I actually preferred the Fire OS UI (which is much better version of Fire OS than we have on Fire tablets).
But I came here because I was fearful that Amazon has bricked my device. It suddenly became "de-registered" and the menus for registering to my Amazon account do not work -- I'm not able to register. And I'm not able to use ANY app that I got from the Amazon app store, and I lost ALL of my nice customizations (organizing my apps into folders, etc -- a huge amount of work because I have a ton of apps).
Probably I should start a new thread on this issue but I wanted to post here in gratitude that people still discuss this phone, plus it is an app store (and bigger...) issue, so it is not entirely unrelated. I will try some of the above advice because perhaps it allow me to launch apps without the Amazon App Store demanding log in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! "Sharing is caring" :laugh:
Yeah I like it too! I wish it was still supported by Amazon, but the bad press killed it.
As for not being able to use your account...you might try a factory reset, BUT...
FIRST: backup your APKs and saved files via USB to PC (can use file browser in Windows)
or MAC (will need this --->android.com/filetransfer/<---), and make sure under Battery and Storage, USB Connection Type is listed as File Transfer.
This is important because once you regeister, it might restore your last cloud backup, which I assume is probably pretty old after reading your reply.
Next:
Perform the Factory Reset OR...
To reregister your phone go to Settings, My Accounts, either "Register your phone" if that is an option (mine says "Deregister"), or maybe Manage your Amazon account.
The later will probably redirect you to the Amazon website, because the Amazon Shopping App is no longer supported on this older OS.
*I haven't found a newer version of the Amazon Shopping App that works on the Android 4.4 based Fire OS 4.6.6.1.
The other thing is you might be able to do it via the Amazon website, you probably have it listed under your account still, just need to find it.
I'd contact Amazon help to learn about how to do it that way. They might not know off hand, since the phone is no longer technically supported,
but they will definitely still try to help you.
I would really love it if someone on this forum could pull the launcher and everything from this version of Fire OS to work on the newer Android Roms like Cyanogen Mod,
because then we could just replace the old unsupported apps with the new versions. That would be awesome! I realize 2gb Ram would be a little low for the latest Android,
but just having a little newer OS version that is still supported by Amazon would be great. I really enjoy the Kindle App on this, because it has text to speech and
that is really convenient.
BTW, do you have the Google APPS installed on yours? I have them installed on mine, and it drains the batter like crazy,
granted, it's the original battery from 2014, but still.
Side note: If anyone has an extra screw(s) for the bottom they're willing to part with, I'd be willing to buy one (or a handful).
Lost one in the carpet (I know *rolls eyes) when I had to replace the camera module due to some (I guess) scratches or something actually on the sensor itself.
Thanks for all of your advice!! Very much appreciated. I tried one of them right away, which is to check My Devices on the Amazon site, but the phone is no longer listed (it used to be). So that only lists registered devices. Once it is de-registered, it is not considered to be my device. But, you are correct that Amazon customer service may possibly help, because if you buy a device from Amazon, it usually automatically gets registered to you (unless you say it is a gift), and that automatic registration is probably done via some code on the device box probably its serial # (that is, they don't register it by messing with the actual device, I'm guessing). But to be honest I'm not too hopeful about this. But something to try.
Before you replied, I started a new thread on this, mostly to warn people not to de-register their devices, because I think it may not be possible to register again. And this could be a very recent development. Amazon usually sends an email warning when an older device will no longer work, but maybe this was not intentional. I never realized that so much of the function depended on the registration, as if it were an Echo device!
I do have a collection of APKs saved so at least I won't need to re-download, but because I have so many apps, it would still be a lot of work to set things up from scratch, especially since I don't think it will work. I don't think my system is corrupted. Just de-registered. A soft reset (long-press of power button) did not help. Again this just happened by itself -- I had not added anything new or did any updates. So it is not likely that my install got messed up.
I'm always confused when people mention "Google Apps" -- if that means the Play Store and its dependencies, then yes, I have that. But I did not install GMail or Docs or Drive, etc. I minimize using Google things on this phone.
About the screws, eBay may have them. eBay has almost everything.
Ninja000 said:
No problem! "Sharing is caring" :laugh:
Yeah I like it too! I wish it was still supported by Amazon, but the bad press killed it.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is just extremely difficult for "alternative" phone systems to survive, which is soooo sad, because I like interesting variety. I also love Meego, and Windows 10 Mobile. Meego had just one model (it was from Nokia, not released in the U.S.; it was planned to be the Nokia successor for their older Symbian OS). Well, maybe FireOS is not truly "variety" because it is after all essentially Android, but much less messy or annoying, in my opinion. I really like how the Settings are organized. And I like the Carousel, especialy how nicely it works with the built-in apps like weather and email. Being basically Android, it actually had the best chance of survival out of the "Alternatives." It could use most of the same apps as a "real" Android.
The reason for quick death are probably multi-faceted but my guess is the problems with the earliest version of the OS were the most serious thing. And that led to the bad press, so you are correct, that is what did it. I got mine after the "fire sale" and by then the system was much nicer, with the most annoying or serious issues all fixed, so I only read about the early issues. I feel terrible for the (former) Amazon employees who put a huge amount of effort into this thing. (Like Meego, too!) And the hardware is still very nice, better than my Fire Tablet that is much newer. I really thought it would last me for years, for the sorts of things I used it for. (Another thing I liked to do is control my Squeezbox music streaming devices. And listen to podcasts. Things like that.) There are so many uses for an older device. And I enjoyed this one.
Since at the very minimum this device is a Kindle book reader and Amazon music player, Amazon loses by not providing some bare-minimum support for it. My first Kindle e-Reader from 2011 still works great. But my guess is, the number of people still using this phone is super low. Which is why I was happy to see your post!
dini77 said:
Thanks for all of your advice!! Very much appreciated. I tried one of them right away, which is to check My Devices on the Amazon site, but the phone is no longer listed (it used to be). So that only lists registered devices. Once it is de-registered, it is not considered to be my device. But, you are correct that Amazon customer service may possibly help, because if you buy a device from Amazon, it usually automatically gets registered to you (unless you say it is a gift), and that automatic registration is probably done via some code on the device box probably its serial # (that is, they don't register it by messing with the actual device, I'm guessing). But to be honest I'm not too hopeful about this. But something to try.
Before you replied, I started a new thread on this, mostly to warn people not to de-register their devices, because I think it may not be possible to register again. And this could be a very recent development. Amazon usually sends an email warning when an older device will no longer work, but maybe this was not intentional. I never realized that so much of the function depended on the registration, as if it were an Echo device!
I do have a collection of APKs saved so at least I won't need to re-download, but because I have so many apps, it would still be a lot of work to set things up from scratch, especially since I don't think it will work. I don't think my system is corrupted. Just de-registered. A soft reset (long-press of power button) did not help. Again this just happened by itself -- I had not added anything new or did any updates. So it is not likely that my install got messed up.
I'm always confused when people mention "Google Apps" -- if that means the Play Store and its dependencies, then yes, I have that. But I did not install GMail or Docs or Drive, etc. I minimize using Google things on this phone.
About the screws, eBay may have them. eBay has almost everything.
I think it is just extremely difficult for "alternative" phone systems to survive, which is soooo sad, because I like interesting variety. I also love Meego, and Windows 10 Mobile. Meego had just one model (it was from Nokia, not released in the U.S.; it was planned to be the Nokia successor for their older Symbian OS). Well, maybe FireOS is not truly "variety" because it is after all essentially Android, but much less messy or annoying, in my opinion. I really like how the Settings are organized. And I like the Carousel, especialy how nicely it works with the built-in apps like weather and email. Being basically Android, it actually had the best chance of survival out of the "Alternatives." It could use most of the same apps as a "real" Android.
The reason for quick death are probably multi-faceted but my guess is the problems with the earliest version of the OS were the most serious thing. And that led to the bad press, so you are correct, that is what did it. I got mine after the "fire sale" and by then the system was much nicer, with the most annoying or serious issues all fixed, so I only read about the early issues. I feel terrible for the (former) Amazon employees who put a huge amount of effort into this thing. (Like Meego, too!) And the hardware is still very nice, better than my Fire Tablet that is much newer. I really thought it would last me for years, for the sorts of things I used it for. (Another thing I liked to do is control my Squeezbox music streaming devices. And listen to podcasts. Things like that.) There are so many uses for an older device. And I enjoyed this one.
Since at the very minimum this device is a Kindle book reader and Amazon music player, Amazon loses by not providing some bare-minimum support for it. My first Kindle e-Reader from 2011 still works great. But my guess is, the number of people still using this phone is super low. Which is why I was happy to see your post!
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Yeah I completely agree. I got mine for $199 and a year of Amazon Prime included made the phone basically $99. ? I happened to think of one more possibility. Maybe there is an Amazon Fire ?services app (like Google services) or account manager app that got automatically updated by your Google Play store, or even replaced by a version off the Play store that led to this issue, because like I mentioned mine is actually still working aside from the Amazon Shopping app, and some apps that require a newer google services to get notifications.
I actually had flashed several different Roms on this phone and yeah the stock (but updated) Fire OS 4.6.6.1 is definitely the best. --Amazon account registration is part of the initial setup BTW, so factory reset might work.
I made the jump over to iOS after experiencing the Android 7&8 difficulties on a few other devices and battery gate with Samsung phones. Now I am experiencing a crapy battery life issue with my iPhones. My Fire Phone is from 2014, original battery and still has better battery life than even my iPhone XS Max. Wow ? So yeah, there is something to Fire OS being so light that makes it probably just about the best OS for a phone. The last time I flashed back to stock I used a ROM from this website, but I don’t remember what thread that’s on. I think it’s in the Cyanogen 11 Rom thread for this device. Maybe try flashing that. And you could actually (if you don’t mind losing the storage space) create a backup Rom from your current one, then make a new slot in twrp or whatever it’s called and have the other Rom installed on there. Then check to see if it’s possible to register on that version. If it doesn’t work, no big deal you will still have your backup rom with all your data. If it does work, then you could transfer your stuff over via usb. That would save you quite a bit of time incase it decides not to work. You can do a root and install the other rom right from your fire phone these days. That’s a bonus.
What happens when you open Amazon Instant Video? Does it ask you for a loggin? That would be awesome. BTW My Kindle Fire HX 7 is still working great too, just starting to slow down a bit. I also have a 6" Fire HD. I really agree Fire OS is super clean and alot of modern OS's are not that great and way too heavy for what most people need, especially on mobile devices.
Thanks again for your advice, especially since I will almost certainly end up flashing this thing. I have done a lot of "phone hacking" in the past -- even back in flip phone days -- but it is very time consuming and I'm super busy now. But it is kind of fun. So, maybe later.
I did not have Google Play (or any app store, on any of my devices) to be set to automatically update apps. Tho I think the store itself and its dependencies may still update, even if my apps don't, and I can't control that. And sometimes my setting to not automatically update is "reset" when a google component is updated. So it is conceivable that something got automatically updated and that caused my issue. I did have to reset the "do not update" setting.
I'm curious to see if anyone else has this issue, because if no, then you are right, I should just re-flash. I downloaded the latest Fire OS a while ago -- I collect stuff like that because you never know when it will be no longer readily available. So the phone is definitely not dead -- and it is nice that I have options for how to set it up. I'm glad to have the community contributions for that -- I did read thru those hacking posts.
I bought a spare battery a little while ago because I was worried they would be hard to get once I need one. But my currently installed battery, the original, is very satisfactory. So definitely I'll keep using this nice phone for a while.
dini77 said:
Thanks again for your advice, especially since I will almost certainly end up flashing this thing. I have done a lot of "phone hacking" in the past -- even back in flip phone days -- but it is very time consuming and I'm super busy now. But it is kind of fun. So, maybe later.
I did not have Google Play (or any app store, on any of my devices) to be set to automatically update apps. Tho I think the store itself and its dependencies may still update, even if my apps don't, and I can't control that. And sometimes my setting to not automatically update is "reset" when a google component is updated. So it is conceivable that something got automatically updated and that caused my issue. I did have to reset the "do not update" setting.
I'm curious to see if anyone else has this issue, because if no, then you are right, I should just re-flash. I downloaded the latest Fire OS a while ago -- I collect stuff like that because you never know when it will be no longer readily available. So the phone is definitely not dead -- and it is nice that I have options for how to set it up. I'm glad to have the community contributions for that -- I did read thru those hacking posts.
I bought a spare battery a little while ago because I was worried they would be hard to get once I need one. But my currently installed battery, the original, is very satisfactory. So definitely I'll keep using this nice phone for a while.
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Was just thinking of going back to this phone as my primary phone. My problem is trying to get Micro G or something to work, for spoofing google services, because I want to use some apps that require google services, else they won't receive notifications. I also found on app I use, it's Korean, Kakaotalk is not receiving notifications when closed anymore. I haven't figured out why yet. Saw another thread about notifications on 3rd party apps not working, but didn't see a solution. I would also like to see a camera upgrade (4k video) and maybe a speaker upgrade and storage would be nice, but obviously that would require some soldering that I'm not willing to do, but maybe if I had a few doner phones would try it.:laugh: happy thanksgiving by the way!
I just went back to a Nokia N9 as my primary, at least for voice and weather and such basics (MeeGo OS, and battery lasts for days, good quality voice, nice small size, does not crash, etc). But I have my iPad and iPhone SE (the older model) always turned on so that covers all my needs. So, it is perfectly fine to use an old phone as primary so long as you have another device to supplement what the primary lacks. The Fire Phone would also make a primary. Tho in my experience it is not as stable. The "mishap" in this thread was not my first serious hiccup. See also the thread on all apps crashing if they require the address book (including the phone). That one is serious and reoccurs. (I think it is caused by having a very large number of apps on the phone. Usually fixed when I delete one of the larger apps.) So in other words at least with the original OS, stability is an issue. Maybe the custom firmware on this board is more stable.
Have a great thanksgiving!
Aftvnews.com said MRMC is now available for the fire tv. Anyone have experience with this Kodi fork? I know it's stripped of add ons. What I want to know is what level of customization does it provide? My big need is a way to separate home vides from movies so that I can have a menu item that only goes to movies and a menu item only to home videos. Aeon nox works great for that in kodi, but mrmc is supported by amazon's App Store and thus will be auto updated. So there's benefits to switching to that if it has the features I need. Anyone worked with it before?
ouradu said:
Aftvnews.com said MRMC is now available for the fire tv. Anyone have experience with this Kodi fork? I know it's stripped of add ons. What I want to know is what level of customization does it provide? My big need is a way to separate home vides from movies so that I can have a menu item that only goes to movies and a menu item only to home videos. Aeon nox works great for that in kodi, but mrmc is supported by amazon's App Store and thus will be auto updated. So there's benefits to switching to that if it has the features I need. Anyone worked with it before?
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Click to collapse
No sure why anybody would pay for something that has been crippled & is already free. Might as well buy a car with only one axle then... But if you consider yourself a joke. Then go ahead & buy it.
Looking @ what the self proclaim "developer" posted as the products feature. MRMC is Kodi with less features. Not with more. So take what can be done with Kodi & subtract. That is your answer.
Product Features
supports many popular music/video container/formats. ALL ALREADY DONE BY KODI/SPMC
supports digital audio pass-through. ALL ALREADY DONE BY KODI/SPMC
supports MythTV, HDHomeRun and many other IPTV devices. ALL ALREADY DONE BY KODI/SPMC
internal sqlite or external mysql database for metadata storage. ALL ALREADY DONE BY KODI/SPMC
user addons/plugins are not supported. CRIPPLED ON THIS "BUILD"
Product Description
MrMC is based on an award-winning free and open source (GPLv2) software media center for playing videos, music, and pictures. MrMC, featuring a 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most videos, music, and other digital media files from local storage media. ALL ALREADY DONE BY KODI/SPMC
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ouradu said:
Aftvnews.com said MRMC is now available for the fire tv. Anyone have experience with this Kodi fork? I know it's stripped of add ons. What I want to know is what level of customization does it provide? My big need is a way to separate home vides from movies so that I can have a menu item that only goes to movies and a menu item only to home videos. Aeon nox works great for that in kodi, but mrmc is supported by amazon's App Store and thus will be auto updated. So there's benefits to switching to that if it has the features I need. Anyone worked with it before?
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Click to collapse
I have been using it on an Appletv and just used went ahead and got it. Looks the same. Skins are limited: Amber, SiO2, MrMC(looks exactly like confluence) and PM3.HD. PVR clients seem to work. I use HDhomerun PVR client and Simple TV PVR. If all you need is a good external media player, PVR, m3u player and local playback this is fine.
It serves my basic needs. The $7 seems steep unless you figure the auto-update is worth your saved time after a while. But honestly just using adb is so simple.
Edit : PVR for HDhomerun not the official Kodi HDhomerun addon. Still can watch live if not using for recording
goodhur said:
I have been using it on an Appletv and just used went ahead and got it. Looks the same. Skins are limited: Amber, SiO2, MrMC(looks exactly like confluence) and PM3.HD. PVR clients seem to work. I use HDhomerun PVR client and Simple TV PVR. If all you need is a good external media player, PVR, m3u player and local playback this is fine.
It serves my basic needs. The $7 seems steep unless you figure the auto-update is worth your saved time after a while. But honestly just using adb is so simple.
Edit : PVR for HDhomerun not the official Kodi HDhomerun addon. Still can watch live if not using for recording
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Auto-Update - For Kodi & SPMC FireStarter/FireStopper will give you that... Or you can just use ES File Explorer to download & install updates too.
On Apple products I understand the crazy prize & limited featured apps like this because of how close system their app store is. But for Android. It is not a good trend to bring or support such close system apps this way. SPMC took itself off the Amazon Market in solidarity with Kodi. MRMC went the other way. It's funny how MRMC is saying their code has branched for months but there is nothing different from Kodi. It just does less. It doesn't add anything different. Just subtracts. But they are not the same code. All they can say is it's different in the code or under the hood but when you ask for what specific. There is no specifics.
Y314K said:
Auto-Update - For Kodi & SPMC FireStarter/FireStopper will give you that... Or you can just use ES File Explorer to download & install updates too.
On Apple products I understand the crazy prize & limited featured apps like this because of how close system their app store is. But for Android. It is not a good trend to bring or support such close system apps this way. SPMC took itself off the Amazon Market in solidarity with Kodi. MRMC went the other way. It's funny how MRMC is saying their code has branched for months but there is nothing different from Kodi. It just does less. It doesn't add anything different. Just subtracts. But they are not the same code. All they can say is it's different in the code or under the hood but when you ask for what specific. There is no specifics.
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koying voiced in to give his full support here as well. Not sure why you have your pitchforks out here and on AFTVnews with contempt for this app.
http://www.aftvnews.com/mrmcs-developers-do-not-deserve-the-hate-theyre-receving/
For the record, I totally agree with the content of this article.
FWIW, I considered making SPMC a paying app as well. It’s basically the anticipation of the ****storm Scott is into now that made me cave in (plus the realization that Kodi is just too big to properly support on my own with a day job).
Haters, please move on. Don’t forget Kodi on Android is on life support. Pissing off the couple of devs still supporting it is not a wise move…
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And Nate Thomas gave some input as well:
Davilla is doing a really great job here, actually. He’s taking advantage of an error in the market. On Apple and Fire TV, there’s no way to get Kodi to auto-update and no way to install Kodi directly from the store. So he’s created a version of Kodi that meets the demands of those stores, so that it can be distributed that way. And in the process, he’s creating code that can theoretically make it back upstream to Kodi itself.
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jpeg42 said:
koying voiced in to give his full support here as well. Not sure why you have your pitchforks out here and on AFTVnews with contempt for this app.
http://www.aftvnews.com/mrmcs-developers-do-not-deserve-the-hate-theyre-receving/
And Nate Thomas gave some input as well:
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So no one address what I find to be the biggest fault with this app. So I'll just re-quote myself.
On Apple products I understand the crazy prize & limited featured apps like this because of how close system their app store is. But for Android. It is not a good trend to bring or support such close system apps this way. SPMC took itself off the Amazon Market in solidarity with Kodi. MRMC went the other way. It's funny how MRMC is saying their code has branched for months but there is nothing different from Kodi. It just does less. It doesn't add anything different. Just subtracts. But they are not the same code. All they can say is it's different in the code or under the hood but when you ask for what specific. There is no specifics.
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Click to collapse
As for SPMC. I would not mind paying one time $10 fee for SPMC AS LONG AS IT WAS FULL ON KODI or KODI+. SPMC adds KODI+ by including Launcher & other options. It adds to the free KODI code. MrMC is only including auto-updates by selling KODI down the river by kowtowing to Amazon's Stores demands. If you don't see how MrMC is doing exactly what Amazon wants & you believe it won't hurt being able to run KODI on AFTV's in the future. Then that's on you.
Developers will always stick up for developers. Hence you have Elias, koying & whoever wanting to get folks to just accept MrMC. They can do what they want & charge what they want. But If I think their choice can affect something I don't want to deteriorate any further, then I'll call them out on it.
MrMC = KODI Minus anything related to legal or illegal add-ons with promises to add some things in the future. It also perpetuates Apple's close apps restrictive system over to Amazon. It eliminates any sliver of a chance of getting KODI back on Amazon's apps echo system.
SPMC = FULL KODI Plus it adds launcher & other fixes & code that did not make it into KODI's current release. THIS IS WORTH paying for to purchase off the Amazon/AFTV Store..
I honestly have no idea what your rant is trying to say it is so all over the place. Bottom line is..... Kodi will NEVER be on the Amazon store. That is Amazon's choice. It is Amazon's device, it is their app store. The obvious business model is to create a platform for people to give them more money via subscription and media sales. They have no interest in selling you a box to do anything you like with. They lock it down for a reason. If you don't like that, buy something else.
In the meantime, you can always sideload Kodi. And even that is likely short lived as there are no developers left at Kodi for the Android port. So you have one team getting back to the heart of what they believe XBMC and Kodi were meant to be, and selling it via a means that allows them to update seamlessly and creates them create some income for their work. Good for them. That is the nature of software development, and open source code. All GPL states is that you give notices where required, and make your usage of the code open source as well. What you do with the product around that, what you charge for it, etc. that is totally up to the developer. This is the very nature of freedom and choice with the license. Amazon included whether you like it or not.
Directly from the license:
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
........................
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.
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If there is no demand for it, then it won't sell and development will likely stop (but they are currently #5 in TV/Movies). And if you don't like what Amazon is doing, don't buy their box and don't support them. Simple as that. This is worth far more than "calling them out" on internet forums.
jpeg42 said:
I honestly have no idea what your rant is trying to say it is so all over the place. Bottom line is..... Kodi will NEVER be on the Amazon store. That is Amazon's choice. It is Amazon's device, it is their app store. The obvious business model is to create a platform for people to give them more money via subscription and media sales. They have no interest in selling you a box to do anything you like with. They lock it down for a reason. If you don't like that, buy something else.
In the meantime, you can always sideload Kodi. And even that is likely short lived as there are no developers left at Kodi for the Android port. So you have one team getting back to the heart of what they believe XBMC and Kodi were meant to be, and selling it via a means that allows them to update seamlessly and creates them create some income for their work. Good for them. That is the nature of software development, and open source code. All GPL states is that you give notices where required, and make your usage of the code open source as well. What you do with the product around that, what you charge for it, etc. that is totally up to the developer. This is the very nature of freedom and choice with the license. Amazon included whether you like it or not.
Directly from the license:
If there is no demand for it, then it won't sell and development will likely stop (but they are currently #5 in TV/Movies). And if you don't like what Amazon is doing, don't buy their box and don't support them. Simple as that. This is worth far more than "calling them out" on internet forums.
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When I bought my AFTV's KODI was in the Amazon store. The icon would even appear in resents. Amazon decided to kick Kodi out of the store. I have not given up on trying to get it back in the store or to hold Amazon accountable for their choice. Until my FTV's become to old or die I will continue to use what I paid for. And will continue to try even if just by voicing my displeasure to influence it's echo system even if it's by posting in a forum. I have stop myself from buying anymore Amazon devices. I have stopped recommending FTV's & FTVS's too. So I'll do what I'll do.
Yes, anybody can mod/charge for KODI code. Last I checked. That was not part of my argument against MrMC. But thanks for posting something unrelated to my post. You make a great straw men argument. Posting the license was great. To bad I never mention MrMC was violating or doing anything wrong regarding licensing. Straw men up , straw men knocked down. Bravo.
I was very specific what my philosophy is regarding this. But since you don't seem able discern it. Then "que sera, sera".
.
What MrMC is doing is against my philosophy of what I want Android & specifically the FTV's app echo system to be. And I'll continue to "rant" or state what I think. Last I checked, that is how these innerwebs work. People rant & others post rants about the other rant and so forth. Two bad the second rant-ee won't read or understand any specific points for the first rant.
What MrMC is doing is against my philosophy of what I want Android........blah blah blah
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Tuning out right there. It is open source. Feel free to code exactly what you want Android and Kodi to be and share with the rest of us. Oh wait......
jpeg42 said:
Tuning out right there. It is open source. Feel free to code exactly what you want Android and Kodi to be and share with the rest of us. Oh wait......
Click to expand...
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And once again you completely missed my point. Which is...
MrMC = KODI Minus anything related to legal or illegal add-ons with promises to add some things in the future. It also perpetuates Apple's close apps restrictive system over to Amazon. It eliminates any sliver of a chance of getting KODI back on Amazon's apps echo system.
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Click to collapse
Regardless if I code or not code. Regardless if it's within Kodi's licensing. I still see MrMC choice to bring this over to Amazon as detrimental on this side of the non-Apple pond. MrMC is made for a close system where users take what apples allows them. I don't want to see that expanded on Amazon or Android. This is a very basic philosophy.
Ohh, snap, I don't code. Guess I better not have/share an opinion/philosophy then...
Y314K said:
And once again you completely missed my point. Which is...
Regardless if I code or not code. Regardless if it's within Kodi's licensing. I still see MrMC choice to bring this over to Amazon as detrimental on this side of the non-Apple pond. MrMC is made for a close system where users take what apples allows them. I don't want to see that expanded on Amazon or Android. This is a very basic philosophy.
Ohh, snap, I don't code. Guess I better not have/share an opinion/philosophy then...
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I don't see your point because Amazon app store for FireTV has not changed since you purchased your device. So you are fighting for something that never existed.
Kodi was NEVER compatible for your FireTV. It might have been in the store for other devices, but you always had to sideload the initial install and updates. They never wanted Kodi (and its streaming feature specifically) to be installed from their official app store on your FireTV to take away from their profits. In fact all stores (amazon, apple and google) filter out whatever they choose. Nothing is open as you want to believe.
And now Amazon allows you to see your sideloaded apps, so it is even a better implementation than what you originally purchased. And if you want to have a version that comes from the store with updates, well, now we have MrMC. So you basically have you want, yet you still feel the need to rant.
jpeg42 said:
I don't see your point because Amazon app store for FireTV has not changed since you purchased your device. So you are fighting for something that never existed.
Kodi was NEVER compatible for your FireTV. It might have been in the store for other devices, but you always had to sideload the initial install and updates. They never wanted Kodi (and its streaming feature specifically) to be installed from their official app store on your FireTV to take away from their profits. In fact all stores (amazon, apple and google) filter out whatever they choose. Nothing is open as you want to believe.
And now Amazon allows you to see your sideloaded apps, so it is even a better implementation than what you originally purchased. And if you want to have a version that comes from the store with updates, well, now we have MrMC. So you basically have you want, yet you still feel the need to rant.
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Click to collapse
So KODI from the Amazon Store was never compatible with the FTV's. It just worked & showed up in resents after sideloading. Then Amazon used some lame excuse to remove it from their store. And in the future when Amazon whitelists Kodi from FTV's or other Amazon devices they will just say. Get the crippled MrMC app if you want Kodi.
Compare to Apple's apps store. Google can be somewhat consider an open system. And Amazon is somewhere in between both. I have a philosophy of encouraging Amazon to aim towards Google's philosophy & farther away from Apple's philosophy. I just checked & Google still has Kodi & SPMC freely available in their store & Google sells media just like Amazon does. Yet what MrMC is expanding is from Apple's side with the removal of code for store approval. Which is legal & within MrMC's prerogative. But it dose not mean I should either support it or be quiet if I disagree.
So the whole reason Kodi was shown the door by Amazon is because of the 3rd party add ons which promote piracy. Kodi WON'T be back on the Amazon store until Kodi removes the piracy aspect. Yes?
MrMC fills this void by removing the piracy aspect and voila, Kodi aka MrMC is back in the app store. Problem solved. Now since Kodi has no Android developer and says it's becoming extinct, you have Android developers working on the MrMC program which may see future development that Kodi may not. As far as charging for it, would you work for free? Neither would I.
As a side benefit (to the tin foil hat wearing crowd) to the people who keep thinking Amazon is going to block side loading of Kodi, well now they have a legitimate solution to this "problem" and they don't have to "worry" about blocking updates.
This seems like a big win win to me.
I’d like to start off by saying some of these views are totally personal to me, and how I use these kind of boxes day to day. I have been looking at the NVIDIA Shield TV 16gb model, with the controller and remote.
The Shield TV is right at the top of list of Android TV boxes, it has the spec and the features to make it a future proof Android TV box. The Tegra X1 makes it incredibly fast and snappy. I found myself clicking around with ease, without a single stutter.
The initial setup was easy, once turned on, I did a couple of updates and was logged straight into the Shield TV home screen. This leanback launcher can only be controlled with the “dpad” on either the controller or the remote. There are various rows, including suggestions, Nvidia apps and your own downloaded apps. The suggestion row is bizarre, as I have no idea what the recommendations are based on. I can alter what sources are used (Youtube, Google TV/Movies etc), but the recommendation engine isn’t very good.
Installing apps is easy, but this may be due to the lack of apps you can download. I found very little of my daily driver apps to download, and had to resort to second or even third rate alternatives. This isn’t really NVIDIA’s fault, as this is more an issue with Android TV. Apps have to be compatible and made for the “leanback” generation. Apps like Solid Explorer, TTorrent, and Transdroid are always installed on any Android box, but I was unable to here.
There are ways around these app limitations, involving sideloading, and alternative launchers. But I just want to install an app and use it, I don’t want to have to turn around the box so it’s facing east, wait till the time includes a 9 and then chant whilst installing an APK file! This may be a slight exaggeration though.
Though I was happy to see Kodi and SPMC were compatible. Though SPMC is the only one which utilising the passthrough audio correctly. So I installed SPMC, and plugged in my external HDD and started updating. Now came another issue, I always delete the files via SPMC after watching, and set it to physically delete the file. This has worked on even the worst Android boxes, but on the Shield TV it didn’t. The app would “delete”, yet when I went back and updated, the show/movie came back. After some Googling I found this was a common problem for a lot of people.
I ended up installing one of the two FTP servers on the TV app store, and connected via FTP. Selected the file, delete, but just got back an error! This again was a widely reported issue, and I ended up having to install ES File Explorer (Ugh!) and delete the file that way. Finally I was able to do it. But this was after a couple of hours of research. That was one of the big nails in the coffin for me.
I even reported this to the NVIDIA support team, and they weren’t very helpful. I was passed around a lot, and was sent to level 2 support about 3 times, only to be told to do something I had initially told support I had done!
I am so glad I got the box with the remote, as I was getting annoying navigating around with the bulky controller. I would of liked the remote to be included, and the controller to be sold separately, though I can see why as there is the gaming element.
Now speaking of games, I was massively impressed with the SHIELD games app. There is a long list of games you can play, some for free and some have to be purchases, you check them all out here shield.nvidia.com/games/android
Playing Batman Arkham City, I didn’t notice a single bit of lag in the controls. They were quick and easy to pick up, and felt just like a console game. This alone is a great feature, and I would totally buy a lower priced box, if it just offered this feature and nothing else.
I was happy to see that the thumb sticks on the controller could act like a mouse, but only on some apps. This was my next issue, I use an app called TTorrent, as it does exactly what I want, but this cannot be navigated with the remote or the controller. So now I had to get a bluetooth mouse, which works, but I am now using 3 bloody controllers to navigate one box. Why not give the remote air mouse properties, and then everything would be great.
If they released just a console version of this, for £129 then I would probably buy it. But for what I used my Android boxes for, and how I use them, this box is just too restricted to work into my life. That’s not to say it won’t be awesome for the other 99% of the people out there, this is just my opinion.
http://droidhorizon.com/nvidia-shield-android-tv-box-review/
I cant tell you how many cuss word filled rants I've started typing in the google and nvidia feedback activities expressing many of these same feelings. Sometimes I even avoid messing with it altogether just to prevent the rage I feel about some of the implementations (or deliberate omittance of) by google who for whatever reason decided to cripple these devices with whatever nonsense ideas they have in their heads when they are making their decisions about what the "leanback" experience should be like. Maybe it makes a little sense to limit some parts of Android Auto but I cant believe what I'm seeing in my living room. Its absurd. Then I just delete it like a good end user and try to focus on the things that it does do really well. The device itself is awesome but being a tinkerer makes for a lot of frustration and it totally blows my mind seeing what I think is a perfect example of the direction I think google intends to take with the Android OS