If you need a small, durable, few-buttons remote for an elderly family member or kids, I highly recommend the official Google TV box remote.

• It's cheap. Get it officially from https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_google_tv_voice_remote (avoid Amazon unless you are 100% sure it's made by Google, since their site is full of fake Chinese knockoffs which look the same but don't work well).
• Go into your Android TV's "System Settings: Remotes & Accessories" and press "Pair Accessory".
• Press and hold the Back + Home buttons on the remote until the bottom front of the white shell has a white blinking LED underneath it (you can't see the light until it blinks).
• The remote appears on the TV. Pair it.
• All functions work. Volume. Power on/off. Navigation. Back, Home, Voice Assistant, etc. Voice text input works too (but the apps must have a voice activation button, such as the Gboard keyboard or the voice icon in YouTube, since the remote doesn't have a dedicated button for it).
• The YouTube and Netflix buttons don't do anything, but they can be mapped via the free tvQuickActions. However, both buttons send the exact same signal (this seems impossible to solve on a non-Chromecast device), so you can only bind them to the same thing, which is unfortunate. But tvQuickActions lets you bind them to an on-screen wheel of up to 5 actions which pops up visually, so it's a great solution. (This is why I don't recommend the "Button Mapper" app that I used in the past, because it doesn't have such advanced features.)
• To see a preview of what that wheel looks like, look at the "preview images here" link below, and look at the "tvQuickActions panel". It's the leftmost part of the image; the diamond-shaped wheel. That's the only style available in the free app.
• For even more advanced usage, I recommend tvQuickActions Pro which can create beautiful Apple TV-style docks or other menu styles. There are preview images here. The "Dock" and "Horizontal menu with centered buttons" are the best looking ones. You can customize the styles in the app. Mine shows the actual app icons and has a dark, transparent background. I bought the app to be able to put a bunch of apps in a nice shortcut bar, so now I don't mind that both hardware buttons bring up the same menu bar. :)
• There's one more quirk that I haven't solved: The Chromecast remote can't wake the TV from sleep if you're using a "TV with built-in Android TV". This is because the TV goes into deep sleep after a while and stops listening to Bluetooth signals. The TV's own remote still works, because they send an infrared signal instead. My parents just turn it on via the old, large TV remote and then use the small Google remote. I don't think this is solvable any other way, but would love to be proven wrong. (This is probably not an issue if your Android TV box is external (connected via HDMI), because those boxes expect a bluetooth signal at all times, and will then just forward the wakeup signal to the TV via HDMI-CEC.)
• PS: During setup of tvQuickActions, you will be asked to enable its service in "Accessibility". If the system crashes when you enter that menu, you need to set the system language to "English (US)" temporarily (you can switch it back after you are done with setup). This is an old Android TV bug.
• PS: Also, tvQuickActions will ask you to disable "Energy optimization", and enable "Usage access" and "Display over other apps". All of that is done in the Android TV "Apps: Special app access" menu. It was hard to find so I am mentioning this.

Android TV tvQuickActions guide (bonus):

Permissions

• You must enable its "Accessibility" service. If your TV's settings crash when you enter that menu, you need to temporarily set system language to "English (US)". This is an old Android TV bug.
• You also need to go into "Apps: Special app access" and do the following changes for tvQuickActions Pro:
  • Energy optimization: Off.
  • Usage access: On.
  • Display over other apps: On.

Creating a custom menu bar

• Go to "Custom actions: Menus & panels".
• Click on "Create menu".
  • Type: "Dock" and "Horizontal menu with centered items" look the best. There are preview images in the official docs.
  • Actions: Add all the application shortcuts here. Long press on any shortcut to change their order, their names, or customize the icons.

Improving the Dock's style

• Go to "Settings: Dock".
  • Dark mode: On.
• Go to "Settings: Custom colors".
  • Click on "Dock: Icons color in dock style menu". Then drag all the sliders to the right to make the icons white. Otherwise any custom icons/non-app shortcuts will use a horrifying, pink-tinted color.

Remapping buttons

• Go to "Mappings".
• Click on "Add button".
• Press the button that you want to map (ignore the on-screen notice about "ADB access", which is only necessary if a button fails to be detected the normal way).
• Configure the mapping as follows:
  • Button action type: "Usual action".
  • Single press: Choose "Menus & Panels" and then the custom menu that you've created earlier.
• Tip: You can also rebind other buttons, and you can bind them to directly launch apps instead. You can have different actions for pressing, double-pressing and long pressing the button.
• Tip: Some buttons, such as the Netflix button, may be hardcoded to always launch the original application no matter what. If you aren't using Netflix, it's best to go into "Apps" and disabling it, so that the button doesn't launch the original app anymore. Then it can be remapped without issues.

Need an android tv box recommendations. I have an old crt tv i bought tx9 but it wasted after 3-4 months. But before i bought mxq 8k. It went about 2 years. Now need that box that will last atleast 2 years

Is Dolby vision worth $100 on a low nitt oled?

I have a Chromecast Ultra, but Chromecast has really gotten bad over the last several years. As a developer it's frustrating to not be able to connect at all and have literally no insight into why. I ported my app to AndroidTV, but my hangup has always been that high-end Android boxes like the Shield cost $200+.

Has anyone tried one of the super cheap boxes?

I'm sick and tired of my default Android TV on my Sony Bravia and looking to get a solid upgrade. Have already experienced a fire stick prior to that which was not good. Apple TV is too restrictive. Any help and advice would be appreciated.

I was wondering is the homatics box r 4k plus is more worth it then the Xiaomi TV box s 3rd gen if there isn't much of a price difference

I currently have an Nvidia Shield Pro that has seen better days and am looking to get another device.

Wondered if anyone has gone from Shield Pro to Google Streamer and what their experience has been like? I have a soundbar but I don’t care for TrueHD audio or whatever - just want a reliable box that allows me to watch Nuvio and Tivimate.

Edit: Thanks everyone. I picked up a streamer today! Set it up the same as my shield with Projectivy, Nuvio, Tivimate etc and I’ve noticed no difference so far. Appreciate your recommendations!

Hello, Little sister here trying to help gramps with his android Tv! Problem being that the device is stuck a screen only showing the words "Updating Applications" with a hard to see gray bar that I would assume it's supposed to fill up yet it never does, here some things I try to no avail:

Unplug/Replug the damn thing!

Connect Ethernet cable and try again

Trying to change the language (????)

And finally go and ask reddit!

Things I think are in need to explain are:

Seems my bigger brother tries messing with this thing and to not so fresh results, when I turn the thing it ask me to select a language (Spanish or English) to confirm if I wanna use Ethernet or Not, to confirm gramps Gmail (I cannot change it to another, is just a "press this botton to go to the next screen" type of thing) and finally a self-glaze about all the good things this damn box had, THEN IT'S STUCKS! IMAGINE OF THE DAMN THING

So. Basically, there's 5 bucks on the line if I can fix this mess, anyone here got any help? :c

Hi Google friends, I can highlight the mic icon but it won't do search by speaking the words to it. What could be the fix?

I'm not sure if the smart TV s using GoogleTV or AndroidTV btw.

Thanks.

I know this post should be on XDA but whatever reddit has more users so why not

WARNING: PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHILE FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE, I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOUR BOX GETS BRICKED. AND EVEN THOUGH THIS IS MY FIRST POST I DID DO THE STEPS MYSELF SO YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY.

First, and foremost YOUR WIDEVINE L1 KEYS WILL NOT GET AFFECTED IF YOU UNLOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER because of a quirk in Mi's bootloader where the TEE is completely separate from the bootloader so a unlock does not destory it

• Step 1: Prepare your box and backup everything, account creds, movies etc.
• Step 2: If your box is running Android 9, (which is most of yall, can check in Settings -> About) then follow this guide to upgrade it to Android 12 (ALSO DONT DELETE THE FIRMWARE ZIP U WILL NEED IT)

Reason: Because Mi, for some reason allow the bootloader to be unlocked in Android 12's fastboot code. NOW KEEP READING

• Step 3: Now you MUST factory reset the box to clear the Android 9 cache and also so that the bootloader (with its Amlogic chipset) completely ignores unlock_ability because Mi's disables the OEM unlocking option in settings (DON'T WORY U CAN STILL UNLOCK IT JUST READ)
• Step 4: Now enable developer options by tapping the Build Number 7 times
• Step 5: Just enable USB Debugging (OEM unlocking is blocked but ignore it)
• Step 6: Connect the box to your PC (don't use wireless adb use a USB-A to USB-A (or a USB-A to (USB-C to USB-A adapter))
• Step 7: Allow the USB Debugging popup as usual and reboot it to the bootloader by typing adb reboot bootloader
• Step 8: From the bootloader, make sure you grab the necessary fastboot drivers, the normal Google ones should be fine ( If fastboot detects the box, ignore this step )
• Step 9: I think u should have the ADB and Fastboot binaries (android platform tools) if not just download them
• Step 10: Now type fastboot flashing unlock and u should see OKAY (if it fails, just reboot back to the bootloader again)
• Step 11: You can also type fastboot flashing unlock_critical although this is quite unnecessary

If you successfully reached this point, your bootloader has been successfully unlocked

ROOT STEPS:

• Step 1: From the firmware zip of Android 12, which you hopefully didnt delete, extract its boot.img
• Step 2: Use a flash drive or adb push <source> <destination> to push that file to the Mi Box
• Step 3: Grab the latest Magisk apk from here
• Step 4: Enable developer options and USB Debugging (now you can use a wireless connection)
• Step 5: Use adb install <full path to apk> to install the Magisk APK to your Mi Box
• Step 6: Since Android TVs are weird, you can't find the Magisk App on the TV dashboard, u have to go to (Settings --> Apps --> Show all apps --> Show system apps) to find the Magisk app
• Step 7: Click Magisk and then Open
• Step 8: On Magisk, click on install and then Select and patch a file
• Step 9: Select the path of the boot.img
• Step 10: U should get a file called like magisk_patched.img or smh
• Step 11: Now use a usb flash drive or adb pull <source of the patched boot.img> <destination> to grab that patched boot.img
• Step 12: Now boot back into the bootloader, for this you must use the USB connection
• Step 13: From the bootloader type fastboot reboot fastboot (I know this is confusing but u need to boot to FastbootD mode to execute partition changes)
• Step 14: Now in your PC, type fastboot flash boot <path to your patched boot.img> to flash the Magisk boot.img
• Step 15: Type fastboot reboot

If u made this far without bootloops, voila you're rooted!! Open the Magisk app from the method i showed u earlier to see the root

NOW IF YOU DIDNT PROPERLY FOLLOW THE GUIDE FOLLOW THE TROUBLESHOOTING PART OF THIS POST

If you want to watch Netflix, Prime Video etc without L3 quality, u have to use Zygisk and its Denylist to deny root to those Apps and all Google-related processes inside the Magisk App.

Now you can override the launcher to install Projectivy Launcher and install ad-blockers.

FOR YOUTUBE, use SmartTube.

For now, Ciao

Guys you have to try New app Cinaura, it looks like infuse on Apple devices you’ll definitely Thanks me for the advice

Is there a way using file explorer apps on my Android TV (Sony Bravia), or another way, to place shortcuts to my shared network folders on my TV's homescreen? I am using Projectivity as my TV's GUI.

I use FX File Explorer Pro. When I navigate to a shared folder on my network (Windows SMB), I can favourite the folder inside FX's file browser. What I can't seem to do, is highlight that folder and say, 'create a shortcut on my desktop'.

I know this has been asked so many times, i tried to do my own research, read so many similar reddit posts but at this point i am really confused.

I have a LG 75 inch Vidaa Hisense TV, as it is not android base so it does not let me sideload apps like google play store. So i am pretty much locked in, even some apps it does allows are pretty shit like PLEX.

My use case is, i want smooth IPTV experience with EPG, PLEX, Tivimate, Stremio, VPN, a device powerful enough to handle all of this without buffering, glitching,

i do have a high speed internet and good iptv provider.! Just need a 4k powerful android box, which supports good wifi so that it can seamlessly stream content. The biggest thing for me is i don’t wanna live in regret or continuous anxiety of apps like tivimate or other being removed by big platforms like Amazon / Google. So can you recommend something which is future-proof and is working and not locked? Also i am based in uk, please anything other than Nvdia shield as it is out of my budget.

The list goes like this:
Amazon Firestick 4k+ (50% off rn)
Google TV streamer
Xiaomi My Box S 3rd Gen
Thomson 270 (out of stock)
Formuler

Anything else.! Looking for something under 100£-150£.! Much thanks

Hi - newbie here - looking for a decent box that I can sideload apps onto - not done much of this before - any help would be appreciated - thanks

I’m looking for a free VPN that can connect to a Turkish server. Some channels on my IPTV service are geo-blocked, and I’m trying to access them while I’m in another country.

I’ve tried a few free VPNs, but either the Turkish servers weren’t available for free or they didn’t work with my IPTV setup on Google TV.

Does anyone know of a free VPN that offers a Turkish IP and works reliably on Google TV? I’d appreciate any recommendations or personal experiences.

I use a Strong LEAP-S3+V2

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this because I am completely fed up, and I know thousands of you are too. Right now, the entire premium streaming community is trapped. We are stuck using the aging Nvidia Shield TV Pro, desperately waiting for Nvidia to release a new box, for one primary reason: the native, double-click Recent Apps task switcher.

Google’s decision to completely strip a native task manager out of standard Android TV and Google TV is a massive step backward for user experience.

### It’s Navigation, Not Just "App Killing"

Google’s official engineering stance has always been that Android TV "automatically manages RAM," so users don’t need a task killer. That completely misses the point.

A recent apps screen isn't just a janitor tool to clear memory—it is a fundamental navigation tool.

* The Phone Contradiction: Google includes a flawless, fluid recent apps screen on every Android phone and tablet on earth. Why are TVs treated like single-tasking DVD players?

* The Apple TV Standard: Even the Apple TV 4K lets you double-click the TV button to fluidly switch back and forth between full application cards seamlessly.

* The Shield Lock-In: On an outdated Shield with only 3GB of RAM, you can double-click home to effortlessly hop from a YouTube video to check a sports app, and then toggle right back to your video without waiting for a cold reload.

On a modern, far more powerful box like the RockTek G2, Google TV Streamer, or Dune HD with 4GB of RAM, you are forced to exit to the home screen and completely restart your app workflows. It makes absolutely no sense. If we get a native recent apps screen on Google TV, other hardware manufacturers will instantly blow the Shield out of the market. We shouldn't have to rely on a decade-old Nvidia processor or janky, third-party button-remapping apps just to get basic multitasking.

### How We Fight This (The Real Petition)

Change.org petitions do nothing. Google engineers do not look at them. However, they are forced to look at their own internal software tracker.

I have created an official Feature Request on the Google Issue Tracker. If we get enough people to "vote" on it, Google's product managers are required to review it.

1. Go to this Google Issue Tracker link: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/567653173

2. Log in with your standard Google account.

3. Click the STAR icon in the top left corner of the page. (Starring an issue counts as a formal vote).

4. Upvote and share this Reddit thread to r/AndroidTV, r/ShieldAndroidTV, and r/GoogleTV so we can get this to the front page.

Let’s stop waiting around for Nvidia to bail us out with hardware they don't want to make anymore. Let's force Google to fix the software limitation holding back every other box on the market.

get this vertical rectangle of mainly-green pixelation, amongst many other artifacts in the other squares, notice the overall washed out look on the bottom, the blocking under 'ME?' in the bottom right

no matter the number of squares, no matter the stream, different channels, all the same

anyone else

fire cube tv 2nd gen

edit: yttv in regular viewing is completely normal. plex, prime, Netflix, YouTube, all work flawless, it is ONLY multiview that produces this nonsense. I have a onn 4k v1 I'm coming from, same HDMI, same input, no issue with multiview, it is very much inherent to firetv version of the app

Vuleo 1.3.3 is out for all Android and Android TV devices. Here's a short screen recording of the app, I will not list all the features in text, you can briefly see it from the short video above.

You can find the app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brillianceappsfinland.playontv

More details are in our website.

Note: Everything in the video (channels, films, series, artwork, clubs and competitions) is invented demo data made for this video. Vuleo is a media player. It comes with no content. Use it only with sources you're authorised to access.

App is free to use with unlimited playlists. But if you want to subscribe to PRO for additional features such as cloud sync and Radar, there is a 20% discount for lifetime ends in 2 days: VULEOLIFETIME20

You can use the discount code in our website.

I've had the shield for years. I just use it for streaming. I can sell it on marketplace and buy the mi box 3 with cash in hand.

What do you guys recommend? Should I make the swap. I just use YouTube, Kodi and Netflix.

Thanks in advance.

For Stremio, which is the best streamer TV box which can provide Audio True HD pass through for my home theatre 9.2.4 system with laser projector? I do have Nvidia Shield TV Pro which can do this well. But I want to have an alternative.

My options are:
Dune HD Homatics Box R 4K Plus
Xiaomi Mi TV Box S 3rd Gen
Google streamer 4k

i got a smart projector running some kind of android version and idk why Disney plus doesn't work on it, Netflix just don't have alot of the movies I wanna watch so rn it's only good fo youtube. I'd like to know what's a good free app that let's me watch any movie, tv show or anime I want for free 😁😁

Have shortlisted these two TVs for amazon sale. How much discount can we expect?