Yeah, because everyone is asking for that. They will force ads into everything they can, because Google is an Ad company.
I almost completely stopped going to the movies once the pre-roll stuff was ads for cars, food, etc instead of just movie trailers.
The more inconvenient Google makes avoiding ads on their platforms and services, the less of Googles platforms and services I will use.
For now I have a third party launcher setup on my CCwGTV in my living room, but the Apple TV 4k I have in my bedroom sure is looking nice these days with how well it performs and how much less trouble it is to setup and reset should I need/want to do that.
Going the HTPC route is less desirable to me since services like Amazon and Netflix go out of their way to restrict resolutions offered to things like a Debian box running Firefox. I could use Windows and Edge, but that would mean hitching myself to another company that seems more interested in selling me to advertisers than selling things to me.
You
Have made my day, most likely my week. Ads aside, I friggin HATE the Chromecast UI
Now, let’s pretend that I’m 5 yrs old. How do I get this to. Be the default launcher? I’ve already combed through the settings options and can’t seem to figure it out…
Settings -> Projectivy Launcher Settings -> General -> Override current launcher
https://youtu.be/bK8MAnc7Ico?si=Zs1otJfixHXz6DNJ I think explains
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/bK8MAnc7Ico?si=Zs1otJfixHXz6DNJ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
God damn it Google.
When I turn on the TV, it’s fine if the masthead is a banner advertising a new show. I’m literally using the product to find things to watch.
But fast food? That can fuck right off.
I’ve had an Nvidia Shield since they came out, about 6 months ago when I started seeing a car ad I was like “it’s time to switch to something else…”
What did you switch to?
My shield has always been laggy… I’d like to find a TV “OS” that can run apps and is actually fast.
The Zidoo Z9X Pro, it’s about the same price and supports Dolby Vision and Atmos in Kodi (they have their own build called ZDMC) and is generally faster then the Shield (USB 3, SATA, 4 GB RAM, etc… ).
It doesn’t seem to support the DRM protected streaming apps that use Widevine though (Netflix and the like) since I can’t find them in the Google Play Store, which sucks, but I can just use the smart apps on my LG TV for that.
It seems that it’s really difficult to find a STB that supports everything these days and doesn’t come with shitty specs/is years old 😑
Thanks. It seems like the Apple TV is the best option if you need DRM… 😥
I’ve heard good things about the Apple TV, it’s comparable to the Shield.
This is ridiculous. I would understand if this is subsidized devices where you pay less in exchange for having ads. You already bought the device and suddenly it got shittier. Might as well get a free, big brotherly tv with ads from Telly.
It always has been a device that is primary subsidized by ads and selling your behavioral data.
There is a reason why an Nvidia Shield or AppleTV costs a lot more. They’re making more from the price at the register than the ads and data sales.
People in this thread said their Nvidia shield has ads too now. I guess costing a lot more doesn’t guarantee the device won’t be updated in the future to include ads.
As for apple tv, is it usable in a household that’s primarily use Android? Can you cast stuff from Android apps to it? Or is it only supports airplay from apple devices?
Nvidia didn’t push the ads. Nvidia got their pound. Google is pushing the ads onto the shield.
So, the price of the hardware is not an indication whether the device will have ads or not later down the line? Even if you spent your money on the top of the line models it’ll eventually got ads if it’s running Google TV OS?
Correct. GoogleTV is completely owned by Google. Nvidia has no say in what google pushes to the platform. If you don’t want Ads… stay away from google/android TV.
I own 3 shields (pre-ad-gate purchases). I was a huge advocate for it. It was a great device that did everything I wanted a tv console to do. I would not buy a new one. And will not buy a shield 2 if it has the same OS on it.
The best you can do is stop the upgrades… or use a custom launcher. But the OS itself is going to find a way to get ads because that’s what google programmed it to do.
It’s actually in Google’s best interest to do this anyway. Nvidia likely didn’t pay google anything to have the OS on the device. This is google’s way of extracting money out of you in this process.
I’m pretty sure OEMs pay Google for including Play Store in their device, and they still decided to show ads. My Chromecast with Google TV shows no ads at the moment, not sure if it’s due to using Adguard in my home network or if Google simply hasn’t roll out ads in my country yet.
https://www.alphr.com/google/1010053/google-introduces-licensing-costs-for-android-manufacturers/
That started in 2018. The Nvidia Shield is an older product than that contract/requirement. And may not even apply to non EU devices/contracts.
I guess it needs to be said again: “smart TVs” are cheap because of post-purchase monetization. That is: they gather your viewing and UI interaction behaviors (and, in some cases, ambient sound) for analysis and sale by the manufacturer.
The TV is a product, sure, but so are you when you use a “smart TV” like that without mitigating its connectivity by not letting it on your network and just using a discrete streaming peripheral of some sort instead.
Cheap? I must have missed that part.
Dude, do you remember how expensive a 65” 4k TV was when the technology debuted? Paying $1000 nowadays for what’s basically cutting-edge display tech is nothing - they were in the neighborhood of $10k or more when they were first produced. And you can get one with older tech from TCL or whatever for like $3-400 now, which is embarrassingly cheap for a 65” 4k.
