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Comment by alias_neo | Hacker News Reader

Maybe this is what I need to do.

I disconnected our living room LG TV from the internet and got a Fire Stick 4K Max, but I hate it; 90% of the screen is advert, and you get a tiny sliver for the 5 apps it lets you see, and you have to go digging for the rest, not to mention the home-screen advertising isn't always appropriate for young children.

I hadn't considered Apple TV because I've never been an Apple user, but perhaps this is what I need.

Though I'm an Android user, all of the Android TV devices seem to be junk or ad-ridden junk.

Is Apple TV the way to go (asking other opinions).

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Yes.

The only other one I'd seriously consider is the nVidia Shield (Pro?). But the risk with that is that it's decade old hardware with no updates in sight. It's more for the "My Plex/Jellyfin server has all the movies and TV shows ever" -crowd :)

Meanwhile my 1st gen 4k AppleTV (6-ish years old?) is chugging away perfectly and runs every single 3rd party streaming platform I need - even the local ones. As a market it's just too big to ignore.

And no ads anywhere on the front page. The top row apps get to show their stuff on the top part, but it's not "ads" in my book - unlike Google TV that just shoves full-screen crap of "YOU WANNA SEE THIS MARVEL MOVIE?!" at you no matter where you browse.

I've been aware of the Shield devices for some years now, as an Android user, but something always put me off them.

I lrecently bought the FireTV 4K in a last-ditched effort to find something I could at least have some control over; if I could replace the launcher with something that's just app icons and not all adverts it would have been perfect, but alas, Amazon has prevented that, so onto the next thing.

It's really sounding like Apple TV is the best option for something suitable for the whole family.

Can I ask; what is the purpose of the relatively large storage on an Apple TV, do they support "apps" of some kind?

> Can I ask; what is the purpose of the relatively large storage on an Apple TV, do they support "apps" of some kind?

I’d always assumed that was for rented media

You can play games decently on Apple TV, those require some storage and I believe at least the native Apple apps cache pretty heavily to local storage instead of relying on streaming.

There are "apps" too, but all of them are related to streaming video in some way, except for the games of course.

It's still seeing software updates and can play h.265 and AV1 content in 4K without issue. The latest model is 2019 though... that said works great... latest software update was just a couple weeks ago.

Also, you can swap the Android TV launcher relatively easily.

I've been using an AppleTV as the primary way to get content to my (dumb, vintage 2007) TV for approximately a decade now.

While my usage has increasingly shifted toward drawing from my personal library through first Plex, then Jellyfin, I've also used Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV+, and probably a couple of other content apps I'm forgetting on it. Aside from some issues with the UI of individual apps (which is, of course, on the developers), it all works great. Many of the apps can even show you a couple of tiles of "suggested content" right from the home screen (for instance, when I select the Netflix app, but before I launch it, it currently shows the next episodes from the most recent two shows I've been watching on it).

There are various ways in which an AppleTV can be better if you're already in the Apple ecosystem (which I am), but you absolutely do not need to be to make excellent use of it.

It can even join your Tailscale network and act as an exit node, giving you a quick & dirty VPN into your home network!

Happy apple tv user for > 5 years now. It has icons for the apps you want to start on the home screen. You click the icons. The apps start.

It's connected to a samsung tv that's not allowed wifi access. Besides the bad and steadily worsening UX of streaming apps like Netflix, my setup itself never shows me any ads.

Also the apple tv remote has a very solid, premium feel, which i like

Thank you, that's exactly what I'm after.

A quick search, suggests the latest is 3rd gen (2022), am I looking at the right device?

Yes. Macrumors here says “don’t buy” [0], but only because they tend to recommend only if tech is “new”. I have this ATv gen and it’s not perfect, but is really the best streaming box, having used roku and nvidia shield. PS: get the version with wired ethernet if you can…wifi works, but no surprise that wired is more solid.

[0] https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/

I just wish the remote wasn't so small that I can never find it after my girls use it. I've just gotten used to using the phone app.

If you have an iphone, you can search for it. It plays a game of hot/cold with the Bluetooth signal strength i guess, guiding you to it...

Before you buy an Apple TV you can try installing ProjectIvy launcher and see if that suits your needs. It's basically a simplified launcher UI for Android TV devices.

It's not perfect, not if it suits your needs you won't have to buy another device.

I like FLauncher! Stupid simple and does the job.

That's the one I tried on the Fire Stick, it doesn't always launch, sometimes launches a few minutes after start, and when pressing home it would go back to the default launcher.

I think it's related to the accessibility settings it wants enabled, I was never able to turn it on like it says because the setting just refuses to enable.

I just hook up a (linux) laptop to my TV, personally. I have a mouse (and a bluetooth keyboard which I rarely use) to interface.

I have no idea if that would in some way impact something like streaming quality because I don't have any streaming services; I live in australia where the streaming companies simply don't bother organising streaming rights for worthwhile media. I also like to own things I want to rewatch.

If I wanted to get fancy (and if I had a TV capable of connecting to the internet, which I don't) I might consider setting it up as a media server or look at NAS solutions, but my laptop is perfect for me as is.

A cheap used mini desktop with a linux install on it is also a good way to go. Throw in a wireless mouse and keyboard and you can do not only what an AppleTV or Android box does but also everything a cheap used mini pc can do.

Even something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127547167640

Would be a media powerhouse compared to almost any set top box you can buy.

Throw OpenElec or OSMC on it for simple media setup or Bazzite or Ubuntu for a normal linux desktop with downloadable applications for most streaming platforms.

Apple TV 4k has an idle power draw of 0.49W and a 4k streaming power draw of 2.31W. That mini desktop will likely run at around 20W idle and approaches 30W under relatively light load and up to 60W on high loads. Plus keyboard and mouse are generally terrible couch devices. I've already got a NAS and plenty of devices I can stream from. The Apple TV is an almost perfect small and efficient device to stream to.

The down side is if you actually want streaming apps with 4K support for the paid services.

I've been using NVidia Shield TV (pro) since the first gen, still have my OG device as well as the updated models. I'm also running a Beelink SER8 with Bazzite for some living-room gaming and classic emulation.

I'm a Linux user myself, and into hardware and self-hosting, so I have hardware coming out of my ears, but I wouldn't dare try and use a Linux box in the living room.

My wife and kids use the living room TV most, I barely use it, and only then if I'm watching with them, they use all of the streaming services so they want it to play in 4K and "just work", for which Linux is unfortunately not the solution.

Honestly whatever makes you happy is fine. My point is that there are a lot of choices out there that don't require you to hand over your personal data to companies or to pay absurd prices for a sliver of privacy.

But I understand that when you have to account for the other people you live with and their comfort.

You could install Flauncher or another launcher onto Android TV. Then you don't see ads.

Unfortunately not possible on the Fire Stick (4K Max), Amazon have modified it to disallow other launchers; there are some "hacks" but none have worked for me and the closest one I did get to working was too much of a pain for the rest of the family.

I've found no way to root it either so I just want rid of it, every time something appears almost-full-screen on the home page that's inappropriate for the kids with no regard for what time of day it is, my wife gets all the more annoyed by it; she never wanted it in the first place, so the poor experience is not helping my case).

I couldn't work out how to do it on my Fire Stick either. But it does work for my Google TV.

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