Chromecast with Google TV is now serving some users with full-screen, auto-playing video ads for physical goods on the home screen. Read on!
Reddit users thevincentasteroid and MMD3_ posted about an auto-playing video ad (with sound) on the home screen. The ad is for Chicken Tender Wraps from Carl’s Jr. When it begins auto-playing, it pushes all the other UI elements out of focus and goes almost full-screen, returning to the home screen after it has played through once.
a Chromecast is one of those inputs. And it has been a nice product.
The reason people are mad is that they Google changed the product after they bought it significantly.
and yes. Today the only reasonable good TV is a computer monitor connected to a device I have control over.
Download another launcher, set it as default home, and forget about google’s excessive ads. Depending on your model, you may need to run an ADB command. You may need to get a remote remapper app to remap the home button to open the launcher
While I am normally a fan of tendies, this ad was the final straw for me with the GoogleTV launcher. I’d been in app-only mode, but now I’m rocking Project Ivy instead. Thanks for the recommendation!
I wanna piggyback onto this comment to say that you can change the home launcher on a Chromecast With Google TV (And some other Android TV boxes) by downloading another launcher first (I use FLauncher) and disabling the default home launcher.
This will disable the service that re-enables the launcher
This will cause the home button on the remote to fall back to whatever other home app is installed. No button remapping needed. It will also break the YouTube button, but not the Netflix button.
I tried both of these just now and Flauncher is very rough around the edges. Spooky’s Projectivy Launcher is great, though! I do miss being able to quickly change users by long-pressing the home button, though.
Ive been using ivy on my Chromecast it’s good, but Flauncher looks more like what I want.
Protip for Chromecast users - disable the stock launcher via adb to set a new default
Dns resolution is integral to load balancing and regional content delivery. There is no universe where a single server, even a specially designed asic, could handle proxy routing if there was a DNS outage and every iPhone or android device or whatever failed to a single IP. Thank God the Internet works this way tbh, dns-based content blocking will probably be the only thing we can do eventually
I can’t say I’ve ever seen that, but it wouldn’t be hard for an iptables rule at the egress to just block outgoing traffic to 8.8.8.8. it’s not a great workaround for content providers. Especially because there’s definitely a universe where Google kills their DNS offering and a bad actor sets up a DNS server on the same static IP. Not that this isn’t an issue for domains too, it’s just another immutable and this one costs more than a subdomain to maintain.
There are apps that circumvent DNS blocking. They hard code the DNS server into the app, so instead of making requests to your set DNS, they make them directly to, say, Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8)
Rerouting DNS requests to your Pi Hole is the solution to this, unfortunately not every router supports this. My Netgear router, for example, doesn’t have the option, and of course I ended up getting a model that doesn’t work with custom firmware. I’m considering setting up a Raspberry Pi as the gateway for my network so I can do stuff like this.
Pretty sure you’re already riding Google’s dick because a new Apple TV can be had for $129.
As long as you’re willing to ride their dick over paying the price of true ownership and/or you’re blind hatred of Apple, you’ll always be Google’s little bitch.
You thinking Apple is the same as Google only benefits Google. You’ve allowed yourself to be the whore. Lashing out at me is just your way of rationalizing your whorish ways to calm your choice.
Arguing with people who choose Google as fervently have displayed is as futile as arguing with a Trump support, both are using emotion rather than logic and will not accept that anyone is capable of doing otherwise.
Did you read any of that article? It doesent say anything about phasing out Android TV it talks about malware coming in android TVs sold by sketchy no name companies on amazon. You can still buy android TV dongles. The nvidia shield is android TV and I currently use it to watch adfree Youtube. You should do some research before posting or even forming an opinion so you can stop spreading misinformation
Plex will do all/most of that with no additional hardware required. Just install the app to your smart TV and phones. Best part is when I go to a anyone else’s house it’s as easy as installed the app to their TV and using the QR code on the display to sing in with my phone. Bonus you install the server app to your home computer and put in movies or media you already own there. You don’t even have to install a server for it to use all of the other aggregation features.
You can get an N100 NUC for about 100$ and it’s a full windows 11 or Linux PC that can do everything you listed and everything else a computer can do. No ads unless you allow them.
NUC for 100$ https://www.amazon.com/Bmax-B1-Pro-Fanless-Computer/dp/B0CJBST7XQ), if you wait for a sale you can often get an even better one.
Kodi does basically everything you were asking for with a couple of plugins for free.
Your phone works as a remote with a free app (kodi remote).
You can “program it” by taking any keyboard in the house and setting it up, shouldn’t need it after.
If you somehow don’t have a keyboard or mouse and/or don’t have the tech literacy skills to install a program and a couple plugins and have no desire to learn then I can understand why you feel like Chrome cast is your only option, because it probably is. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but stop acting like it’s the best option for the average person, let alone the average person on Lemmy.
Option 1: Locked down but ready to use shit box that shows you annoying ass ads against your control
Option 2: A full ass computer for slightly more that let’s you do anything you want, watch anything you want, full control over ads or anything else, but takes some extra steps to get going.
Sure man, if you want the ready to use shit box, have at it. I’ll stick with the clearly better option 2, personally.
Oh man, you got downvoted but you are right, I just checked the local store online page and all the bravia announce their smartness as Google tv, not AndroidTV. Maybe it’s still modified but that needs to be checked before buying anything.
And I said in another comment, the best thing will be to buy a separate sort tv box and connect it to whatever tv we have. Or to search for whatever that works, idk.
Thanks! I’d honestly prefer to buy a tv without smart anything and connect a xiaomi tv, which is also android tv without ads. I’ll see what’s the hot stuff whenever I need a replacement, hopefully not soon.
Not apologizing for them, but, probably because they see it as still a less shitty option rather than recognizing what the options should or could be.
Also, even if the streaming box is ad-free, all the streaming services will have ads. It’s like a lose lose lose all the way down.
Capitalism has been on this accelerated death by 1000 cuts phase since marketing weenies figured out how to market during the worst parts of covid, not everyone has caught on. Especially in America where #hailcapitalism brainwashing is still chugging along.
Probably time to just give up and go back to books. Although in America, we will lose that skill in another couple of generations as our education system continues to rot. So there’s that.
Yeah and books are never considered cool. So young people rather watch ad filled shows then pick up a book. Also you need to have some energy to read a book, and people are often tired after the 9 to 5 we are forced to do.
You can turn any ebook into an audio book if you can get over the flaws of text to speach programs. Theres even decent sounding voices now. It makes consuming books much easier. Some people say its not reading, to those people i just shrug and never mention it again to them.
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Projectivity Launcher ftw
Just discovered this last night. I will never go back to the bloat that is the Chromecast launcher. Holy fuck is this so much better.
I haven’t heard of this one. Personally, I use FLauncher.
Step 1. Open window.
Step 2. Grab TV.
Step 3. Launch TV.
Step 4. Start pricing monitors.
Or just don’t connect the TV to your network. It has inputs. Use an input device you have control over. The end.
But then how would I express my outrage by hyperbole?
a Chromecast is one of those inputs. And it has been a nice product. The reason people are mad is that they Google changed the product after they bought it significantly.
and yes. Today the only reasonable good TV is a computer monitor connected to a device I have control over.
Or get a decent TV?
My LG oled has options to disable ads, and I never see ads when using the apps or the menu that launches them.
I still have a PC connected to the TV, but many of the TV’s apps do a good job.
My tcl roku tv continues to be good. Highly recommend that brand.
Theu feel so slow and janky compared to Google TV though
Do TCL TVs still have the backdoor into your home network?
No idea!
Download another launcher, set it as default home, and forget about google’s excessive ads. Depending on your model, you may need to run an ADB command. You may need to get a remote remapper app to remap the home button to open the launcher
I am using this one for my android tv https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu
And flauncher for my chromecast https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.efesser.flauncher
While I am normally a fan of tendies, this ad was the final straw for me with the GoogleTV launcher. I’d been in app-only mode, but now I’m rocking Project Ivy instead. Thanks for the recommendation!
I wanna piggyback onto this comment to say that you can change the home launcher on a Chromecast With Google TV (And some other Android TV boxes) by downloading another launcher first (I use FLauncher) and disabling the default home launcher.
1.Download FLauncher first
2.Enable USB debugging
3.ADB into your TV’s IP from a computer
4.adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherx
This will disable the original launcher
5.adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith
This will disable the service that re-enables the launcher
This will cause the home button on the remote to fall back to whatever other home app is installed. No button remapping needed. It will also break the YouTube button, but not the Netflix button.
Thanks!
I tried both of these just now and Flauncher is very rough around the edges. Spooky’s Projectivy Launcher is great, though! I do miss being able to quickly change users by long-pressing the home button, though.
Edit: though
Ive been using ivy on my Chromecast it’s good, but Flauncher looks more like what I want.
Protip for Chromecast users - disable the stock launcher via adb to set a new default
Chromecast is really due some enshittyfication
Man I could go for a chicken tendie wrap right about now.
If you have a pi-hole or other way to block access to your network, I’ve found these useful to block:
androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com
androidtvchannels-pa.googleapis.com
androidtvlauncherxfe-pa.googleapis.com
Ty.
Amazing that blocking DNS is still a thing for gadgets like this.
Dns resolution is integral to load balancing and regional content delivery. There is no universe where a single server, even a specially designed asic, could handle proxy routing if there was a DNS outage and every iPhone or android device or whatever failed to a single IP. Thank God the Internet works this way tbh, dns-based content blocking will probably be the only thing we can do eventually
I know but check this comment that is what I meant.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen that, but it wouldn’t be hard for an iptables rule at the egress to just block outgoing traffic to 8.8.8.8. it’s not a great workaround for content providers. Especially because there’s definitely a universe where Google kills their DNS offering and a bad actor sets up a DNS server on the same static IP. Not that this isn’t an issue for domains too, it’s just another immutable and this one costs more than a subdomain to maintain.
There are apps that circumvent DNS blocking. They hard code the DNS server into the app, so instead of making requests to your set DNS, they make them directly to, say, Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8)
Yeah, that is why I find it amazing that it works for some apps.
Honestly, I’m surprised it works too, especially for apps like the launcher. I guess we can thank the engineers for taking the easy route
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Rerouting DNS requests to your Pi Hole is the solution to this, unfortunately not every router supports this. My Netgear router, for example, doesn’t have the option, and of course I ended up getting a model that doesn’t work with custom firmware. I’m considering setting up a Raspberry Pi as the gateway for my network so I can do stuff like this.
I wanna see what the “they’re not ads, they’re recommendations!!!” crowd has to say now
All the more reason to fire up adb and replace that launcher before they take that ability away.
What launcher do you recommend?
Flauncher for absolute minimalism, or projectivy for a more featured replacement.
It’s relatively easy too! And you can install 3rd party YouTube apps with sponsor block +auto updates
Again, who tf is using Google TV? There’s like…books and shit.
Google ecosystem problems :(.
We need Matter Casting
Hmm I am craving some hamburgers
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Why are people in this thread fine with ads being played on their televisions. So strange.
Because there either astroturfing or bots astroturfing
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Sorry that we accept nothing less than adequate.
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Pretty sure you’re already riding Google’s dick because a new Apple TV can be had for $129.
As long as you’re willing to ride their dick over paying the price of true ownership and/or you’re blind hatred of Apple, you’ll always be Google’s little bitch.
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You’re the one joyfully riding Google’s dick.
You thinking Apple is the same as Google only benefits Google. You’ve allowed yourself to be the whore. Lashing out at me is just your way of rationalizing your whorish ways to calm your choice.
Arguing with people who choose Google as fervently have displayed is as futile as arguing with a Trump support, both are using emotion rather than logic and will not accept that anyone is capable of doing otherwise.
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I have an adroid TV stick that doesent show ads when I turn it on. Showing ads when you turn the device on full screen is intrusive as hell
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Did you read any of that article? It doesent say anything about phasing out Android TV it talks about malware coming in android TVs sold by sketchy no name companies on amazon. You can still buy android TV dongles. The nvidia shield is android TV and I currently use it to watch adfree Youtube. You should do some research before posting or even forming an opinion so you can stop spreading misinformation
“You people and your standards!!!” lol what are you even trying to argue.
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Plex will do all/most of that with no additional hardware required. Just install the app to your smart TV and phones. Best part is when I go to a anyone else’s house it’s as easy as installed the app to their TV and using the QR code on the display to sing in with my phone. Bonus you install the server app to your home computer and put in movies or media you already own there. You don’t even have to install a server for it to use all of the other aggregation features.
You can get an N100 NUC for about 100$ and it’s a full windows 11 or Linux PC that can do everything you listed and everything else a computer can do. No ads unless you allow them.
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NUC for 100$ https://www.amazon.com/Bmax-B1-Pro-Fanless-Computer/dp/B0CJBST7XQ), if you wait for a sale you can often get an even better one. Kodi does basically everything you were asking for with a couple of plugins for free. Your phone works as a remote with a free app (kodi remote). You can “program it” by taking any keyboard in the house and setting it up, shouldn’t need it after.
If you somehow don’t have a keyboard or mouse and/or don’t have the tech literacy skills to install a program and a couple plugins and have no desire to learn then I can understand why you feel like Chrome cast is your only option, because it probably is. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but stop acting like it’s the best option for the average person, let alone the average person on Lemmy.
You’re full of shit, a simple look on ebay has a bunch under 100…
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If you want to sling insults, let me know, I’m pretty good at it.
I’ve been using nuc and pc’s for years for all my tv’s. I have a 10 dollar wireless keyboard that works great as a remote.
I think you might need some fresh air, you seem awfully upset over being called out for YOUR BULLSHIT. Have a nice day, prick.
Option 1: Locked down but ready to use shit box that shows you annoying ass ads against your control
Option 2: A full ass computer for slightly more that let’s you do anything you want, watch anything you want, full control over ads or anything else, but takes some extra steps to get going.
Sure man, if you want the ready to use shit box, have at it. I’ll stick with the clearly better option 2, personally.
No discount is worth accepting ads.
My Sony bravia has an AndroidTV and has no ads. It’s basically the same thing but without the ad banner.
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Oh man, you got downvoted but you are right, I just checked the local store online page and all the bravia announce their smartness as Google tv, not AndroidTV. Maybe it’s still modified but that needs to be checked before buying anything.
And I said in another comment, the best thing will be to buy a separate sort tv box and connect it to whatever tv we have. Or to search for whatever that works, idk.
Yeah, that was my case, I was happily oblivious to how shitty Google TV was until I bought a new one. Be careful if you need to buy another TV.
Thanks! I’d honestly prefer to buy a tv without smart anything and connect a xiaomi tv, which is also android tv without ads. I’ll see what’s the hot stuff whenever I need a replacement, hopefully not soon.
Fuck, you convinced me to look into getting one of these.
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Not apologizing for them, but, probably because they see it as still a less shitty option rather than recognizing what the options should or could be.
Also, even if the streaming box is ad-free, all the streaming services will have ads. It’s like a lose lose lose all the way down.
Capitalism has been on this accelerated death by 1000 cuts phase since marketing weenies figured out how to market during the worst parts of covid, not everyone has caught on. Especially in America where #hailcapitalism brainwashing is still chugging along.
Probably time to just give up and go back to books. Although in America, we will lose that skill in another couple of generations as our education system continues to rot. So there’s that.
Yeah and books are never considered cool. So young people rather watch ad filled shows then pick up a book. Also you need to have some energy to read a book, and people are often tired after the 9 to 5 we are forced to do.
You can turn any ebook into an audio book if you can get over the flaws of text to speach programs. Theres even decent sounding voices now. It makes consuming books much easier. Some people say its not reading, to those people i just shrug and never mention it again to them.
In the mean time there’s the high seas and jellyfin