Android TV on an Android box

[Ian Davies]

Android is open source, so I am wondering if anyone has tried to put the Android TV operating system specially designed for TVs (the one nVidia uses on their Shield, or Sony on their Smart TV, for example) on a generic (cheap) tv box running stock Android.

My idea is to get a relatively cheap generic Android box on which I can put the Sage Miniclient, Kodi, etc. but with a proper Android TV GUI rather than the one designed for mobile phones.

Any thoughts on this, or how easy this would be to do?

Thanks,

Ian.

[stuckless]

I think this would be a great project... ie, if we could get something like CyanogenMod for Android TV.

The challenge is that while Android is open source, there is a kernel level where drivers are required for just about everything else, and that would have to be hardware specific.

I recently bought the NexBox (2gig RAM version) that runs the AMLogic 905x CPU that many Android boxes run today. (http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/08/...-ubuntu-16-04/)

What surprised me about the NexBox is that while AndroidTV exists and is fully compatible with Kodi, etc, These companies are still choosing to go with a tablet version of Android and the experience sucks big time.

While the NexBox works and can run the Android MiniClient... I would never recommend using this box, as is. The UI is horrible and because it's built for tablets, even the basic apps like the Play Store is a pain to use. After using it for about 5 minutes, I was ready to smash the unit to pieces, it was so frustrating

I felt the NexBox would not be ideal, but I thought it might be good enough for a 3rd, rarely used TV... I'm now going to setup the Roku and use Plex on that TV... it's mainly used for movies and is only used a few times a year, so Roku+Plex would work ok there.

But back to your questions about building an "AndroidTV" base... I wonder how easy this is... if all the main players that are building "Android" TV boxes are choosing to go with the crappy experience of a Tablet UI on a TV instead of using the AOSP code for AndroidTV and get a UI that designed for TV??

I would love to see a project to bring AndroidTV "clean" roms to these devices.

At this point I'm hoping that the Xioami MI AndroidTV box will be a big hit.

[jchiso]

I mentioned the Minix Neo U1 in the other thread. Its interface is designed for a TV box, runs the miniclient without issue, and plays 60hz, high-bitrate, 4K files perfectly. It costs $120 ...

[dranockcir]

Xiaomi's Mi Box has been appearing in random Walmarts. Supposed to be released in October. It's got some nice specs, Android TV, quad-core ARM Processor, Mali 450 GPU, 4K TV, 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of Storage for $69.99 Here's an article about it...

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/17...-price-tag.htm

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by jchiso

I mentioned the Minix Neo U1 in the other thread. Its interface is designed for a TV box, runs the miniclient without issue, and plays 60hz, high-bitrate, 4K files perfectly. It costs $120 ...

The problem that I have with the Minux Neo U1 is that at that cost... it's almost as expensive as the Shield (I got mine for 149 on sale)... But, I'm glad it's a good contender... i was hoping to find a cheaper unit that worked 'ok'

Originally Posted by dranockcir

Xiaomi's Mi Box has been appearing in random Walmarts. Supposed to be released in October. It's got some nice specs, Android TV, quad-core ARM Processor, Mali 450 GPU, 4K TV, 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of Storage for $69.99 Here's an article about it...

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/17...-price-tag.htm

It has promise... let's hope it comes to Canada as well

[Ian Davies]

Originally Posted by stuckless

The challenge is that while Android is open source, there is a kernel level where drivers are required for just about everything else, and that would have to be hardware specific.

That's disappointing. I was hoping that the basic components inside would be largely standardised and therefore have a generic set of drivers that comes with the OS.

Originally Posted by stuckless

What surprised me about the NexBox is that while AndroidTV exists and is fully compatible with Kodi, etc, These companies are still choosing to go with a tablet version of Android and the experience sucks big time.

...

But back to your questions about building an "AndroidTV" base... I wonder how easy this is... if all the main players that are building "Android" TV boxes are choosing to go with the crappy experience of a Tablet UI on a TV instead of using the AOSP code for AndroidTV and get a UI that designed for TV??

I agree completely. An interface designed for touch will not work well at all for remote controls. Sadly, I would think that if it were easy then everyone would be doing it.

Originally Posted by stuckless

At this point I'm hoping that the Xioami MI AndroidTV box will be a big hit.

Yes, if the Mi Box is any good, and priced at $69, it almost doesn't seem worth the effort of porting the OS to a generic Chinese Android box, but I have some concerns about the supply of these boxes. I wonder how easy it will be to obtain internationally (I live far from both the US and Canada).

[Ian Davies]

Originally Posted by jchiso

I mentioned the Minix Neo U1 in the other thread. Its interface is designed for a TV box, runs the miniclient without issue, and plays 60hz, high-bitrate, 4K files perfectly. It costs $120 ...

That's good to know that the Minix has a proper Android TV interface, but it's quite expensive, especially compared to the Mi Box.

Does it run the Sage Mini-client well? I'd be interested to see how well the Mi Box runs the Mini-client too, as soon as someone gets their hands on one.

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by Ian Davies

That's good to know that the Minix has a proper Android TV interface

To clarify, that box doesn't run Android TV with the "Leanback launcher" like the Nexus Player, Shield TV, new Mi Box, etc. It has its own custom launcher that is 'optimized for TV' and ships with a much older version of Android (5/Lollipop)

A couple of other reasons to avoid generic Chinese boxes:

• Google has made many improvements to media playback in Android 6/7. ExoPlayer (library used by many Android media apps including YouTube, Play Movies, SageTV miniclient) only supports certain features on the latter OS versions. This will continue with ExoPlayer 2 and Android 8+.
• Not certified by Netflix and will be limited to SD playback.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by jm9843

To clarify, that box doesn't run Android TV with the "Leanback launcher" like the Nexus Player, Shield TV, new Mi Box, etc. It has its own custom launcher that is 'optimized for TV' and ships with a much older version of Android (5/Lollipop)

A couple of other reasons to avoid generic Chinese boxes:

• Google has made many improvements to media playback in Android 6/7. ExoPlayer (library used by many Android media apps including YouTube, Play Movies, SageTV miniclient) only supports certain features on the latter OS versions. This will continue with ExoPlayer 2 and Android 8+.
• Not certified by Netflix and will be limited to SD playback.

That's good to know about the UI... I thought it was using the Leanback UI. The NexBox is running Android 6 and it's launcher is designed for TV.. the problem isn't the launcher so much as it's the applications. ie, when you launch the play store it's incredibly hard to navigate since it was designed to tablet. because it's not running on AndroidTV, then apps (like the miniclient) think it's running on a tablet, and things are processed differently.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by stuckless

it's almost as expensive as the Shield (I got mine for 149 on sale)...

Where did you ever find a shield for 149?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Where did you ever find a shield for 149?

Last xmas... they were on sale for $149 (couple days only)

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Last xmas... they were on sale for $149 (couple days only)

Yup. Got mine for $149 with a free remote.

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by Ian Davies

That's good to know that the Minix has a proper Android TV interface, but it's quite expensive, especially compared to the Mi Box ...

I think the Neo U1 is an unbelievable bargain for its performance. I got mine for $129, which is less than you'd still pay today for an HD-300; certainly less than I've paid for each of my Sage Media Players. You cannot just go by specs on these devices. The actual performance separates it from other "comparable" devices. I've seen people mention the nVidia Shield, but I've never considered it for a streaming device, given its odd form factor, and the fact that I'm not a gamer.

Most of the PC options that I've seen that can (presumably) match the performance of the Neo U1 for UHD video cost upwards of $600. I've assembled the parts for a new PC-based streamer, and I'm hoping that it can perform as well as the Minix box ...

[maninblack_30]

Just received this in a junk email, I know you mentioned it at the start of this thread, but have they updated the UI?
http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/pro...=421101&n=3768

Thanks in advance :-)

Fraser