ADBTuner: A "channel tuning" application for networked Google TV / Android TV devices

Playground
#1213

So if you’re having to use compatibility mode, you can untick a couple of channels to test - but you need to find adb.py in your docker.

Then in the code look for where it has the adb commands for stop and pause (control f ‘input keyevent’ should help you find it).

And you can change the keyevent to whatever you need to help the app load the next channel.

Eg for me pausing or stopping the media does not let me send a new deep link - so I was forced to switch on compatibility mode which completely closes the app. But all the app needed was to be put in the background by pressing home, which then let the next channel load quicker and without having to relaunch the entire app.

So I changed it to ‘input keyevent 3’ on both of them.

But you can also try different adb commands - I used terminal to test them out, but you can also like I said, untick a couple of channels, change the keyevent and then ‘preview’ to test.

Let me know if I have to explain in further detail. :slight_smile: I’m no coder so anyone should be able to get it done fairly easily!

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#1214

Just an FYI this does not work with XFINITY Stream you have to close the APP. So in order for XFINITY Stream to work ADBTUNER has to Close the APP. Works great the way it is. Your way keeps opening the previous link.

#1215

Yep expected for sure that a lot of apps wouldn’t work like mine has.
Could be a different sequence of keyevent inputs that let the app stay open - or could just be an app that requires a close.

Worth a try for those who want to try get a quicker tune anyway!

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#1216

FYI: The experimental branch has been pretty stable for months so I decided it was time to merge those changes. adbtuner:latest and adbtuner:stable are recommended if stability is a priority.

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#1217

Any news regarding better http "respekt"?

#1218

Of possible interest to ADBTuner users, a list of Philo non-TVE channels: Provider - Philo - #211 by wjcarpenter

(Some updates to the data today.)

#1219

I don't know if it's an ADBTuner glitch, a Channels DVR glitch, or something else, but I'm seeing & showing up expanded to & in the Live TV guide. For example, the Philo channel Heroes & Icons shows up at Heroes & Icons. I don't have any channels in my other sources with & to compare.

For the ADBTuner channels, I also see the same & expansion in program titles, and I don't see that in program titles for other sources. I don't think ADBTuner has anything to do with how the program data is processed, but maybe it's some kind of problem for custom channels in general.

#1220

For those using ADBTUNER with XFINITY Stream they changed the call sign for SHOWTIME .. in my case Pacific time changed to PSHwH

#1221

A long shot, but has anybody gotten the PBS app to work with ADBTuner? I can manually launch it with adb navigation commands (home, left, select, etc), but that's pretty fragile. I'm a long-time software developer, but I don't have any significant experience in the Android development ecosystem, so I'm not sure how to dig in.

Why do I want to get the PBS app working? I live in the Seattle area, and my house happens to have great OTA reception for most channels. But we have two PBS stations: Seattle and Tacoma. They have differences in programming, so we support them both. I can't receive the Tacoma station on my antenna. (I have tried a lot of antenna tricks. :frowning: )

#1222

Have you tried the vlc-bridge-pbs Docker container? You can install it individually, or via Project One-Click in OliveTin:

#1223

No, I wasn't aware of vlc-brdige-pbs. I'll give it a look.

FYI, I can get the PBS app to launch by giving com.pbs.video/com.pbs.video.StartupActivity for the ADBTuner package name. (I realize that that's both a package name and an intent (or something), but it seems to work through some lucky accident.) I can also get the app launched similarly in adb:

$ adb shell am start com.pbs.video/com.pbs.video.StartupActivity
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] cmp=com.pbs.video/.StartupActivity }
#1224

That part is possible with any app -- the important question, with ADBTuner anyway, is does the app support deeplinks? If it doesn't, then you'd need to use the ah4c project where you can do remote control emulation via bash scripting.

If the vlc-bridge-pbs project gives you the stations you're looking for -- that's the easiest way. And if you get OliveTin up-and-running, all known channels-related extensions are easily installed -- both the container config, and the CDVR custom channels setup are done for you.

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#1225

Man, that was easy. Thanks for the pointer. I set up vlc-bridge-pbs individually, but I'll also have a look at the OliveTin stuff. Maybe I'm not watching enough TV.

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#1226

As @bnhf suggested, nobody ever tried this approach (ah4c or ADBTuner) because there is a better way.

To be thorough, I did just check and the PBS app does support deep links, but not for live TV. PBS being as awesome as they usually are have their deep link structure documented.
https://docs.pbs.org/space/RES/3965277/OTT+Deep+Link+Templates+and+Guidance

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#1227

I'm not sure what the real intersection is between the PBS livestream and deep linking. (I'm not trying to argue or disagree. I'm really saying I'm not sure.)

The web URL for the livesteam is a constant: https://player.pbs.org/ga-livestream-portalplayer/. There can be other goop tacked on the end, but it's not needed.

But if you just open that URL in incognito mode, it gives the expected error about not knowing what station interests you. I think they normally get that info from the browser referrer link and something from cookies, or if you go to pbs.org directly and login they know who you are. And, of course, we all know they apply geographic restrictions based on your source IP address.

I know I'm probably getting far afield from the "it just works" intent of ADBTuner. I'm just trying to be lucky. :slight_smile: vlc-bridge-pbs doesn't provide CC, which is a must-have in my house.

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#1228

The application itself has to know what to do with the URL. https://player.pbs.org is not a URL it is prepared to handle. Per the application manifest (AndroidManifest.xml) in the decompiled apk file it supports URLs such as:

www.pbs.org/video/
www.pbs.org/show/
www.pbs.org/launchApp
pbsvideo://video.pbs.org/video/
pbsvideo://video.pbs.org/profile_callback
...

These things match up to the documentation provided by PBS which states:
Note: Currently we do not support deep linking to the Live TV feed.

In other words there is no magic URL that will open the live stream in the Android TV app.

Unfortunately this makes it a bad candidate for ADBTuner. With ah4c you can open the app and then use remote commands to click the appropriate button in app to start the stream. That will be the best bet and the app should remember that you had captions on.

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#1229

Has anybody got this to work with Max to open a TNT hockey or basketball game?

#1230

@turtletank, thanks for providing this awesome app to the community. I have 2 HDMI video encoders and 2 GCCTV dongles working perfectly. It works well with Channels DVR and Windows Media center. Good work and thank you!

#1231

Yup, the deeplinks are event specific, but it does work. See my above posts on it.

#1232

I have a problem getting the latest :stable version working with 1 of 4 devices ; working = Nvidia Shield 2015 (non-pro), Onn TV 4K, Onn TV 4K Pro ; not working = Nvidia Shield 2019 - The NS19 exits a second after tuning the desired channel in YTTV - I've performed a factory reset and still have the same problem - (I've been moving equipment - using Onn TV boxes as clients and getting wired devices to use for the encoders) - any thoughts?

EDIT: nevermind - just noticed I forgot to put the port number 8090 into the LinkPi address - now it's working...