Android DRM

[radioboy]

I know DRM is a touchy subject, but SiliconDust pushed an update today that finally brought DRM support to Android devices with their app. Is there any chance we could see similar support in Channels?

[jseymour]

An update on DRM support

First the good news- after months of research and experimentation, we've found a round-about way to enable and detect HDCP on tvOS using existing public APIs. It's not as ideal as a real API to directly control HDCP would be, but it is workable for our purposes. This gets us past the existing roadblock which was preventing progress on the DRM support feature request. Unfortunately there's still lots of bad news. Our attempts at getting a DTCP-IP license from the DTLA have stalled out. The DTLA…

[radioboy]

I’m familiar with the post, but I was thinking perhaps there was a way to leverage the DRM from the HDHomeRun app on Android as the “source” for those channels… sort of like their workaround for tvOS…damn DTLA.

[vission]

DRM now does appear to be working for Android in both their HDHomeRun App and Google’s Live Channels. For certified devices. (Shield/MiBox etc). This is for live-viewing and time-shifting not for DVR yet, which I am perfectly happy with! Hopefully Channels Android TV will be updated shortly to also support this new functionality SiliconDust has FINALLY delivered on.

[radioboy]

YES! THIS! That’s what I was describing…I was hopeful that somehow DRM’d channels could pass through like Google’s own Live Channels app does - it’s actually playing from the HDHomeRun app somehow.