Best Android Based Client

I can't stand the Tvivo anymore due to the Home screen update that has all the stupid ads on it. take up most of the screen. the new Google TV dongle has them to. I am able to keep it on manual update apps and sideloaded the older home screen app version, but still. Nvidia Shield's do not seem to be getting this annoying thing, and they have been updated.

Also,, the cheaper tube model is a good client device, i have one in my living room, and it has been great for all things, Channels, Hulu, Emby, everything i can throw at it.
They both were on sale recently. but i got the tube model for like $120. the pro was like $150 at BB. not sure on current prices. i got mine long before they were mass desired thing due to covid.

Maybe I'll grab a 32.

I think I'm going to wait and test how it all works out. Worth case scenario, if I don't like the device I will use it only in my master bedroom.

When using a 32gb or 64gb drive or sd card i found that the buffer gets so big (6hrs-8hrs) the performance starts to suffer. I find the 16gb to be the best trade off. Mini usb c card readers are cheep so are sd cards. Have fun and play around see what you like best. I have 1 ts4k setup with 16gb sd card formated as device storage for the client and a 512gb usb c drive as external storage for the dvr server. This makes a great portable all in one system for traveling and works great in hotels.

Being impatient and bought this.

That should work just fine just plug it into the USB c on the side. Then choose format as device storage not external. If you have not installed channels client yet it will install to the usb drive by default. If you have already installed the channels client before installing the drive go to settings, apps, channels DVR and click on storage there it will give you a choice to move to usb.

I had not heard of one of Tivo devices till a few days ago. I may be missing something but the Tivo combines ALL apps into one guide as I understand it. Channels can't do this but has other advantages. Is this the correct assumption? For someone that is technology illiterate, like my mom, this might be the way to go on her TV while I use Channels everywhere else. Opinions?

Is there still a bug that turns the TV on by itself during random times?

To me the tivo home screen is a lot like the home screen of googletv and firetv, they all display content from all the streaming services (Netflix, hulu, Amazon prime, Disney and so on) showing what's available to watch. Channels DVR is more like a standard cable or satellite guide showing you what is on from your live tv sources.

That's good to know. Exactly what I was looking for. I would love to have a guide that has everything that I subscribe to in one guide. Like DirecTV. My mom understands that since she's had it since 1995. She refuses to even try anything else. :crazy_face:

If she subscribes to SlingTV, the TiVo guide would incorporate that plus some other streaming services. It would NOT incorporate any live TV coming through the Channels app, unfortunately. I just disable the TiVo apps on mine and use Channels with my HDHomeRun (OTA channels) plus TVE channels via Philo. My family was quick to adopt.

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In my case my mom is 96. A goat is more cooperative!

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For crying out loud, I can’t make my mind up. I cancelled the order yet again. After hours of review and many reported issues, I decided to cancel.

I may just pick up one of these universal remotes for Apple TV. :slight_smile:

Tivo Stream 4k. I have three of them. Disable the tivo apps, button mapper to make use of the buttons, and it's good to go. Live, guide, tivo,and best of all, skip.

If only android would normalize nav buttons amongst apps and give us back play/pause/ff/rew buttons.

Zero desire to drop 3x the amount for a Shield. I don't game. I don't feel like I have bottlenecks anywhere. Not an Apple fan so not going down that path.

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Nvidia shield is the best. I’ve tried them all. All streaming devices have their own particular flaws, shield was the only one that checks every box for me. Especially now that the latest shield also supports Dolby vision, and it’s Ai upscale is terrific.

If your remote has media playback buttons, they work as expected. Android also publishes guidelines for navigation, similar to how Apple does. But Android does not enforce the guidelines, and most developers don't seem to follow them anyway.

When looking around reviews for the ts4k please remember your original guesting. Best android based client. Most people here were giving their option of the best android device to use with Channels-DVR not what the best overall android device is. I know if the question was different so would my opinion.

True, you make a good point.

I wonder if those existing bugs still exist? Powering up on it's own for instance.

I'm only one user with two TS4K's, but I've never hard of that "powering itself on" bug let alone experienced it.

I just re-read your posts though I see that really for you this sounds like a remote-control issue, as you don't like the AppleTV remote. AppleTV as a platform, though, is pretty solid right? Maybe you are better off just looking for a remote.

The only remotes that I know of that support all functions that the tivo remote supports are the sofabaton and the harmony. The sofabaton is usable but has drawbacks. The number buttons are to small and unusable for me for direct channel input. It also loses connection when idle. So sometimes the first button press don't register. If this was constant it wouldn't be as big of a problem but sometimes it dose register. The harmony has a better remote but the remote is ir from the remote to hub then bt from hub to atv4k. If I was willing to use ir remote I think I would set up a rpi4 as a bt hub and use the remote of my choice via flirc. If any one knows of other full function bt remotes for the atv4k i would to here about them. I'm looking for a better option myself.