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Try installing an app on your TV and report back to us. Try Kodi, it's great for viewing your own content and has many streaming options as well plus more functions. It's a whole other world. here is the link for the Android version. https://kodi.tv/download/852
I have two LG TV's both with Web OS, I wouldn't mind doing that. WebOS is FROM LG which means you cannot install android apps.
Well Duh! You can't install iOS apps on Android either or installing Android Apps on iOS. I have installed Disney+ on my TV, shocker, I went to the TVs app store searched for Disney+ and there it was, how crazy is that?
How hard is that too? If you can't do that on your TV, how can you expect anyone to do it on a firestick?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gguerra
I could almost best the the USB on your TV is for viewing content such as photos and videos or for maybe upgrading firmware, NOT for increasing the storage for the OS/apps. Wouldn't make sense at all for a removable storage to become part of the OS. It may possible to add storage for apps on some TV's but it would not be as easy as plugging in a flash or external drive, that is for sure.
You'd bet wrongly, it's for both extended storage for DVR, and app storage. TV recognized an 8Tb drive straight away. <cough!> Popped up a "do you want to format this..." message.
Oh and that USB allows you to sideload too, just so ya know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gguerra
WebOS is pretty limited in what you do as an end-user. Yes, they have an app store but the space on it for apps is not as much as you think. It may vary by model.
Well duh! Again. It's a computing device not a computer, its primary function is displaying video content. Sure typically space is limited, pretty much like on the Roku and Firestick.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gguerra
Firestick is not even Android, it is Fire OS. Read up yourself before posting. It is based on Android and will run apps from the Amazon app store and general android apps but you have to side load them. So the Android 7 vs Android 10 doesn't apply and they both run apps just fine. If you don't think so, let us know why and give us something a little more technical than it's just newer, that doesn't necessarily mean better at least not in this case.
FireOS is customized Android 7.1 (Nougat) the kernel is Linux just like all Android devices, you only have to side load because Amazon won't permit execution of unverified apps, it's not a limitation of the OS. If you have storage and a VPN, you can totally install and execute straight APKs provided of course its jailbroken.
I mean why do you think FireOS is something completely different to any other OS, Amazon didn't get where it is by being dumb. Building an OS from scratch is seriously non-trivial, and needs a lot of time and investment. Why waste what's already available to reinvent the wheel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gguerra
Edit: I checked the storage on one of my LG TVs, It reads as follows
Available Internal Storage
0.19 / 0.60GB
This tells me it has 1GB storage total for apps. The Firestick has 8GB. Not sure on the Roku, maybe about the same?
Its telling you have available 190Mb of 600Mb, not even a Gig. That said, so what, more memory isn't necessarily a benefit, if you have the apps you want, and aren't suffering memory constraints.
Like I said, my phone has more memory than any firestick or Roku, does that mean someone should go buy a Samsung S20? No clearly not, because it would serve little purpose. Much like Firesticks and Roku may serve little purpose for someone with a modern Smart TV. My TV has, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, Twitch, Spotify, Google Play Movies, NFL Game Pass, there's even a Wikipedia App. Does anyone need more that those? I mean there's half a dozen or more pay per view apps, for rentals and sales of movies/TV shows, and I don't know how many IPTV apps, News Channels (I mean Kazhak news?), and internet radio apps. It's not as extensive as Googles Play Store for apps, but this is a TV.
I mean you kind of need to justify why someone needs to go out and buy another device when typically a smart TV will do what someone needs.
Well Duh! You can't install iOS apps on Android either or installing Android Apps on iOS. I have installed Disney+ on my TV, shocker, I went to the TVs app store searched for Disney+ and there it was, how crazy is that?
Well Duh is right. My WebOS TV will not load the app I want which is Kodi and that is the amount of memory it has, so it sucks. That was my point from the very beginning. There are other examples. The OS on the TV is inadequate. I stated that if you like to tinker with things, a fire tv is a good choice. It's also Duh! that yeah, TV's come with Netflix and any of the other popular apps which is no big deal. It all depends on what you watch.
The 0.19 / 0.60GB I mentioned means you are using .19 of .60 that is AVAILABLE for apps. The total storage is 1gb which ain't much.
I am curious about the expandable storage you claim you have on your TV. What brand/model TV do you have?
thats for more like miracast (mirroring).
for d.l.n.a., many apps have the option to start/play/pause/ff/rew/stop/queue/... videos. more like a remote control.
also I think most smart-tv's these days just have entered rokus.
DLNA is not technically casting, that is streaming. I happen to have dlna at home for music, I prefer other solutions like Subsonic or Muzecast. Never needed to stream video from my own collection over the internet. For that I have used Plex with success, just don't have the need for it.
That is not what the OP was referring to or at least that is the way I understood it as casting video from one device to a TV, I could be mistaken. This was what he asked.
Quote:
Is there a general trend towards people using the internet devices and then casting
I assume the OP is wanting video streaming, he did mention apps. DLNA involves your own content, not content off the internet.
Gungnir is right. Fire OS is absolutely, basically an Android fork. Part of the reason it's so hackable. He's also right about Casting. Casting from a phone or laptop to a Google Chromcast isn't hard on a phone at all. It actually hands off the streaming to the device which is part of the magic. It's not mirroring your device. When I cast HBO to my Chromecast, my phone hands the stream to the CC, so it connects to the HBO server and plays my content, which is why apps must be built to enable Chromecasting. I can actually turn the phone OFF and the stream still runs until that show ends.
Gungnir is right. Fire OS is absolutely, basically an Android fork. Part of the reason it's so hackable. He's also right about Casting. Casting from a phone or laptop to a Google Chromcast isn't hard on a phone at all. It actually hands off the streaming to the device which is part of the magic. It's not mirroring your device. When I cast HBO to my Chromecast, my phone hands the stream to the CC, so it connectds to the HBO server and plays my content, which is why apps must be built to enable Chromecasting. I can actually turn the phone OFF and the stream still runs until that show ends.
Right about what? I was saying that from the beginning. It's based on Android, you can call it a fork or whatever you want, that is beside the point and 7 or 10 or whatever version it is, as far as streaming video, they do all the same thing. For that matter every brand specific version of Android on any phone is also a fork if you choose to call it that. I've had 4 or 5 firesticks by the way. I know what they are and how they work.
Hackable is not the right word. You can do what you want with it just like a phone. You can root it and side load apps all day long. Apps as in apps you get from the play store, not just apps from it's own "app store". I wouldn't call that hacking. Setting unknown sources to ON is not hacking, it's just a setting. All that said, some standard android apps are not optimized for the FS and there is no touch screen. You can get a wireless mouse/keyboard for it but normally all you have is a remote.
Chromecasting is only one type of casting, there are several. Just like Gungnir, that is YOUR experience, not everybody else's. I was referring to screen mirroring which is what I have done, wasn't impressed. I know there are different ways to do it but why rely on a battery powered device to watch movies or shows?
Same with the app thing on the TV. My LG has "live TV" via LG channels and all of the standard apps, netflix, amazon etc but as far as installing other useful apps it's complete crap and by useful apps, I don't mean CBS or HBO or standard apps like that. That was my point from the beginning. It just doesn't measure up to the Firestick, no way, no how. You can't do anything with it, the storage on it is tiny and it's WebOS which is pretty basic.
I'm still waiting for the model of his TV to see if has expandable memory as he claims. It's not good enough to just state it, prove it.
This is exactly what you said "Firestick is not even Android, it is Fire OS." Phones are not forks. All phones running Android 9 are extremely similar in the way they function. A fork is crated an entirely different OS out of it.
I would absolutely consider rooting hacking. You are taking a thing and changing the very way it functions to allow you to do things the manufacturer did not intend for you to do.
I understood Robert to be asking specifically about CASTING which = Chrome Casting. TMK there is not other methods specifically referred to as casting. Mirroring is... just that.
100% agree with your take on Smart TV's. I haven't seen any that are expandable. And the app stores suck. And if your TV Manfacturer decides to stop supporting an app, it will stop working on your TV... like Sony did once with YouTube.
This is exactly what you said "Firestick is not even Android, it is Fire OS." Phones are not forks. All phones running Android 9 are extremely similar in the way they function. A fork is crated an entirely different OS out of it.
I would absolutely consider rooting hacking. You are taking a thing and changing the very way it functions to allow you to do things the manufacturer did not intend for you to do.
I understood Robert to be asking specifically about CASTING which = Chrome Casting. TMK there is not other methods specifically referred to as casting. Mirroring is... just that.
100% agree with your take on Smart TV's. I haven't seen any that are expandable. And the app stores suck. And if your TV Manfacturer decides to stop supporting an app, it will stop working on your TV... like Sony did once with YouTube.
Lately? no, I'm the same as I ever was. It takes two to argue. When someone comes in and quotes me and contradicts me for whatever reason, that is no longer just posting your opinion, that is a form of arguing, right or wrong.
Rooting IS hacking, I agree. I have never needed to root my fire stick, for what? I only mentioned that in passing. I have however installed several "unofficial" apps. THAT is not hacking, all it takes is to turn off a setting and you can side-load apps all day long. You can even turn on developer options and create and test your own app. Not that I have the time or inclination to do so, but it is possible. That is the beauty of open source.
As for casting, Robert never mentioned Chrome anything, go back and look if you need to. That is YOUR idea of casting, not necessarily everybody else's.
As for this Gungnir guy, he made some claims without backing them up. Specifically about smart TV's being as good or better than a Firestick or Roku for apps. He also claimed that Smart TV's had expandable memory via a USB port. If your TV has expandable memory (for apps) which I seriously doubt, prove it. He seemed to have disappeared as soon as I called him out?
(Just joking about being argumentative... that was supposed to be a smiley :P )
Re: Casting. That wasn't a term until Chromecast. Google "Casting to TV" and the first 10 results all have Chromecast in them. Robert was talking about casting even though he may not know what a Chromecast is. I don't know anything that works on both a phone and a laptop (from Chrome) easier then a Chromecast does.
I also actually agree with you a bit on Chromecasting. Not because battery life but because there usually an app that's simpler to use. I only really recently started using my CC when HBO switched to Max and now no longer has a Roku app. But I can certainly see why some people like it.
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