Alternatives to Roku/AppleTV for Jellyfin Client
Alternatives to Roku/AppleTV for Jellyfin Client
My jellyfin collection has finally become large enough that I have been able to cancel all my streaming services. My issue now is that I want to get rid of my Roku's that are hooked up to each TV.
Is there a good alternative? It MUST be family approved, meaning:
- It is not visible (no desktop/laptop hooked up)
- It is low power
- It has a simple remote control
- It supports Jellyfin
- It is relatively cheap (< $150)
I am sure I could build something out of a raspberry pi, but:
- I don't need another project I have to fiddle with
- It MUST support new codecs (h.265/AC1/aac/...) as I want direct play from my server
- If it stutters/buffers once, it goes into the trash!
I've generally been mostly happy with my Roku, and my pi.hole blocks most of their analytics, but last week, I pressed the home button on my Roku and it started play a video add with audio. Completely unacceptable (That has happened twice in the last week). And in general, the more of this crap I can get out of my life the better!
If you're happy with the Roku hardware and you're going to cancel all your other streaming services, why not just firewall block the Roku from reaching out of your local network?
If you do that, Jellyfin will still work fine, and you won't have the ability to get posted ads or anything else from the Roku, so it'll just become a Jellyfin box.
I've taken this approach, sometimes these boxes will act up when they can't phone home. Definitely worth trying though.
Worth that at least before you start looking at different hardware.
Otherwise, it's the same thing if you have a smart TV, download the Jellyfin app, and then just completely stop it from being able to connect anywhere else.
Have you tried it with a Roku? My pi.hole blocks most things, but I haven't yet tried to completely block it from the Internet. In the past, I've had to allow some domains through my pi.hole or things would be completely broken, but that hasn't happened in a while...
I suppose I'd have to occasionally unblock it to get updates to the jellyfin app, which is doable.
I have a Rocku streaming stick and it won't work without an internet connection
Oh, that's absolutely horrible that they designed it that way. 🤮
AppleTV connected via Ethernet.
You’re chasing a unicorn with your requirements.
This ^
Simple, no ads, and handles HDR super well
And the Ethernet port is actually gigabit.
We have a couple Apple TVs. As much as I dislike the walled garden, they are very good for what they are.
For my parents, I got a $150 N100 mini PC (tiny little thing), installed Bazzite, installed Jellyfin, and got the Pepper Jobs W10 Gyro remote. You have to configure Jellyfin to know it’s running on a TV and to accept keyboard input (the remote acts like a keyboard), but then everything works great. It’s a little over your budget, with the added remote.
Excellent - thanks for the remote recommendation, it's one thing I've been struggling to find.
Not sure I like the gyro idea - I had a gyro presentation mouse in the past. Worked well, but how do your parents like the gyro element?
They don’t use it unless my dad is watching a perfectly legal sports stream in the browser. It works really well though. I have 3 of those remotes, cause I love them.
I did similar https://github.com/zombiehoffa/hyprjellynix
Edit I tried your way and it works better but is slightly more annoying to setup than running a nixos update (but only slightly more and making the nixos config file was a pain in the arse).
Its AppleTV.
There is a working app there now? Infuse etc. do not support HW transcoding…
Swiftfin. Works great for me with transcoding.
I use the ONN 4K Pro and the ProjectIvy launcher. You can completely hide the standard Android TV OS launcher and its ads. Button Mapper is another good app to have on Android boxes. The remote is full of app-specific buttons that I've either disabled or remapped to alternative apps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homebutton
I have no idea which codecs are supported.
This is my exact setup. The upgrade from the smart TV was night and day. Apps load instantly and Jellyfin works great. Most importantly the remote is easy to use and can control the TV.
I second this setup.
I have 3 ONN sticks and they do the job. Great for the price. Just sideload Kodi, new launcher, remap buttons.
I even paid for button mapper. Totally worth it.
I am about to switch over to this setup from a Roku myself. I had seen recommendations for Flauncher, but I'm glad to see another launcher recommendation. I will have to try out Project Ivy. Thanks!
Flauncher is a great pick too
Im on flauncher, works for my needs
I have a Shield Pro and several Rokus, but my next will be the ONN 4K Pro. Hopefully it is $30 at black friday again, I'll buy a few.
I second the AppleTV recommendation based on your disgust with the Roku UI ads, I am completely on your side there, but my similar search has bought me to AppleTV.
I currently run Amazon Fire Sticks which also have UI ads but my pihole is catching most of them and it’s dirt cheap with h.265 support. Plus it runs various hacked apps like TVMob, Cinema, and Cyberflix. That’s what keeps me from moving to an AppleTV or an n100 box already.
How good is Jellyfin on AppleTV? My understanding was the app was a bit lacking...
Use SwiftFin app instead on Apple TV, but better than the Jellyfin app.
Swiftfin is the official Apple TV jellyfin app. Swiftfin is great on iOS, but hasn’t been updated on Apple TV for a while. It also lacks a lot of polish and features but it is being worked on. There should be an update soon.
I’ve been using infuse on Apple TV. Infuse isn’t open source and needs a subscription to watch most 4k hdr content. I think it’s worth it if Swiftfin gets an update soon.
Apple TV is definitely a better experience compared to Samsung and Android. Apps are nicer and there isn’t any ads, privacy controls and privacy statements are much better. Recommended content can also be disabled and only shows when your hovering over the relevant app.
The Swiftfin app is awesome
Any guide you recommend for tvmob, cinema, and cyberflix?
This worked best for me for Linux ISOs on my fire stick: https://www.firesticktricks.com/jailbreak-fire-stick.html
Edited to un-embed, thanks u/lka1988
What filters are you using in pihole to filter the fire stick ads?
Hagezi’s pro and above blocks the sponsored video ones which I found most intrusive: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists/main/domains/native.amazon.txt
These usually break the UI but you can still access apps so it’s functional.
I’m using the hagezi list for now
I use Kodi with the jellyfin plugin, but I can’t recommend that for ‘normies’ because the interface is not simple, and I still have glitches with it.
I’m also looking for a solution like yours, but wanted you to have that feedback.
I’m kinda of lost with this. I run 3 librelec units on RaspberryPis velcroed to the back of TVs in my house and once I set them up they run easy as. I set them by setting what my network folders are ( I’m a bit of a data hoarder so I’ve got each tv series in their own folders and each movie and their filled in its own folders) and then hitting scan. Is it because of Jellyfin that you’re having problems? I tried setting it up but gave up when I realised I’d have to let it be a server and frankly I don’t trust my in-laws not to fuck up and post all my details on their Facebook to show off their new personalise steaming services.
I guess you are saying you only run Kodi? Yes it is Kodi with the jellyfin plugin talking to a jellyfin server that is the source of the few woes I have with it. Honestly it works really well, but when something is wrong I would say due to the UI it's beyond most non-technical people to sort it out easily.
Nothing to add, but also interested in this same scenario. I could only think of the Nvidia Shield.
Way over-budget for your taste I guess but I still wanted to make a note here for representation sake. Look into the brand Zidoo. I have Zidoo Z9X 8K, it's the best client I could dream of! ~250$
Cons:
- Android based (outdated AF but still)
- Maybe not so secure (http server always on while the device is on, atm)
Pros:
- Very good support of Dolby Vision, 4K (8K maybe?)
- Very pretty, both hardware and software very polished IMO
- The remote is glorious, tactile with backlight
- Lots of other cool things
- Very snappy Android experience
- it just works™
- The audio downmixing works great, compared to the Google TV which was very bad
- First party Jellyfin support among others
Nvidia Shield. The regular version is $150 US and from what I understand it gives flawless playback. I have the pro version which is more powerful, but that's specifically for running games.
It's Android TV OS, so app selection is great. You can load Smart Tube Next on there to get YouTube without ads, and there's a very solid Jellyfin app. You can also use Kodi for local direct playback. Remote is perfectly functional, and you can use an app to rebind most of the keys.
LibreELEC on an old chromebook!
I'm currently using a raspberry pi 5 flashed with Konstakang's Android TV image, it works pretty flawlessly and takes less than an hour to set up, assuming you have the APKs of everything you want to install. You don't need to mess around with Google play services because most TV android apps are also designed to run on firesticks which don't have it.
The one issue I have encountered is that the Jellyfin client very occasionally won't play some 4k HDR media in the default player (all my 1080p stuff works fine) so I also installed MPV and I turn on alternative player in the Jellyfin settings in the rare case something doesn't work.
I did not like the Rpi5 with Android TV as a jellyfin client. There is no support for Dolby Vision HDR content and playback of other 4k media was stuttering. With DV content I got the purple/green tinted picture. Sometimes the pi would only display a quarter of the picture.
I used Konstakangs AndroidTV image with a flirc USB Dongle for use with a tv remote. F-Droid store apk for all necessary apps.
If you have any recommendations how to fix stuttery 4k playback I would be interested. For now I just stick with the built in Android TV of my sony television.
If it's an option, the Xiaomi mi box it's a cheap android TV device that plays probably everything. Costs around 60 euro in eu. If not you coul always go for Google TV with a custom launcher to block stock android launcher ads.
Google TV forces its own launcher on top after every goddamn update. They're becoming really obnoxious.
If you are in the USA. The Walmart onn 4k (20$) and 4k pro (50$) are amazing for the price. The remotes are really good too.
It’s just a matter of time before those are enshittified as well.
Edit: ok my bad… apparently you can side load different launchers. I may check one of those out then.
Can you de-google these? I have a personal rule against any google accounts or google devices...
It's surprising how slow open source is on replicating Roku. So many manufacturers could be using Linux to bypass androidTV and RokuOS bullshit. I suppose AndroidTV is good enough even despite that.
I think it's a chicken and egg problem. A FOSS Roku-replacement needs apps to make get popular, and manufacturers won't port their apps until it's popular. Basically, manufacturers need someone with a big marketing budget to help them feel comfortable investing in a platform, but that's not going to happen with a nice FOSS platform.
Maybe if we collectively raise like $100M or something, we could put together a big enough marketing budget to convince some of the bigger names (Netflix, HBO, etc) to take the risk, and the rest will follow if it's popular enough. Maybe.
Both use Linux under the hood. You can even install LineageOS on some TVs.
The only reason AndroidTV is bullshit is the manufacturers because casual users want shit like Netflix and Prime preinstalled. Google TV in particular comes with a lot of crap and the ads, which believe it or not some users take as a feature.
But that's not inherent to Android TV as an OS, it's exactly like Android phones and manufacturers preloading a bunch of crap to make an extra buck. If your run AOSP you get none of that crap, and it's fully open-source.
There are a couple of devices, a few months ago during a similar discussion on Lemmy I saved this but doesn't seem to be many videos or reviews out in the wild
Get one of those miniPCs with the Intel N95 or Intel N100 chips. Install Kodi on Ubuntu or libreelec Install the jellyfin plugin and you're good to go.
You can control it via one of those remotes on amazon with a USB dongle and it powers on the TV and the device.
You'll have to install the artic theme on jellyfin and mess with the view options a bit for something more polished but once done it just works I've been using mine for 3 years and it's been pretty solid.
👋😢
My plan is to use the $20 Onn (Walmart store-brand) Android TV box LTT recommended as being eminently jailbreakable about a year ago, but I haven't actually gotten around to hooking it up yet so I can't authoritatively endorse it.
Been using Onn boxes for years and absolutely love them. They are about as pure android TV as you can get. I would definitely recommend the 50$ pro version over the 20$ original though.
I've personally been using a raspberry pi with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I just run jellyfin in Firefox and navigate with the mouse - the keyboard rarely ever being necessary. I was able to increase the icon size so it's acceptable on a tv and bookmark any streaming websites I use. It's certainly not as clean as using something like an apple tv, but it's serviceable and I don't have to fiddle with plugins like when I tried Kodi. Honestly though, apple tv probably fulfills what you're looking for like others have said.