Everything has ads now, I don’t have a fire TV but surprised Amazon is this late to this bs game. The Xbox has ads now like with mw3 when you launch the console. My Visio Tv I spent ~1000 on a few years ago is stuffed with ads when you turn it on.
This is why my ‘smart’ TV will never, ever be connected to the internet. It’s an LG so I would expect it to not be onerous, but it’s often nagging me to connect to my router for stuff like AI tools.
No thanks. You’re smart enough already for my use, TV! HDMI only please.
It’s not new, Amazon just changed their policy allowing ads for non-media. The Fire devices have always been primarily vehicles for ads; they take up the entire lockscreen on the Kindle reader and Fire tablets. On Fire TV, the top 40-ish% of the screen is a giant ad, then you get a tiny carousel of recommendations, then another thinner banner ad, then “your” content like queue and watchlist.
My Apple TV has no ads.
One of my home monitoring cameras suddenly started placing ad watermarks on my video feed - I shit you not. I feel like obstitricians are going to start slapping ad stickers on newborns bellies as they pull them out soon enough. I hate it. I’m not completely sure what the answer is, but I’ve always been a proponent of the micropayment idea as a way to navigate digital life with more focus and less dependence on ads but it’s not caught on at all because HEY FREE!!
My tcl doesn’t have ads. Probably because it already knows I’ll ignore them and it’s selling that data
TLC was discussed above https://lemmy.world/comment/5181873
Your comment sounds like you might already be aware, but maybe you were just assuming it’s doing the same spying most smart TVs are probably doing.
Mine is Roku based so the article doesn’t apply, but yes I’m still assuming they are pulling and selling data to subsidize up front cost and fluff profits
Stuffing ads on streaming services? How could Amazon do such a thing?
Anyway, for your consideration, Barbie (at last!), now available on streaming services everywhere.
This needs to become illegal. Ads are part of the price you pay for a device or service. If you didn’t agree to them at the time of purchase, they can’t be sprung on you after you’ve paid.
And you are surprised?
Actually kinda surprised that chromecast doesn’t have ads, at least the model we have.
We have a dumb projector with features such as “select source”.
The original cast-only chromecasts didn’t have ads as far as I know, but they’ve all been discontinued and replaced by the google tv chromecasts which have ads integrated throughout the interface, mostly just for streaming services, movies, etc.
This is sort of what happened with Google Chromecast with Google TV. I bought that on a technicality for my parents over an Apple TV. My mom (who isn’t a native English speaker) was watching another foreign language show on Netflix and whenever she paused on the Apple TV the seek bar would come in and overlay itself on the subtitles. She was frequently pausing just to catch up on the long sentences to read them and then unpausing just as quickly. This wasn’t an issue on the Android-based Netflix, where the subtitles remained in view.
Well OF COURSE because it’s fucking Google they started shoving more and more ads onto the device, to the extent that my parents actually get pretty confused on how to properly navigate the thing. It makes me so mad.
I solved this problem on my Xiaomi Mi Box S 4K by installing FLauncher, and setting it as the default launcher (on my own box as well as my parents’).
LeanbackOnFire is another great option, but FLauncher has better customizability options, and that’s what I prefer.
In this way, I haven’t seen a single system UI ad on my Android TV box for years. For ad-free YouTube, I’m using SmartTube. So far, it’s been amazing.
I’m visiting my parents this winter so it will be a good chance for me to look into trying something like this.
That sounds like a plan. I’d search online for advice from other users beforehand, regarding which solutions/apps are confirmed to work well with the exact device, OS version etc.
I have a similar situation. Have you thought about submitting feedback to Apple regarding the issue so they can take the scroll bar into consideration and subtitle placement? https://www.apple.com/feedback/
No, because I think the problem belongs to Netflix. But maybe it does belong to Apple? I’m not sure who is responsible, really.
I have a nearly-dumb TV (chosen for that and never connected to the Internet) and a separate little Android TV box I got from AliExpress for 25 bucks were I only use Kodi.
The TV is maybe 4 years old, the little box maybe 1 year (I had a 10 year old similar thing before but it can’t handle newer video formats so I switched).
Have yet to see a single Ad.
Mind you my setup is as is because I’ve long ago learned that you want your fast-changing-cheap-tech bits separate from your expensive-long-life stuff, so in this case I want my digital video file decoding hardware separate from the much more expensive large digital TV screen so that I can switch the former without paying a new of the - much more expensive - latter.
and a separate little Android TV box I got from AliExpress for 25 bucks were I only use Kodi.
Yeah, so you may not be seeing ads, but there’s a non-zero chance you have a botnet infested device on your network instead.
Is there a way to check if the little Android box you already have is one of these infected devices?
Here’s the GitHub repo of a software developer that was one of the first to find this, and I think the first to make it really public. It has some info on how to tell and possible steps to do some cleanup.
There’s been a lot of articles recently about those cheapo boxes being filled with spyware straight out the factory. Might wanna check that out.
I did.
It’s not on the list.
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Remember that “deal” always has depth behind it. They are waiting to reach critical mass so they can “throw the switch”. Streaming services, “smart” devices, subscription services… You should only engage with these “deals” if you understand the bigger picture and have a plan to disengage quickly as soon as they pull their bullshit.
Your black Friday TV is NOT the same as the TV that brand typically sells. It’s a different sku, all the parts are deliberately sourced lesser quality versions and it’s literally designed to break/fail earlier than the “normal” version. You’re not getting a deal on the TV you wanted, you’re buying a lesser TV - Not necessarily a bad thing if you know what you’re buying, but you need to know what you’re buying.
There is a big lack of consumer education in the U.S. I don’t know how to solve it in our oligarchical society. The corporations don’t want consumers educated.
There should be regulation of the private sector. There has to be some accountability for these corporations. The onus can’t be on the consumer one hundred percent of the time. It really shouldn’t be at all. Buyers should only be responsible for deciding which products would be best for them and their budget, not for having to predict which corporation will utterly fuck them over the least out of the only three corporations they have to choose from when they’re all trying to scam them out of their money.
I’m so sick of being scammed every single time I buy something. The government needs to step in and do their job instead of just handing out a few fines here and there.
Amazon being greedy and bake ads into their devices? Who could see that coming?!
Am I the only one who sticks to old school solutions like a dedicated HTPC running Linux and Kodi instead of ad-infested Android TV sticks/boxes?
Most people are not that technically savvy.
Even a Windows computer, like a laptop. An HDMI cable isn’t hard to plug in.
Even learning to broadcast programming from your laptop to your TV has a learning curve. Meanwhile, you can just push a button on the TV and get to Netflix. The problem is that now half the space is going to be taken up with ads, and not even relevant ones.
If thats the price of freedom then I think one should definitely become tech savvy.
Besides, isn’t saying that you’re not tech savvy in today’s tech world kind of admitting that you’re willfully ignorant and only buy tech stuff for show?
You think people only buy TVs for show? That’s a very strange thing to suggest. People buy TVs so they can watch shows. For over 70 years, all they’ve had to do is turn it on and maybe turn a knob or push a couple of buttons and that’s it. Expecting people to learn more than that is too much for many people. And saying you aren’t tech savvy isn’t some shameful thing except to people who are tech savvy. Even if it does mean someone is ignorant, that doesn’t mean they deserve to be taken advantage of.
You think people only buy TVs for show?
Certainly in my country, people who don’t know how to setup a computer still choose to buy one.
People buy TVs so they can watch shows
Maybe the boomer generation. I am a millenial running a pihole and subscribing to OTT. This is true of others in my generation and younger.
And saying you aren’t tech savvy isn’t some shameful thing except to people who are tech savvy.
Well it’s not shameful in that it requires ridicule. I just think it’s a bit embarrassing for me personally that a lot of people don’t bother learning tech stuff. It’s similar to people declaring that they don’t read books. In this day and age, being tech savvy is kind of required to navigate a lot of society.
Even if it does mean someone is ignorant, that doesn’t mean they deserve to be taken advantage of.
I know that, you know that, the companies exploiting the ignorant and elderly know that. So there’s no better cure than for the ignorant to learn.
Still sounds like you’re blaming the people being taken advantage of because they don’t know things you do.
I find a dedicated HTPC is just overkill in terms of hardware these days. I just use Kodi sideloaded onto a Fire stick and point it to my file server for all my media. There are methods to get Kodi to launch on startup or to remap one of the stupid service-related buttons on the newer remotes to launch it instead.
Ads on the home screen? I don’t give a shit, I’m just there for a second to launch an app. Ads while searching? Cool, I don’t think I’ve ever used the device’s built in search.
I have a NanoPC-T4 that I use as a server, the thing would in principle make a good set top box – it’s what Rockchip designed the RK3399 for, after all, it can decode 4k h.264 and h.265, and it’s from 2016 (I got it for its pcie lanes, a rarity with arm boards).
None of those SmartTVs run expensive hardware, any reasonably fresh potato can do what they do.
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If you bought a Vizio TV 4 years ago it now has a “feature” where it switches inputs to the ad-ridden integrated android system if it detects that whatever input you are on doesn’t have a signal for more than 5 seconds. Even if you pull it from the network it still tries to load it anyway. It’s becoming unavoidable even for those of us who roll our own solutions.
Why would you even connect your TV to the network in the first place? I use an LG Smart TV but I never connect it to the internet.
To use the android-based remote (which was actually pretty cool at the time tbh)
I almost never need the remote of the TV. I just use my HTPC running Kodi which I can connect to a remote app on my phone if I want to.
The Shield TV is one of the better TV boxes. In fact, the Apple TV and the Shield TV are the only TV boxes I would ever use, if I had to use one. I’m very happy with my custom HTPC though.
I’m very happy with my custom HTPC though.
Fair enough, although I might add that there is not a better way to run Kodi but HTPC, even when the Shield is more than a capable client, it sucks from time to time, I blame the limited RAM of the device.
The HTPC solution is not for everyone, but I’m really enthusiastic about my setup, so it’s my preferred way of consuming media on a TV. The Shield TV is totally fine though.
I’m really shocked that this is the Technology community and it’s full of people complaining about ads. We’re supposed to be the geeks who are laughing at the normies for watching those ads while we watch content on our techy solution which is immune to such garbage.
We’re supposed to be the geeks who are laughing at the normies for watching those ads while we watch content on our techy solution which is immune to such garbage
Many of us are, but some aren’t. We can teach them about it.
I have a Nokia android TV with no ads as far as I can tell 🤷
Glad I use Apple TVs on LG devices.
How is this surprising?
PSA: It is incredibly easy to get an alternative launcher for android TVs. Zero ads. Literally none.
Which do you use?
FLauncher. It’s even on the Google play store.
Then you have to side load an app that changes the default launcher. But that is also very easy.
Thanks
What android TV would you recommend? Even with an alt launcher, can you still control OS/apps well with just a remote controller as input?
I’ve had a good experience with my Sony. Very easy to change things and sideload stuff.
Sony is the easiest to change all the settings. Samsung is the worst.
I have no idea what a reddit controller is.
I think he meant to type “remote” instead of “reddit”.
100%, Reddit must have infiltrated my autocorrect after I fucked off here to Lemmy :)
Ahhh. Then yes. Remote works the same. Change the default launcher to FLauncher and it automatically maps it to the home button.
An Apple TV box doesn’t have ads.
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That’s debatable. Unless you have the TV button open the home screen and not the Apple TV app, Apple TV+ content when not subscribed can be seen ads.
Put your network behind NextDNS or a self-hosted solution like Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home.
